Lemon Somen is a cold somen noodle dish topped with sliced lemon and salted green onions. Somen is a summertime staple in Japan where it gets so unbearably hot and humid. The only thing you can eat in the middle of hot days can be cold somen noodles. It is quick and easy to prepare, so you don’t need to stand in the kitchen for too long, either. No wonder somen is one of the most commonly eaten lunch at home during the summer in Japan.
With summer so hot everywhere these days, you feel like eating more cold food than ever. Japanese people know how to deal with brutal summer climate and therefore know how to cool down with food. These are some of the best summer Japanese dishes that are nice and cold, and you can eat them when you don’t have much appetite from the draining heat.
Abura Zomen (油そうめん) is Somen noodles stir-fried with meat and vegetables. It is a Japanese southern island regional food, but there are no hard-to-get ingredients or difficult steps in the recipe. This easy-to-make but tasty noodle dish will appeal to a lot of people from the young to the old.
Abura Zomen is originally from the southern Amami islands of Kagoshima, Kyushu. The name means “Oil Somen noodle,” but it’s not greasy at all. It uses a not insignificant amount of water, or Dashi stock if you prefer, in the process of making fried noodles, so it may really be more braising than stir-frying. The water and oil emulsify along the way, and it becomes like a thin sauce for the noodles.
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 is very tasty and a super easy dish, but it is a somewhat light meal by itself. Gomoku means ‘variety of ingredients’ in Japanese. Here I put cucumber, ham, Kinshi Tamago, and Benishoga on Somen, but you can add any of your favorite veggies or protein. With vegetables and meat along with noodles, Gomoku Somen is a more complete meal. By cutting everything into thin strips, it is easier to eat, and you can enjoy all the toppings in every bite. You may dip or just pour the sauce over the noodles.
Somen are Japanese dried vermicelli noodles that are usually eaten cold during summer. Japanese summer is so hot and humid that you often loose 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. We adults like it, but our kids like it even more because not only is it tasty but also because it’s fun to eat… noodles in ice water… they like that kind of thing.
Mentsuyu (noodle sauce) is a very versatile sauce that gives many dishes a great Japanese flavor. This is perfect for dipping cold Soba or Somen noodles, tempura and more. It is so easy to make and keeps well in the refrigerator (at least a couple weeks, stays for a month in my fridge), and comes in handy in a crunch time for dinner. I actually make a lot of it at once so that I don’t have to make it frequently (oh, lazy me). You can cook meat and vegetables with this sauce as seasoning, like a quick teriyaki sauce, or just drizzle over steamed vegetables or tofu.