“Zaru Somen” Japanese best summer menu

What is Sōmen?

Somen are very thin Japanese noodle made of wheat flour. It looks like Thai rice noodle that we usually eat with curry but softer. There are many dishes made with Sōmen noodle but the classic and the most popular one would be “Zaru Sōmen” or the Japanese chilled noodle. This is because the dishes does not require too many ingredients and very easy to prepare. Zaru Sōmen is very popular in Summer. The soft, cold noodle dipped with Mentsuyu sauce is such a blessing in the hot weather.

"Easy homemade recipe for Zaru Sōmen or cold noodle"
Ingredients
1. Dry Somen noodle (1 wrap = 1 serve for 1 person)
2. Water
3. Mentsuyu
4. Chopped scallions or green onion
5. Wasabi
6. Grated fresh ginger
Every ingredients can be purchased at any supermarket

Instruction
1. In a large pot, add water (about ¾ of the pot) and bring it to a boil over medium high heat
2. Add dried soba noodles in the boiling water in circular motion, separating the noodles from each other
3.Boil for 1 - 2 minutes
4. Drain the noodles into the sieve and rinse the noodles to get rid of starch under running cold water. This is a very important step

5.Shake off the sieve to drain completely and transfer the noodles to the iced water in a large bowl. Set aside till the noodles are cool
6. Put one part of cooled dipping sauce and 2-3 parts of iced water in a small bowls. Served with chopped scallions or green onion and wasabi

For those who want to serve somen noodle like the Japanese restaurant, try the method in the video below

Reference:
http://www.ibonoito.or.jp/recipe/boil.html
http://www.japanesecooking101.com/okayu/
http://www.ibonoito.or.jp/recipe/boil.html