Somen : Silky, Springy Noodles
Ask anyone in the Setouchi region about the quintessential summer noodle and there’ll be one variety on everyone’s lips: somen (そうめん). Snow-white, super-thin, mild-tasting wheat noodles, they’re the essential accompaniment (and antidote) to the stifling Japanese summer heat. During the summer months, somen becomes a national staple across Japan, traditionally served chilled, often separated into convenient mouth-sized swirls ready to be scooped up by a pair of chopsticks, and dipped into a refreshingly light, soy sauce seasoned dashi dipping sauce called mentsuyu.
Hayashi Somen is a classic summertime dish of cold somen noodles served with a chilled dipping sauce and a variety of toppings.
Somen is often also served as nagashi-somen (流しそうめん), when chilled somen is sent down a long makeshift bamboo water flume with children and adults ready at the sides with chopsticks in hand poised to catch the somen as it slides and tumbles down the chute. This is both summertime entertainment and a demonstration of the surprising strength of these ethereally thin noodles. (Their diameter ranges from a mere 1.3 mm down to an ultra-refined 0.3 mm.) They are noodles with a delicate taste yet are satisfyingly chewy; noodles that can fill you up but not feel heavy.
Because of its unique qualities, somen is enjoyed year-round, including in a traditional warm winter soup called nyumen and a wide range of other cold and hot dishes—salads, soups, and stir-fries—many of which are Asian and Western fushion dishes that take advantage of somen’s ability to blend into any kind of cuisine because of its mild taste and ease with which it absorbs a sauce.
Moriyoshi Kanayama, the 6th generation master at Kanayama Seimen, separates the strands of somen as they stretch and dry.
The history of somen stretches back centuries. Historical sources date somen’s origins to China’s Tang dynasty (618-907) and the arrival at the Japanese Imperial Court in Nara of a knotted pastry from China called sakubei. This pastry was made from wheat flour, rice flour, and water that was kneaded, stretched, and dried—a process that mirrors how traditional hand-stretched somen is made today.
Sakubei is said to have first evolved into somen around the modern-day city of Sakurai in Nara prefecture’s Miwa district, where somen makers developed a painstaking process of repeatedly rolling, stretching, and drying noodle dough made from three ingredients—wheat, water, and salt, with salt being key to binding the dough into its final strong, elastic threads. From Miwa, somen production spread across the Setouchi, as the islands and coastal regions of the Setouchi are perfectly suited for somen production due to their access to high-quality sea salt, water, and wheat. Later, somen-making went nation-wide towards the end of the Edo period (1603-1868).
Modern somen production can be largely divided into traditional hand-stretched somen and factory-produced machine-made somen. Sometimes the line between the two can look blurred because hand-stretched somen is almost always assisted by machines. However, these somen machines are decades old and mimic the stretching process, lessening the burden on traditional somen makers.
The real difference between traditional hand-stretched and factory-produced machine-made somen is in the taste. The main factor is the amount of time the dough and noodles are left to prove during the all-important stretching process. In the traditional method, the dough rests before being rolled flat and sliced into strips. The strips are rolled again, brushed with oil, and stretched once more. The threads are then left to prove for another twelve or more hours (depending on the region and the method) and stretched again. Finally, the noodles are air-dried for at least thirty hours, adjusting for the season and any climactic nuances of the locale, cut, and packaged into ready-to-boil bundles.
The constant stretching and proving of the noodles in this way creates traditionally-made somen’s unique glutenous chewy texture, often referred to as “koshi” (こし). This texture is difficult for factory-produced machine-made somen to recreate. For factory somen makers, time is of the essence due to the need to keep costs low and output high, and their somen dough is pressed, cut into thin threads, and dried straight away.
While, today, the Miwa district is known as the birthplace and spiritual home of Japanese somen culture and its somen, branded “Miwa Somen”, some of the finest somen in Japan, the brands “Shodoshima Somen” from the Setouchi island of Shodoshima and “Banshu Somen” made along Hyogo prefecture’s Setouchi coastline are also highly revered. These three branded regions are considered by many to be the three top somen-producing areas in the country.
You can also find small artisanal somen makers all across the Setouchi region. In the town of Fukura on the southern tip of Awaji Island, you can find a small cluster of somen producers. Fukura is best known for its fishing and whitebait industry, however, during the Edo period, some fishing families turned to somen-making as a way to bolster earnings when strong winds prevented their fishing boats from heading out to sea.
One of the main somen makers in Fukura is Moriyoshi Kanayama, the 6th generation master at Kanayama Seimen and the current chairman of the Association of Awaji Hand-Stretched Somen Makers. Moriyoshi’s ancestor and the founder of Kanayama Seimen, Shichihei Kanayama, is credited as being Awaji’s first somen maker, learning the trade in Nara’s famous Miwa district and bringing that knowledge back to the island in 1865.
In its heyday, Awaji boasted a thriving cottage somen industry of 137 small to medium-sized makers on the island. With increased mechanization, the race for quantity, and a lack of younger generations to carry on the family business, the number of somen makers on the island slowly declined. Today, there are just twelve left, including Moriyoshi who continues to fly the flag for Awaji Somen, creating his moreish somen using the same traditional methods that have served his family for generations.
The somen noodles were left to prove overnight and are now ready to be stretched. Traditionally in Fukura, noodles are left overnight under the floorboards where temperature and humidity are more constant.
Today, most hand-stretched somen is machine-assisted. These somen machines are decades old and mimic the stretching motion, lessening the burden on traditional somen makers.
Tenobe Somen La Fuku 手延べそうめん処ら福
Ko-1529-3, Minamiawaji, Hyogo 656-0501
Tel: +81 (0)80-8348-8954
https://www.instagram.com/lafuku_tenobesomen/
Kanayama Seimen is situated deep in Fukura’s fishing settlement. The best way to taste Kanayama’s somen noodles is to visit their newly opened restaurant “Tenobe Somen La Fuku”, which is conveniently located a stone’s throw away from Awaji’s famous puppet theater: (https://awajiningyoza.com/en/)
Where To Buy
You can find packets of dried somen noodles in almost all supermarkets and department stores across Japan. Try comparing the different regional somen noodles and pick out their characteristics. For traditionally-made somen, look for packets marked with the word tenobe (手延べ), which means hand-stretched. Dried somen keeps very well, and, in fact, some people believe that its flavor improves by being aged over time—up to a year.
In the Setouchi region, you’ll find clusters of somen makers on Shodoshima and Awaji islands, in Tokushima prefecture on Shikoku Island (a major wheat producing area), and in Hyogo prefecture on Honshu Island. If you’re going to to the famous castle town of Himeji in Hyogo prefecture, head over to neighboring Tatsuno City, where you’ll find Ibonito Somen, which operates a museum highlighting all you need about somen.
Ibonoito Somen Museum
56 Kamiokachō, Okumura, Tatsuno, Hyogo 679-4101
https://www.ibonoito.or.jp/soumennosato/
How to Use
While somen noodles are traditionally eaten chilled, dipped into a cold soy sauce seasoned dashi dipping sauce, a dish called Hiyashi Somen, or served in a hot soup called Nyumen, somen is very versatile and can be used in all kinds of preparations. Its chief benefits are that they are a deceptively light, mild-tasting noodle, making somen a good companion to other light-tasting foods, like seafood and fish, chicken, pork, and especially fresh vegetables. Somen will help make the dish more substantial while taking a backseat to the other flavors, including dressings and sauces.
In addition, somen doesn’t break easily, despite its thinness, and can hold up to various types of cooking methods, such as being stir-fried. Last, somen is made without eggs, making it a vegan/vegetarian noodle.
Suggested uses include:
Add them to cold and hot soups, like chilled gazpacho and hot chicken soup,
Use them to make refreshing cold noodle salads topped with all kinds of meats, tofu, and vegetables,
Add them to stir fries,
Use somen instead of egg noodles in noodle casseroles and pasta dishes, especially when making seafood noodle dishes.
How to Prepare
Somen cooks very quickly, which, in itself, is another one of its advantages. We recommend two ways to do this.
Sashimizu Method
Fill a deep, wide fry pan with plenty of water; enough to allow the somen noodles room to move freely. If the pan is too small or if you don’t use enough water, the somen will stick together. Bring the water to a fast, rolling boil over high heat, add the somen, and gently stir with chopsticks.
When the water has returned to a rolling boil, add 1 cup (240 ml) of cold water.
Once the water returns to a rolling boil again, turn off the heat, drain the noodles, and quickly cool them down under running cold water or in an ice bath, swirling them around with your hand to remove any stickiness.
Drain again, squeezing and pressing down on the noodles, and either use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator.
Setouchi Home Cooks’ Method
Begin with Step 1 above. Then, after gently stirring the somen with chopsticks, cover the pot, and turn off the heat. The residual heat will be enough to cook the noodles.
After 4-5 minutes, drain the noodles, and cool them down under running water or in an ice bath, swirling them around with your hand to remove any stickiness.
Drain again, squeezing and pressing down on the noodles, and either use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and chill them in the refrigerator.