Summer Vegetable Somen is cold Somen noodles with summer vegetables like okra and tomato. The sauce is also cold, simple Mentsuyu poured over the noodles. This easy to make cold noodle dish is perfect on hot summer days. Even when you don’t have much appetite on a hot day, this will cool you down and give you good nutrients and energy.
Somen are Japanese dried vermicelli noodles, made from flour, that are usually eaten cold during summer. Japanese summer is so hot and humid that you often lose your appetite by the end of the day. When you don’t want to eat anything, cold Somen is very nice and easy to eat. The sauce to pour on the dish is a very simple Mentsuyu noodle sauce you can keep on hand in your fridge. You can buy bottled Mentsuyu at stores or make your own.
It is always best to use seasonal vegetables because of the taste and price, but they also provide good nutrients you need in the particular season. Okra’s thick juice (a bit sticky or slimy) helps protect your stomach from tiring from too many cold drinks in summer. Tomatoes taste the best in summer too as well as containing rich nutrients such as carotin and vitamin C. We used Nagaimo long yam here for a crunchy texture, but you could use cucumber or other summer vegetables instead.
Somen only needs a couple of minutes to boil, and other than that, you only need to cut vegetables to make this dish. Eat this easy Summer Vegetable Somen, and have healthful summer!
Summer Vegetable Somen Recipe
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Ingredients
- 5-6 okra
- 1 large tomato
- 1 Nagaimo long yam 2 inch long
- 4 Shiso leaves or 1 green onion
- 2-3 bunch dried Somen noodles
- 1/2 cup Mentsuyu
- 1 cup cold water
Instructions
- Blanch okra and slice thinly. Dice tomato into small cube and cut Nagaimo into thin match sticks. Cut Shiso leaves very thinly. Keep all the vegetables cold in the fridge.
- Cook dried Somen noodles according to the package. Wash well under running water. Chill in ice water if you like. Drain water when noodles are cold.
- Mix Mentsuyu and cold water.
- Place half of noodles in a deep dish or bowl and top with vegetables. Pour half of the sauce on top. Repeat for second serving.
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