Somen Salad
This is an old family fave we always had at parties. Total simple to make and so light that you could eat the whole tray yourself.
But don’t.
salad ingredients:
½ pkg. somen (8-10 oz), boiled
1 head lettuce, chopped
1-1/2 cups char siu sliced in thin strips
2 eggs, fried crepe style & sliced in thin strips
¾ of a kamaboko sliced in strips
2 stalks green onion, chopped
dressing ingredients:
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup sesame oil
1/8 cup cooking oil
3 Tablespoons vinegar
2 Tablespoons shoyu
Bring a large pot of water to boil and add the somen noodles. Boil the somen in water for only 2 minutes, don’t go over or I swear it will be glue-like. Immediately rinse it or it will continue to cook. I usually run my (clean) hand through it cause it’s still hot in the middle – see photo.
Start cutting up all the ingredients, I suggest small “matchstick”-like pieces, they are easy to eat, but take time to cut. In case you don’t know what KAMABOKO is – it’s a “fish cake”. Don’t freak, it’s not that bad, it has virtually no taste it just adds a lot of color. You’ll sometimes see it floating in a bowl of hot Japanese noodles.
In a 9″ x 13″ pan, start laying down the ingredients, first, the cooled, drained noodles. Then the lettuce. (If you don’t like romaine you can just use a small head of iceberg.) Then the char siu or “barbequed pork” you can usually find this at any panda express or asian market. Don’t worry about the red dye, just eat it. Next come the lovely yellow eggs…and finally the kamaboko and green onion!
Mix together all the dressing ingredients and pour it on the salad before you serve!
Thanks for sharing this recipe Jenn! I made it and the family loved it. I did learn a lesson though — don’t cook the somen noodles without separating them… haha.. I had big gobs/tubes of somen noodles.