Somen

Name: Somen
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients: 1/2 cup Dashi (page 40); 1/4 cup mirin; 1/4 cup Japanese soy sauce; 2 teaspoons grated ginger; 4 obha leaves, thinly sliced; 2 scallions, both white and green parts, thinly sliced on an angle; 4 sprigs mitsuba, cut into 1-inch lengths; 14 ounces dried somen noodles; 1/2 cup ice cubes

December 9, 2011

This recipe is for somen at its most elementary: a simple but sublime combination of noodles accented with a mixture of aromatic garnishes. You can layer other ingredients in this dish if you’d like, too, such as steamed and cooled spinach, fava beans or sugar snap peas, or thinly sliced raw carrots (find the freshest carrots you can, especially from your garden or farmers’ market). Just add it to the garnish dish. Cooling the broth in a metal container, as I recommend below, will help the liquid chill faster.

Recipe notes

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