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Hiyashi Chuka Somen - Japanese Cold Noodles
Make this popular Japanese cold noodle dish to beat the summer heat. You will be pleased with the minimal cooking time and rewarded with a colorful and delicious noodle dish.
Hiyashi Chuka Somen (冷やし中華そうめん) is a Chinese-style Japanese cold noodle dish where a bowl of cold noodles topped with various colorful toppings and a sauce.
Noodles for hiyashi chuka are typically ramen or somen. I will go with somen for this recipe, but you can also use ramen.
Japanese summer can be brutal, so this cold noodle dish is popular during summer. The only cooking time spent is for boiling the noodles and frying the eggs, so please give this recipe a try when you want to eat a delicious dish with minimal cooking time.
Ingredients for hiyashi chuka somen
We will be using dried somen for the noodles. Some dried somen packets come with each serving already measured out for you in neat bundles, but some will not. If yours is the later version, you can measure 100 grams of dried noodles per serving.
I will serve the noodles with ham, fried eggs, Japanese cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and scallions. You can substitute the ham with boiled chicken strips or imitation crab meat.
The sauce for the noodles is a simple mix of rice vinegar, soy sauce, water, sugar, and sesame oil.
Prepare the sauce and the ingredients
Prepare the sauce
Combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, water, sugar, and sesame oil in a bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Set the sauce aside.
Make fried egg strips
Crack eggs into a bowl and stir. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat, pour the eggs into the hot pan, and cook until set. Cut the fried eggs into thin strips.
Prepare other ingredients
Cut the cucumber into thin sticks, cut the ham into thin strips, cut the cherry tomatoes into halves, and cut the scallion into thin slices.
Boil and chill the noodles
Boil a pot of water (about 8 cups), and cook the somen in the boiling water for 2 minutes, or follow the instructions on its packet.
Drain boiled somen with a strainer, and run it under cold tap water until water clears.
Transfer the noodles to a bowl of ice water to chill and stop the cooking process.
Arrange and serve the dish
Strain and divide the noodles into two bowls. Top each bowl with half the fried eggs, cucumber, ham, cherry tomatoes, and scallions.
Pour half of the sauce over each bowl of noodles right before serving, and toss gently to coat the noodles and all the other ingredients with the sauce. Enjoy immediately.
Hiyashi Chuka Somen - Japanese Cold Noodles
Ingredients
- 200 gram dried somen
- 2 eggs
- 1 Japanese cucumber
- 100 gram ham
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 1 scallion
- Sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
Instructions
- Prepare the sauce: Combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, water, sugar, and sesame oil in a bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Set the sauce aside.
- Fried egg strips: Crack eggs into a bowl and stir. Heat a little oil in a frying pan over medium heat, pour the eggs into the hot pan, and cook until set. Cut the fried eggs into thin strips.
- Prep other ingredients: Cut the cucumber into thin sticks, cut the ham into thin strips, cut the cherry tomatoes into halves, and cut the scallion into thin slices.
- Boil somen: Boil a pot of water (about 8 cups), and cook the somen in the boiling water for 2 minutes, or follow the instructions on its packet. Drain boiled somen with a strainer, and run it under cold tap water until water clears. Transfer the noodles to a bowl of ice water to chill and stop the cooking process.
- Arrange the dish: Strain and divide the noodles into two bowls. Top each bowl with half the fried eggs, cucumber, ham, cherry tomatoes, and scallions.
- Serve the dish: Pour half of the sauce over each bowl of noodles right before serving, and toss gently to coat the noodles and all the other ingredients with the sauce. Enjoy immediately.
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