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Japanese Somen

From: kov@mit.edu (Ken Overton)

Have you ever been too hot to have an appetite (even though you know you should)? I found what is (for me) the perfect food to eat on such an occasion: somen.

If you don't know what Somen is, it's a very thin noodle, VERY different from ramen and soba (thinner and not nearly as oily). You generally buy them in a package containing 20-or-so little tied "serving sized" bundles. Boil a bundle for each person for under 10 minutes, rinse under cold water, then dump into a bowl of COLD water with plenty of ice cubes.

Eat the somen with any condiments you like: I use fresh ground ginger, wakame (seaweed), and cucumber. Sauces I use a soy sauce and rice vinegar.

I learned to eat somen from a glass (say, a tumbler) or a small, deep bowl. Put an ice cube in your glass, pour your sauces (soy & vinegar for me), then add some condiments (and no skimpin on that ginger!).

Grab some of the somen from the big bowl and mix it in with the sauces and condiments in your cup. Eat. Grab more noodles. Mix. Eat. Etc.

It's nice because each person can figure out your own ideal proportions of ginger, wakame, etc. And it's the perfect coooooooool food to eat when you're tootoo hot and have no appetite.

(for 2 people)
2-3 bundles Somen noodles
4 ounces finely ground ginger
8 ounces sliced and striped cucumber
6 ounces wakame (put dried wakame into COLD water [not hot, it'll get slimy] for about 5 minutes)
Soy Sauce & Rice Vinegar added to taste