Japanese Cold Somen Noodle Recipe

Somen is a seasonal Japanese dish served in the summer time. I lived in Japan for four years, and was surprised that the summers were so hot! Sometimes, I stopped by a restaurant and cooled down with cold somen noodles. I often wondered, why aren’t there more cold noodle or pasta dishes in the US? This Japanese cold somen noodle recipe is quick, refreshing, and will become one of your favorite dishes on a hot summer day.

Japanese cold somen is often cooked in the Japanese household. During summer, Japanese families may cook it once every week or two! Kids love the flavor and moms enjoy it because it is so easy to make. To read more information about the ingredients in somen, I recommend reading the somen noodle recipe at the pickled plum.

Tips for Making Cold Somen Noodle Recipe

• I recommend that you serve the somen in a bowl of cold water. This will prevent it from becoming sticky. I also like to add ice to the bowl to keep it chilled. On a hot summer day, the water quickly warms up and the somen is not as refreshing as if it were chilled.
• The dipping sauce (mentsuyu) will gradually become watered down as you dip the somen into the sauce. This is because the somen is served in cold water and ice to prevent it from sticking. A small amount of the cold water is transferred into the dipping sauce each time you take a bite gradually weakening the flavor. Thus, it is important to make the dipping sauce strongly flavored.
• You can also buy the mentsuyu at Asian super markets. If making your own sauce is too difficult or time consuming, you can purchase the sauce and just make the noodles. The stores will stock a variety of menstuyu dipping sauces that may need water added.
• In this recipe, I served the cold somen with green onions, sliced cucumbers, wasabi, ginger, and chili sauce. These can be added to your mentsuyu based on the flavors you like. There are other additions you can add such as thinly sliced fried eggs, canned tuna, chicken ham or even sliced tomatoes.

Japanese Cold Somen Noodle Recipe

This cold somen noodle recipe is a refreshing and an easy meal to make on a hot, summer day. The cold noodles are dipped in a sauce made from traditional Japanese seasonings including soy sauce, dashi, and mirin.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Japanese

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  

Sauce for Somen (Mentsuyu)

• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp dashi
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp cooking alcohol
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 3 tbsp soy sauce

Noodles

• 150 grams Japanese fine white noodles (somen) (1/3 lb) – about 1-1.5 cm diameter per person

Extras (Optional)

• green onions
• wasabi
• ginger
• sliced cucumbers
• chili sauce

Instructions

 

Making Mentsuyu (dipping sauce for somen)

• Add 2 cups of water to a pot
• Add 1 tsp of dashi, 0.5 tsp of salt, 1 tbsp of cooking alcohol, 2 tbsp of mirin, and 3 tbsp of soy sauce into the same pot
• Mix well a bring to a boil
• Turn off the heat and allow the dipping sauce to cool

Cooking the Noodles

• Fill a pot with ~ 3 cm of water and bring to a boil
• Add the somen (Japanese fine white noodles) into the pot
• Boil the noodles according to the package instructions (generally about 2-3 minutes)
• Occasionally stir the noodles while cooking
• Strain the water from the noodles and serve a a bowl with water and ice

Optional Toppings

• Additional topping can be prepared including sliced cucumbers, ginger, wasabi, chili sauce, and green onions. Please add these to the the dipping sauce to based on the flavors you like.
  

Video

Keyword Noodle, Somen, Wasabi

Did You Make This Japanese Cold Somen Noodle Recipe?

Our family wants to see it! Tag @MrsMyJapaneseRecipes on Instagram and hashtag it #myjapaneserecipes!

We would also love to hear from you in the comments below.