Japanese Recipe: Hiyashi Chuuka

Hiyashi is a noodle dish that’s a summer favorite in Japan. It’s a dish served cold with a variety of Western salad-type toppings, including ham, cucumbers and tomatoes. But, beni shoga and nori ensure that this dish is still Japanese.

Hiyashi is Japanese for “cold” and chuuka are the Chinese-style noodles (ramen, FYI) used for this recipe. Hiyashi chuuka: Cold noodles.

Poured over the entire ensemble is a tasty sweet and sour dressing (tare) that really makes the fresh veggies pop. This is an easy, cheap and flavorful way to use all those farmer market purchases! Here’s what I used when I made Hiyashi chuuka:

Hiyashi Chuuka

Ingredients:

• 4 portions of fresh Chinese-style egg noodles or ramen (linguine or spaghetti may be used in lieu of ramen)
• 1 tomato, sliced into wedges
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
• 1/4 head of cabbage thinly sliced, sautéed and chilled
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, julienned
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. mirin, optional
• 2 crab sticks, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• beni shoga or gari to garnish, optional
• nori shreds to garnish, optional
• Sesame Tare, recipe follows
• *Of course, use whatever veggies you want; fresh or cooked, as long as they’re cold.

Sesame Tare

• Scant 1/4 cup water
• 3 tbsp rice vinegar (white wine vinegar may be used as substitute)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp dark sesame oil

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate. (I actually used a jar and shook up all the ingredients in there with an ice cube…worked beautifully)

Directions:

1. Cook noodles according to directions. Rinse in cold water and add some ice cubes to noodles. Drain as necessary.
2. Beat eggs together with sugar and mirin, if using. Heat frying pan and pour 1/2 the egg mix in and swirl around pan so that there is a light even coat of egg in pan. Cook until done. Repeat. Slice crepe- style omelet into thin strips. Put in freezer to cool.
3. Divide noodles evenly on plates. Arrange toppings in an aesthetically pleasing manner (or not) on chilled plates. Garnish with beni shoga or gari and nori strips, if using. Serve. Right before eating, pour tare over hiyashi chuuka.

This was a really easy recipe to make. I find that the Japanese pescetarian and vegetarian fare is inexpensive and simple to prepare. If you’re not either of those, chicken or pork strips may be substituted instead of the “crab” sticks.

I liked hiyashi chuuka because it:

• Was really easy to make.
• Gave me a way to showcase all those in season veggies.
• Is really elegant on the plate and looks like hard work.

I didn’t like this dish because:

• If it’s that damn hot out to be eating chilled meals, it’s too damn hot to be boiling water for the noodles and heating up frying pans for omelets. The only people who benefit from this cooling dish are the ones at the table who didn’t make it. *end bitter tirade*

This is a must try dish as we head into the dog days of August, aka, hottest, most miserable time of the year. You’ll enjoy the way the flavors all come together in a crisp, refreshing meal.

Difficulty: Easy | Time: 30 minutes | Ingredient Availability: Easy