Somen Cold Wheat Noodle Summer Culture

Japan — Nara Prefecture Miwa Shrine area; hand-drawing technique established in Muromachi period; Hyogo Ibonoito tradition from Edo period

Somen are Japan's finest wheat noodles — stretched to less than 1.3mm diameter using an elaborate hand-drawing technique requiring days of preparation. Made from highly refined wheat flour with a small amount of oil incorporated into the dough, somen are dried, aged, and sold in bundled nests. They are quintessentially a summer food, served cold with a chilled dashi-soy-mirin tsuyu dipping sauce and garnished with finely julienned myoga ginger, negi, and sometimes a sheet of nori or toasted sesame. The nagashi-somen experience — noodles floating down a bamboo half-pipe of cold running water while diners catch them with chopsticks — is one of Japan's most beloved summer rituals.

Clean, mild wheat sweetness, silky firm texture, cold dashi-soy brightness, sharp myoga ginger, refreshing summer clean finish