Summer is almost over...I made cold somen noodles for dinner. It takes no time and super delicious.
To serve the noodle, I like to use one of my donabe. Authentic Iga-yaki donabe is great not only as a cooking tool, but also as a serving bowl for its utility and presentation. With the naturally porous body, Iga-yaki donabe can quickly be insulated, so you can keep cold food cold for a long time in the donabe. To serve cold somen noodles, I first quickly soak the donabe in water and drain. Then, I put ice cubes inside, cover them with a round bamboo mat (optional), and put the cooked cold noodles. For this evening, I used my light-body handleless donabe, Yu Kizeto. This donabe is so cute and handy.
This time, I cooked special Yuzu Somen, from Japan. I could smell a hint of elegant yuzu from the noodle.
Dipping sauce is a simple 5:1:1 (dashi stock, mirin, soy sauce) style. Served with a mixture of shirasu (steamed baby fish), sliced shiso leaves & toasted sesame seeds, shredded nori, sliced scallion, and some shichimi pepper.
Just delicious. I made two servings and ate half. So, I simply kept the remaining noodles with the ice cubes in the donabe, covered with lid, and kept in the fridge. Jason came home about 90 minutes later and I just served it right out of the fridge. The ice cubes were still there and the noodles were very cold. That's why Iga-yaki donabe is great.
Happy donabe life.
