Summer Somen recipe with Kaeshi cold broth
Of the many Japanese noodles, somen are the finest and "coolest". This is why we like to eat them cold in summer, when it's so hot that our appetites start to wane. So we dip them in a cold broth, with "refreshing" condiments such as fresh ginger, wasabi and chives.
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cooking Time
- 3 minutes
- Servings
- 4
Ingredients
- 400g somen noodles
- 200ml soy sauce
- 40ml mirin
- 40g sugar
- 600 ml dashi
- Grated ginger
- Wasabi
- Chopped nori
- Chives or chives, minced
Directions
- Combine mirin and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved. It's important not to bring the mixture to the boil, to avoid burning the sugar.
- Once the sugar has dissolved, reduce the heat to low. Add the soy sauce to the mirin and sugar mixture. Heat the mixture gently for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, avoiding boiling.
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow the kaeshi to cool to room temperature. Once cool, transfer the kaeshi to an airtight container. Keep refrigerated. Kaeshi keeps well for several weeks and can be used as a base for other sauces and seasonings.
- This yields approximately 200 ml of kaeshi. Add three times this volume of broth (i.e. 600 ml) and you have a sauce for somen noodles.
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles for the time indicated on the packet.
- Drain the noodles in a colander (preferably a fine one, as the large colanders often used in France don't drain quickly enough), then immerse them immediately in a large bowl of cold water. Drain.
- Immediately fill a bowl with fresh tap water and immerse the colander in it (or the noodles alone, if the colander is too large). Stir gently to rinse the somen under the water: this cools them quickly and stops the cooking process at the residual heat. Drain well.
- Serve chilled with condiments that everyone can add to their tsuyu to suit their tastes!
