Chilled Chinese noodles with vegan toppings

Ramen is a popular dish in Japan all year round. In summer, we have seasonal ramen “Hiyashi Chuka (冷やし中華)” that literally means “chilled Chinese”. It is a cold dish made with ramen noodles and various toppings. I had thought for a long time that it had come from China, but actually it was invented in Japan.

You can eat Hiyashi Chuka in ramen shops at this time of year, but instant products are also available in supermarkets. Like other ramen products, they usually have soup made from dried bonito broth in the package, so I had never bought one until recently. But Last Sunday, when I was in Mori-machi with my mother, I happened to find a product that seemed to be vegan.

The picture on the packages shows popular toppings for Hiyashi Chuka such as cucumber, tomato, ham, omelet cut into strips, prawns, and okra. The first four toppings are very common both in restaurants and at home. The package contained noodles and soup for two portions. The soup was made from brewed vinegar, salt, plant oil, soy sauce, seasonings (amino acid, etc.), acidifier, and caramel coloring.

For topping, I used another instant food “Seaweed & Konjac Salad” instead of omelet and ham.

To make this salad, you only need to soak seaweed in water for ten minutes and drain, rinse konjaku, and sprinkle your favorite dressing on them. I used half of them for the toppings of Hiyashi Chuka.

The noodles were also easy to prepare. It took only five minutes to boil them. After that I cooled the noodles with running water. In addition to the soup, seaweed, konjac, I also added sliced tomato and cucumber strips.

Konjac is jelly made from konjac yam roots. To my mind, it is almost tasteless, but it is said to be good for diet as it is rich in dietary fiber.

The combination of cold noodles and soup containing vinegar was very good. It was refreshing and stimulated my appetite. I also added some sesame oil, which made the noodles more delicious.