Noodles
Sumiso Somen
Sumiso somen — chilled somen noodles dressed in sweetened vinegar-miso
A dressing of miso, vinegar, and sugar is poured over boiled somen noodles. In a prefecture where soybean miso runs deep, the vinegar is said to lighten the dish for summer, its roots said to overlap with the vinegar-brewing tradition around Handa.
- Origin: Aichi Nagoya
- About 270 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
Sumiso somen is boiled somen noodles topped with a sweet-sour miso sauce made from miso, vinegar, and sugar. In Aichi, where red soybean miso is deeply woven into everyday cooking, this is said to be a favorite miso dish for summer. Vinegar production centered around Hatcho and nearby Handa, together with somen noodle-making long practiced in nearby Hekinan and Anjo, are said to be part of why the dish took root.
How it's made
The dish is as simple as making a sauce from miso, vinegar, and sugar and pouring it over boiled somen noodles. The vinegar is said to soften the rich depth of the red soybean miso, making it mellower and easier to eat on a hot day. If the sauce is too thick to coat the noodles well, it is said to help to thin it with a little dashi.
Why it took this shape
Red soybean miso is made from soybean koji fermented and aged for a long stretch, at least a year and reportedly sometimes two or three. Adding vinegar to this rich miso is said to make it refreshing enough to eat even when appetite fades in summer heat, and combined with the miso's nutritional value, the dish is said to be valued as a way to guard against summer fatigue, particularly around Nagoya.
Before you go
- How to read a ticket machineShops that use a ticket machine (shokken-ki) often place their most popular items in a similar spot.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
- What staff say, and how to respondCommon set phrases you'll hear at restaurants, with what they mean and what to do when you hear them. You don't need to memorize them — just recognizing them is enough.
Dishes in the same style
- Abura SobaNo broth is poured at all — noodles are tossed in a soy-and-sesame-oil tare pooled at the bottom of the bowl, said to have started at shops in the Musashino area in the late 1950s, with vinegar and chili oil stirred in partway through.
- Abura ZomenPork and somen are fried together with a splash of broth, the oil and stock emulsifying into a silky coat on the noodles. Just how somen took root in wheat-free Amami isn't clear, but the dish is a fixture whenever people gather, not least for the August Dance festival.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Aichi
- Funa MisoCrucian carp is simmered slowly with soybeans for around five hours, then finished in a sauce of red miso and coarse sugar. A freshwater fish dish of the Kiso rivers' lower basin, made with fatty winter carp simmered until the bones soften through.
- Gohei MochiFreshly cooked non-glutinous rice is pounded, pressed flat on a skewer, and grilled with a miso glaze. Said to have originated in the mountainous Chubu region, it's traditionally made the night before a festival praying for safety in mountain work.
- Aichi HakozushiVinegared rice is packed into a wooden frame, topped with shrimp, eel, shiitake, and egg arranged diagonally, and pressed. Placing toppings on the diagonal so everyone gets a fair share of each is said to be a feature of the Owari and western Mikawa style, made for celebrations.
- Hebo MeshiAdult and larval giant hornets are simmered sweet and savory, then folded into freshly cooked rice. Said to have served as a prized protein source across the mountains from Shinshu to Okumikawa, it's now more often served as a treat for guests.
- Iga ManjuSweet bean paste is wrapped in rice flour dough, then coated with dyed sticky rice grains. One account ties the name to the grains' resemblance to a chestnut's spiny husk, and in the western Mikawa region it's said to be offered to Hina dolls at the Doll Festival.
- Aichi Miso OdenA pot of sweet red miso sits in the center of the simmering pot, and daikon, tofu, and other ingredients simmered in dashi are dipped into it before eating. While soy-based Kanto-style oden spread in Edo, Aichi is said to have settled on dipping in soybean miso instead.