Noodles
Taimen
Taimen — somen noodles topped with a whole simmered sea bream
A whole sea bream, lightly simmered in soy sauce, is laid atop boiled somen noodles for celebratory meals. The bream evokes the word "medetai" (auspicious) and the long noodle strands suggest lasting good fortune, making the dish a fixture at Seto Inland Sea weddings and house-raisings.
- Origin: Hiroshima
- About 690 km west of Tokyo
Lineage
What it's made of
Boiled somen noodles arranged in wave-like folds on a large platter, topped with a whole simmered sea bream and garnished with sansho buds, cucumber, shredded egg, and sweet-simmered shiitake — a celebratory dish. Bream (tai) echoes the word for "auspicious" (medetai), and somen's long, thin strands are read as a wish for lasting good fortune; served at a celebration it's called taimen, at home simply tai-somen.
How it's made
A boat-shaped mat of straw or bamboo bark is fashioned to keep the bream from breaking apart, and it's simmered gently in a large shallow pan with soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar. The noodles are boiled and arranged in waves on a platter, the bream placed on top, and garnished with sansho buds, cucumber, shredded egg, and shiitake. Diners portion it onto small plates and pour the bream's cooking broth over their share.
Why it took this shape
The Seto Inland Sea's terrain and currents are said to favor bream spawning, and a wealth of bream dishes grew up around that abundance. It's said to have been served at housewarming ceremonies, milestone birthdays, weddings, and boat launchings, with guests praising the bream's size and flavor while wishing for the celebration's good fortune to run on as long as the noodles.
Before you go
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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 Hiroshima
- Anago MeshiConger eel, grilled kabayaki-style, is sliced and layered over rice cooked in dashi—a dish from Miyajima. It uses "Seto anago," prized for the fat that fast currents help build into the fish, and is said to have begun in 1901 as a bento sold at Miyajimaguchi station.
- AzumaSardine-like mamakari, cured in vinegar, is pressed onto seasoned okara instead of vinegared rice in this coastal sushi. It is said to have begun as a way to stretch scarce rice by substituting the cheap, plentiful soy pulp, and was served at festivals and New Year's gatherings.
- Bishu NabeChicken, gizzard, and pork are simmered with nothing more than salt, pepper, and sake in this hot pot from Saijo, one of Japan's noted brewing towns. It is said to have begun as a simple meal cooked by sake brewers between batches, seasoned lightly so as not to dull their palate for tasting.
- EbamakiRice is tossed with Hiroshima-na pickle, bonito flakes, and sesame, then rolled in toasted nori—a roll from Hiroshima's Eba district, long known for seaweed cultivation. The ends are sometimes tucked shut so it can be eaten one-handed while rowing, a food born for nori fishermen working on the water.
- Fuchu-yakiA Fuchu, Hiroshima take on okonomiyaki that swaps sliced pork belly for ground beef or pork worked right into the batter, so the meat's flavor is said to come through evenly in every bite.
- GansuFish paste coated in panko and fried, a Kure, Hiroshima specialty. Said to have been devised in the postwar 1940s as a way to use leftover fish paste from kamaboko production, an unusual pairing of fried fish cake and cutlet-style crumb.