Cold Somen with Ume

In a small sauce pan, make somen sauce concentrate by combining 1/4 cup sake, 1/2 cup soy sauce,1/2 cup mirin, 2 tsp dashi powder. Bring to a low simmer for 3-5 minutes and stir to dissolve the dashi, then set aside to cool. Alternatively, you can use store-bought somen sauce.

Next, julienne the cucumber, finely chop the ume into a paste, and finely chop the scallion.

Cook the somen noodles in boiling water until done, then rinse under cold water and shock in an ice bath.

In a bowl, combine the seaweed packets, ume, scallion, sesame seeds, and around 1/2 cup of sauce plus 1 cup of water (your sauce to water ratio should always be around 2:1 but you can adjust based on taste). If using store-bought tsuyu (somen sauce), add 2 servings and dilute according to directions on the bottle.

Next, toss in your noodles and give them a good mix to incorporate all of the ingredients.

Place the noodles into a new bowl, pour over the soup base mixture, then top with cucumber and a few ice cubes.