Cold Somen Noodles

Somen is a thin, fragile wheat noodle that can be bought at Japanese/Asian supermarkets. It often comes in bundles of about 100g (which amounts to one serving). You can also get the bog standard Kikkoman Somen Tsuyu (dipping sauce) and keep it in the fridge. This is suitable as a summer dish when it is unreasonably hot like it is now in Singapore.

I first encountered Somen noodles in some Korean supermarket in London's Soho; it must have been really cheap so I bought loads of it and resorted to googling for information on these noodles. I don't even recall where I first read about the technique for cooking Somen now, but a few years on I think this is indeed the perfect method of cooking these noodles, which are rather easy to overcook.


COLD SOMEN NOODLES

Ingredients
100g of Somen noodles per person
Spring onions or Chives
Somen Tsuyu

1. Boil a large pot of water
2. When water comes to a boil, put the somen in pot and stir vigorously. By this point the water will have stopped boiling because of all the somen that's been added in.
   
3. When the water has the audacity to start bubbling and boiling again, throw in a bowl of cold water to retard the boiling process so it stops boiling. Repeat this process twice. This allows the noodle to cook evenly from the inside.
   
4. Test the noodle to check that its cooked right - and if its alright then drain under cold running tap water.
   
5. Steep noodles in ice water for a few minutes, then drain again.
   
6. Serve with a small cup of somen tsuyu and garnish with thinly cut spring onions.