3 Summer Noodles

Today I'm sharing three noodles that are perfect for the season. So the first one is soba noodle salad. And this beautiful summer tomato is where I want to start. Then let's add some maitake, a Japanese mushroom. I saute in the butter and finish with a little soy sauce. Then cook the soba. When it starts bubbling up like this, give it a few more minutes. And chill it well in cold water. And shake off the water really well. Now I just build the salad. Fresh green, ripened tomatoes, sauteed maitake. Get a little crunchy. And finish with a simple tsuyu dressing. So right now I am collecting some shiso I need to use for my next summer noodles. Now I have everything. I'm ready to show you how to make creamy walnut somen. My grandmother used to make this every summer. She never wrote down the recipe, but somehow I was able to recreate it from memory. As I was making it, I could almost see myself as a child again, sitting next to her and watching her cook. Here comes my favorite part, grinding. This is really a two-person job. One person grinds while the other holds the suribachi bowl. I remember doing this together. Now I'm done with grinding. Move the mix to a bigger bowl. Add two cups of water. Then mix. Here I added my own step, grilling the miso to deepen the flavor and bring out its aroma. Add miso to the mixture and add some salt if you like. After you cook the somen, let it cool. Now it's ready to serve. Now I can't wait to have this for lunch. Ah, so satisfying. For my third summer noodles, I wanted to turn these beautiful tomatoes into ramen, but this time no pork, no chicken, no fish. The entire bowl is plant-based. So tomatoes are really the base of the flavor, so I wanted to keep everything else simple. For the seasoning, I'm mixing two kinds of miso with a little gochujang for some heat. For the broth, I'm keeping it simple with kongudashi. Use a generous amount of the negi here and if you stir-fry with the garlic, it becomes part of the flavor base. Then the miso mixture goes in. Let it churn slightly in the pan to build a deeper smoky flavor. And finally, plenty of fresh tomatoes. Now add sake, soy sauce, and sugar. Let the tomatoes shimmer until they soften and the natural sweetness starts to come through. Now in goes the kongudashi to turn it into a light umami rich broth. For this one, I'm using a thin wavy ramen noodle. I think the lighter texture works really well with this tomato broth. And don't throw away the kombu. I slice it thin and bring it right back as a topping. I think I found a new summer favorite. I really like the flavor. If you're curious about Japanese food and the stories behind it, subscribe and join me for the next one.