Somen and Soba noodles with a dipping sauce

 


Chilled somen noodles, perfect for summer

 Chilled noodles with a dipping sauce are very popular in Japan in the hot summer. Somen is always served this way, soba is usually served this way (in zaru soba), and udon can be served chilled or used in soups and hot pots. A good dipping sauce is essential. The dipping sauce is called tsuyu.
Somen

Nothing says "summer" in Japan like a bowl of somen noodles. They are my favourite.
Somen noodles

tsuyu dipping sauce, see recipe below

negi green onions, thinly sliced

1.       Bring a pot of water to the boil. Drop desired quantity of noodles into the water and cook, according to packet directions, being aware that they only take a minute or two. Have a sieve ready to drain them in. Remove from heat as soon as they are soft.

2.       Drain in sieve. Run them under the cold water tap (faucet), until all the noodles are cool to touch. Then place in a large bowl covered with ample water and some ice cubes, to keep noodles cool.

3.       Use your index finger and thumb to pick up a small bundle of noddles at the time and place into serving bowls (either one large one for the centre of the table or small individual bowls). Add a few ice cubes to keep it cool. In Japan a small freshly picked green maple leaf could be added as a seasonal decoration. Use a little shiso (perilla) or Italian parsley to garnish if desired (optional and not traditional).

4.       Serve with negi and tsuyu. Place tsuyu in individual dipping bowls, and use small dishes to provide negi for each diner to add the tsuyu as they eat the noodles.

Variations: Some cubed paw paw (papaya) can be added to the noodles.  For sesame tsuyu add ½ cup ground sesame seeds to the basic tsuyu recipe. For peanut tsuyu add ½ cup ground peanuts to the basic tsuyu recipe.

Udon noodles can also be served chilled in the same way as somen.

 

noodle cups for the dipping sauce

Tsuyu (Japanese dipping sauce for noodles)

Tsuyu つゆ, is a sweetened soy flavoured dashi (Japanese stock). Stock in Japan is usually made from dried bonito fish shavings and a piece of kelp, but a good stock can also be made from dried shiitake mushrooms (available at Asian food stores), see recipe below. It is best to make the tsuyu dipping sauce ahead of time as it needs to be heated and cooled before using.  In Japanese supermarkets you can buy bottles of tsuyu in concentrated form that you just add water to, which is very convenient.

Basic Tsuyu Recipe

1 cup dashi Japanese stock (1 cup boiling water and 1/2  teaspoon dashi granules, or real stock, see note about dashi below)

1/3 cup soy sauce
¼ cup mirin
Bring mirin and soy sauce to the boil. Add dashi and bring to the boil again. Refrigerate until using.

Shiitake Tsuyu  Recipe (mushroom flavoured dipping sauce for noodles)

½ cup loosely packed dried shiitake mushrooms
2 ¼ cups water
2 or 3 tablespoons mirin (or sugar)
100ml (3 fl oz) soy sauce

Place mushrooms in a saucepan, add water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Add sugar and soy sauce and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, discard mushrooms, and chill (refrigerate) until using.

Zaru Soba

Zaru Soba are soba noodles that are served on a zaru (bamboo mat/tray), topped with nori seaweed and eaten with a tusyu dipping sauce and negi spring onions. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which confusingly isn’t a type of wheat.



Zaru soba

Dashi (Japanese Stock)
Stock in Japan is usually made from katsuobushi (dried bonito fish shavings) and a piece of kombu (kelp) which are boiled together and then the mixture is strained and the resulting clear pale brown liquid is the stock. Most housewives in Japan do not make dashi from scratch, they use the powdered/granulated kind which dissolves readily in water, ½  teaspoon dashi granules to 1 cup water. A good Japanese stock can also be made from dried shiitake mushrooms.
Dashi and dried mushrooms are available at Asian food shops. See my next post.