そうめん, Easy Soumen noodles Recipe

そうめん, Soumen noodles are a common dish in Japan, especially in the summer. Soumen is a thin, white noodle. It's much thinner when compared to udon, ramen, or soba. Unlike ramen, which is served hot and with a strong tasting soup, soumen is often served cold and in a thin, light broth. We ate a lot of soumen this summer. Here's dinner the other night. Besides the broth, it's served with tuna, cucumber, egg, and a little nori (seaweed). My wife has a great artistic sense of food. She said it wasn't special. She's so modest. One popular way to eat it is "nagashi soumen". This is soumen served sliding down a bamboo half-pipe. You have to catch it with your chopsticks and then dip in your soup and eat. I did this once this summer at my school's Mt. Daisen camp. Great fun. They put a bucket at the end to catch anything you missed. Beat the heat with soumen!


Ingredients:

• somen noodles
• tuna
• eggs
• cucumber
• nori seaweed
• mentsuyu dipping sauce base

Directions:

1. Hard boil eggs. Peel and cut in half. (about 1 per person)
2. Thinly slice cucumber.
3. Raw somen comes in taped rolls. Unroll and boil for 1 minute.
4. Drain and rinse with cold water.
5. Mix about 1/4 cup dipping sauce base and half a cup of water.
6. Serve noodles in a dish with toppings placed artistically.
7. Place dipping sauce in a separate cup for dipping, or simply pour sauce over noodles.
8. Replace noodles, sauce, and toppings as necessary.