2 days ago
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Craving a light and refreshing meal? Try somen! These thin, delicate, and silky noodles are perfect for hot summer days. The noodles are typically served chilled with a variety of toppings and a tasty savory dipping sauce. The recipe is very easy and the noodles are ready in just minutes!
What are Somen Noodles?
Somen noodles are a type of thin, delicate Japanese noodle made from wheat flour. They’re known for their silky texture and subtle flavor and are typically about 1mm in diameter. Unlike thicker noodles like udon, soba, or ramen, somen noodles are incredibly fine and cook in just a couple minutes. Traditionally, the noodles are serve chilled for a cold refreshing dish during the hot weather in the summer months. A variety of toppings like sliced omelette, ham, shiitake mushrooms, and cucumber are served with the somen along with a light and cold dipping sauce. The sauce, called mentsuyu, is made from dashi, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar which creates a savoury but slightly sweet umami flavour.
Although somen is mostly a cold summertime dish, the noodles can also be served hot in soups during cooler seasons which is called Nyumen.
Main Ingredients Needed to Make Somen?
Somen Noodles
The star ingredient is the somen noodles themselves. These are very thin, white noodles made primarily from wheat flour. They are usually sold dried in bundles in packets. The bundles weight differ depends on the brand of somen. Around 100g is a good portion for one person. You can find somen in Asian and Japanese grocery stores. It may also be available in the international section of some larger supermarkets.
Tsuyu Dipping Sauce
The traditional dipping sauce for somen is called tsuyu. It typically consists of:
- Dashi (Japanese soup stock, often made from kombu seaweed (kelp) and bonito flakes)
- Soy sauce
- Mirin (sweet rice wine)
- Sometimes a bit of sugar to balance the flavors
Toppings
Garnishes
Preparing Somen
- Start by preparing the tsuyu dipping sauce. This light umami soup is made from Japanese dashi broth, soy sauce and mirin. Add a bit of sugar too if you like it more sweet. Mentsuyu can also be bought pre-made in stores and online. However make sure to follow the package instructions as it may need to be diluted.
- Prepare toppings and garnishes like omelette, sliced ham, chopped green onions, grated ginger, shredded nori, etc.
- Cook somen noodles. Boil 1.5 L of water in a large pot (as a guide you need 1 L of water for 100g somen) and add the noodles. When the noodles start to float, add about 1/2 cup of water to prevent them from boiling over. When the noodles start to float again, turn off the heat. Somen noodles cook very quickly because of how thin they are. They only require 2-3 minutes of boiling in a pot. Make sure to stir occasionally while cooking to avoid the noodles sticking together. Or boil according to the package instructions. Drain and rinse the cooked noodles under cold water (to remove any excess vegetable oil used on the noodles during manufacturing) and chill them in an ice bath.
- Serve the cold noodles in a bowl with ice along with the chilled tsuyu and your choice of toppings and garnishes.
Yakumi Garnish Variations
Somen noodles taste delicious with vegetables and proteins, but it can also be served plain with just a few simple garnishes. The garnishes add a nice bite and touch of extra flavor to the tsuyu dipping sauce. The best way to serve with garnishes is by adding them directly to the tsuyu. This makes the dipping sauce even more flavourful and aromatic. You can use finely chopped scallions and grated ginger or thinly sliced myoga or shiso leaf (if you can find them).
- Cook the somen noodles in a large pot with plenty of hot water so that the noodles will not stick together. You will need about 6 1/2 cups of water (1-1.5L) to cook 1 bundle (the one bundle I used was 90g).
- Wash the cooked somen noodles under running water after cooking to keep the somen noodles from sticking each other and also to cool the noodles down quickly so they don’t continue to soften. Once the sliminess is removed, drain the water.
- The key to the dish is keeping everything cold for a cool, refreshing meal. Chill the noodles in a bowl of ice water after cooking and then serve them with ice.
How to Serve Cold Somen Noodles
In Japan, somen is often enjoyed as part of nagashi somen (flowing somen) during summer festivals, where the noodles are sent down bamboo chutes with cold running water for people to catch with their chopsticks. It’s a fun and refreshing way to enjoy this simple dish if you ever have the chance to do so in Japan. At home, you can serve the noodles in a bowl with ice to keep it all cold and fresh. Everyone should have their own little bowl of tsuyu broth to dip the noodles into and a variety of toppings can be placed on a plate for everyone to pick what they want.
Chilled somen noodles are the perfect dish to beat the summer heat Served ice cold with garnishes and a light and tasty dipping broth, these Japanese cold noodles are a summertime favourite.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
chilling time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 2
- ▢ 200 g dry somen noodles *1
Dipping sauce
- ▢ ½ cup mentsuyu *2
- ▢ ½ cup water for diluting mentsuyu
Toppings
- ▢ 3 dried Shiitake Mushrooms
- ▢ ¼ cup water from the soaked dried mushrooms
- ▢ 1 tbsp sugar
- ▢ 1 tbsp soy sauce
- ▢ 1 tbsp mirin
- ▢ 1 Kinshi tamago *3
- ▢ 2 okura
- ▢ 2 slices ham(shredded)
Yakumi (Garnishes)
- ▢ 3 cm ginger (grated)
- ▢ 1 tbs finely chopped negi shallots
- ▢ 2 shiso leaves(thinly cut)
- ▢ 1 myoga (thinly sliced)
- ▢ wasabi optional
Preparation
Place 3 dry shiitake mushrooms into a bowl of water and put some kind of weight on the mushrooms so that the mushrooms submerge. Leave it refrigerated over night.
The next day, squeeze the soaking water out but save it in a bowl. Place 1/4 cup of the soaking water, sugar, soy sauce and mirin (listed in the 'toppings' ingredients) in a saucepan over medium heat. Slice the shiitake mushroom and put them into the saucepan to simmer for about 20 minutes with otoshibuta (dollop lid).
Let the shiitake mushrooms cool down to room temperature, place them into a storage container and chill in the fridge till the somen noodle is ready to serve.
If you are making kinshi tamago follow this recipe( see note *3)
Make the dipping sauce if you are making mentsuyu from scratch.
Dilute the mentsuyu with water and set aside.
Prepare the garnishes: slice the okura, grate the ginger, thinly slice the myoga, and cut the negi shallots finely.
Cook Somen noodle
Boil water (1- 1.5 liters or 6½ cups) in a large pot, add 1 bundle of somen noodle and cook for 2 minutes.
Drain the water and then leave the noodles under the running water to wash and cool down.
Place the noodles in a bowl of ice water to chill.
Serve the noodles with a few ice cubes, the toppings, the garnishes, and the dipping sauce separately.
*1 Bundles vary depending on the brand. One bundle of the brand I used was 50g.
*2 Store bought or homemade. If you are making it from scratch, see this recipe.
*3 How to make Kinshi tamago, see this recipe.
The reason you need to wash the somen noodles under the running water after they are cooked is that in the process of making very thin dried somen noodle, the wheat flour dough is stretched with the vegetable oil.
Calories: 37kcal · Carbohydrates: 8g · Protein: 1g · Sodium: 1138mg · Potassium: 38mg · Sugar: 4g · Vitamin C: 1.2mg · Iron: 0.4mg
Course: Main Dish
Cuisine: Japanese
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