Name: Japanese Cold Noodles
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 cups unseasoned dashi (Japanese soup stock); 5 tablespoons usukuchi shoyu (Japanese light soy sauce); 3 tablespoons sugar; 2 tablespoons mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine); 1 1/2 shoyu (Japanese soy sauce); 3 bundles somen (thin white wheat noodles), paper wrapping discarded; Accompaniments: finely grated peeled fresh ginger; minced scallion; shredded fresh shiso leaves; sesame seeds

Image may contain Bowl Food Dish Meal Noodle Pasta and Soup Bowl

Photo by Romulo Yanes

Somen

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 1 hr

In a six-part series in 1975, correspondent Elizabeth Andoh taught us about the reverent seasonality of Japanese cuisine. It was with this summer recipe that many of us learned that noodles as well as rice are eaten in Japan. The concept of icy-cold noodles took only one taste to grasp: Andoh's recipe for somen is one of the lightest and most refreshing pasta preparations we've ever had.

Recipe notes

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