I am sort of the road this week, so it’s hard to cook much. When I get settled back at home, the first thing I want to make is cold noodles. What I’m craving most right now:
That is hiyashi chuuka [1], or Chinese style cold noodles. It’s a meal in one, as refreshing as a salad. I love the salty-tangy sauce. If making it from scratch is too much work, there are very good instant packets which come with the noodles and sauce. If you’ve never tried it, I hope you do at least once this summer! ((Link) [1])
The other noodles I’m craving are cold soba [2], or zarusoba. What really perks up cold soba is the condiments or yakumi. Chopped green onions are a must, but right now I am craving the fresh flavor of green shiso leaves and the zing of wasabi as well. The basic dipping sauce can also be used with other cold noodles like so-men (thin wheat noodles). I haven’t talked about how to prepare these yet, but the procedure is the same as for soba, with a shorter cooking time. The dipping sauce also works for cold udon noodles, though in the summer I prefer thinner noodles somehow.
Cold noodles, a salad perhaps, and mugicha [3] - a perfect summer meal!
Links:
[1] http://www.justhungry.com/2006/07/hiyashi_chuuka.html
[2] http://www.justhungry.com/basics-cold-soba-noodles-dipping-sauce
[3] http://justhungry.com/mugicha-barley-tea-flavor-summer