Harusame Salad Recipe

Harusame Salad is a salad with dried bean (or potato) threads called Harusame and vegetables.  This cold and smooth textured noodle dish is a great side dish any time, but especially good during hot summer days.  The dressing is flavored with sesame oil and it tastes like a Chinese style salad.

Harusame thread is used all over the Asian countries.  The main ingredient is a starch, often from Mung beans or potatoes. Harusame is sold in a dried form and needs to be rehydrated for cooking.  When it is still dried, Harusame is a white color, but turns to clear noodles when hydrated in hot water.  This smooth chewy noodle doesn’t have very much flavor itself but its taste changes depending on the seasonings you use.  Harusame is usually used in Hot Pot dishes, soups, and also salads like this in Japan.

Harusame Salad is easily made at home, but it is a very common dish you can buy at delis at supermarkets and the underground food floors of department stores (called Depa Chika).  A lot of Japanese also are familiar with this dish from school lunches, at least from our generation.  The noodle itself doesn’t have much nutrients other than carbohydrates; however, by mixing with other ingredients such as meat and vegetables, the salad could be a nutritious food for children (and adults).  We mixed the salad with Kinshi Tamago (egg), ham, and cucumber, but you can also try different vegetables like carrots, Shiitake mushrooms, and cooked ground beef.  Refrigerate the salad to make it very cold before serving, and it becomes a cool soothing side dish in hot weather.

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5 from 1 vote

Harusame Salad Recipe

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Salad, Side Dish

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: harusame, salad

Servings: 4 servings ( as a side dish)

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Ingredients

• 50 g dried Harusame bean threads
• 1 recipe Kinshi Tamago
• 1 cucumber
• 2-3 slices ham
• 2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

• Boil water in a small pot, add Harusame bean threads, and stir. Let soak for a minute. Strain and let cool.
• Cut Kinshi Tamago very thinly. Cut cucumber and ham thinly too. Cut Harusame into 2″-3″ long pieces.
• In a large bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients for the dressing. Add Tamago, cucumber, ham and Harusame and mix.
• Chill in the fridge for 30 mins to 1 hour before serving.

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