SERVES: 1 TOTAL TIME : 10 MINS
The Olympic games are over but our Japanese summer heat will continue for yet a little while longer . During the hot and humid Japanese summer, we often eat somen noodles to cool ourselves down. The somen noodles are thin threadlike noodes made of wheat flour. Somen noodles are usually served cold, with a dipping sauce called mentsuyu, Japanese dashi-based broth. It’s really easy to make. Today we introduce a basic recipe to make somen . Once you mastered this, you can create the topping and sauce on your own.
【Ingredients | 食材】
2 bundles somen noodles (100g)
2 tbsp mentsuyu (Mizukan oigatsuo) , mixed with 2 tbsp cold water.
2 tsp grated ginger
1 Japanese chive, chopped
1 cucumber, thin round sliced
1 or 2 artificial crab, cut into chunks
（単語） bunch 束、Japanese chive あさつき、artificial crab かにかま
Somen Noodles
Use 2 bundles of somen noodles for one person ( 1 bundle is around 50 g). The amount of water is about 1 litter per one person. It will take one and a half to 2 minutes to cook depending on quantity of the noodles. It’s really quick, so you should remove the bundles out of somen noodles in advance and sprinkle them in a pot at once.
How to Use Mentsuyu.
Cold somen noodles are served with a dipping sauce called Mentsuyu（めんつゆ). You can get a bottle of mentsuyu at Japanese grocery store or online. But most of them are concentrated liquid. As for Mizukan oigatsuo （ミツカン 追いガツオ), you need to dilute it with cold water by 2 times. Sometimes it should be thinned out by 3 or 4 times depending on the product.
（単語） dipping sauce つけ汁, concentrated liquid 濃縮液、dilute (thin out) something with water by 〇 times. 水で〇倍に薄める
【Directions |作り方】
1. Boil water in a large pot.
2. Put somen noodles in the pot, and boil 1 and a half minutes while stirring.
3. Drain the noodles in a colander and wash them by hands under running water. And drain again.
4. Cool down the noodles with cold water and ice cubes in a bowl.
5. Top a desired amount of sliced cucumbers and artificial crabs in the bowl.
Put a desired amount of grated ginger and chopped Japanese chives in the dipping sauce and enjoy eating. お好みの量の薬味を入れて食べましょう
（単語）a big pot 大きな深鍋, remove a bundle out of somen noodles. 素麺の束を取り除く, drain O in a colander ざるに上げる、under running water 流水で、a desired amount of お好みの量の～
【Related Articles| 関連記事 】
Naoko-sensei’s Sasebo Star Cooking Class
Schedule： temporary closed due to COVID.
Time: from 10 am to 1 pm
Fee: 2500 yen for adult, 1500 yen (U 18), 1000 yen (U 15)
Place: Nishi-chiku Community Center (see the map below)
Contact and reservation : https://www.facebook.com/naoko.mori.921?epa=SEARCH_BOX
英語で学べる料理教室「させぼスタークッキングクラス」は 西地区公民館で開催中。外国人と一緒に料理が学べますよ。
Naoko sensei’s Profile
Naoko Mori 森なおこ
‐Studied French cuisine under a former chief chef at Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo (ホテル椿山荘東京） for 3 years.
‐Acquired Japanese and herbal cuisine skills.
‐Cooking teacher for 10 years for Japanese and 7 years for Americans
‐Coordinating cooking classes for American cooking teachers
