Japanese like noodles, and there are always noodle dishes they enjoy every season.
Somen (cold dipping noodles) is one of their favorites during the summer time.
Noodles are served in an ice water, usually with ice cubes to keep the noodles cold.
And dipping soup, which is also cold.
They are usually served with various toppings.
Some of the popular ones are wasabi, scallion, Shiso leaves, and Nori roasted seaweed.
This time I decided to go with diced tomatoes, ground sesame, and scallion.
Dry ramen is not only easy to make, but also perfect for this time of the year.
It’s served at the room temperature or cold, along with the acidity in the sauce is refreshing.
Happy Friday.
I had craving for ramen for a while, and I finally had time to make one.
Ramen is one of the “YES” meals.
When I ask my husband if he wants ramen, his answer is always “Yes.”
Today I made rich soup.
I’ve tried different types of soup, but this is probably our favorite.
By the way, “Kotteri” means “rich (flavor)” in Japanese.
I make a noodle bowl like this often.
I just add whatever I have in the fridge.
Sometimes I have only a few items and other times there are multiple items.
This one is pretty close to my ideal set of toppings.
Natto.
Perfectly ripe avocado.
(I struggle with the ripeness timing of avocado. When I need it, it’s not ready, and when it’s ready, I have no plan to use it!)
Wakame seaweed.
This has been my recent favorite.
I keep a dried package in my pantry all the time.
In this bowl you’ll also find kimchi and diced tomatoes.
It looks like Ramen
Well, almost!
Something is missing, right?
Did you notice there is no soup.
I like regular ramen WITH soup, but sometimes I enjoy this type of “dry” ramen.
Everything is the same, but instead of being served with soup it’s served with some kind of dressing or glaze.
This vegan “pork” I made was perfect as a topping.
Yum!!
This is a simple rice dish.
Brown rice.
Braised fried soy curd, which we call “Kitsune” in Japan.
A vegan egg.
Yum!
Kara-age is a Japanese style fried food, usually made with chicken.
Chicken is cut into bite sized pieces, marinated, coated with some coating flour (many have their own special coating mix), and fried.
This was one of my favorite chicken dishes my mother would make when I was a kid.
This turned out perfect!
Look how crispy outside.
Scrumptious!
My husband and I devoured all in no time.
This is how I made it…
I like trying new things.
I’ve tried different fillings for my vegan pot stickers.
From that experience, I’ve learned what I like and I don’t like.
So now I stick with what I like, which means I use the same mixture…
It’s super simple.
Basically garlic, ginger, onion, cabbage, and green onion.
I’ve tried tofu and mushrooms.
I typically like them in any dish, but for some reason they didn’t work out for pot stickers.
Love how crispy they are.
Once in a while I get craving for Japanese curry.
Japanese curry goes with anything, from rice, to udon, to spaghetti, to ramen noodles.
A bowl of hot soba noodle soup is always a good idea.
This doesn’t look fancy, but these are some of my favorite toppings.
