There’s one dish we eat on repeat during the summer months is cold somen noodles. Just like spaghetti, somen noodles are incredibly versatile and go well with almost any ingredients and sauce. Today, I’ve prepared Pork Shabu Shabu and Cold Somen Noodles with Sesame Miso Sauce (豚しゃぶ冷やしそうめん味噌胡麻だれ). A bit lengthy recipe name, but it’s chilled noodles served with meat and vegetables. On the side is a flavorful sauce for you to dip the noodles and toppings in. This dish is so simple to make, it may just become your go-to summer recipe as well!
Ingredients for This Recipe
I’ll break down this recipe into 3 important components below. Let’s take a look one by one!
1. Somen Noodles
Made of wheat flour and come with super thin strips, sōmen (素麺,そうめん) are the quintessential Japanese summer noodle. They are commonly served in cold preparations, and the most notable dish in Japan is nagashi sōmen – in which servings of cold somen noodles flow down a bamboo pole in front of diners. You would that catch the noodles with chopsticks and enjoy with tsuyu dipping sauce. It would be fun to serve somen in the bamboo pole in our own backyard, but we’ll keep things really simple. Because that’s what somen is about. They cook so quickly (in 2 minutes!), and the light, springy texture is a welcoming respite on a hot day.
My Favorite Somen Brand
There are many somen noodle brands available, but the one I grew up eating is called Ibonoito (揖保乃糸).
2. Pork Shabu Shabu
You’ve probably heard of the popular Japanese hot pot dish called Shabu Shabu. Thinly sliced beef or pork are cooked in kombu dashi broth along with a myriad of vegetables and mushrooms. For this recipe, I used thinly sliced pork. The flavor is more subtle and it is a good pick for the hot summer when you don’t have much appetite. The thinly-sliced meat is cooked in boiling water super fast, like in a few seconds! You just need to add sake to the water to mask the smell of the pork before dunking the meat in the ice bath to chill.
3. Delicious Sesame Miso Sauce
Typically, somen noodles are dipped into Tsuyu (つゆ) or sometimes called Mentsuyu (麺つゆ). It’s a dashi and soy sauce-based noodle soup base to make hot noodle soup or noodle dipping sauce.
Store-bought bottle of mentsuyu My homemade metnsuyu (recipe)
For this recipe, I wanted to make it a bit more savory so I’ve added my favorite Barley Miso from Hikari Miso and a spoonful of ground sesame seeds to lend more character.
My Favorite Barley Miso from Hikari Miso
This organic barley miso (mugi miso) from Hikari Miso has a sweet note with a unique aroma of barley koji. This miso is made by adding barley koji, instead of rice koji, into soybeans! You can get this barley miso at Japanese/Asian grocery stores or online, but in case you can’t find one, use your favorite miso to make the dipping sauce. In fact, it’s nice to change up the miso so you don’t get bored with the same flavor!
Cooking Tips
Somen Noodles
Always use a big pot of water to cook the noodles. Remove all the wrapping of the noodles. Somen noodles cook fast, only 1.5 to 2 minutes! Therefore, you need to act fast. The noodles should be added to the boiling water at the same time! After draining water, wash the noodles as if you are washing clothes by kneading or gently massaging. This is the proper way! Somen noodles use oil to achieve its thinness, so we need to make sure to remove the oil.
Pork Shabu Shabu
Use thinly sliced pork loin from the Japanese/Korean/Chinese market. If you live in the Peninsula (SF Bay Area), I recommend thinly sliced meats (and sashimi-grade fish) from Suruki Market in San Mateo. Amazing tender meat! Add sake in boiling water to remove any unpleasant smell from the pork. Don’t overcook. As soon as it’s no longer pink, it’s done, just in a few seconds!
Dipping Sauce
Grind the sesame seeds in a Japanese pestle and mortar for the best texture. If you don’t have one (I highly recommend getting one!), you can use a coffee/spice grinder or a rolling pin. Each brand of mentsuyu (noodle soup base) has a different concentration level. More about that in this post.
How to Eat Somen Noodles
Just in case you’ve never had this dish… here’s a quick guide on how to eat the somen noodles. Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.
