Rei-kishimen, fresh noodles for a tropical lunch

We are now having a nice Summer weather, as during official Summer, we were inside a sauna. So it’s ideal to lunch with rei men (chilled noodles) and enjoy hot weather fruits.
You don’t see the noodles ? It’s because they are hidden under.

They are kishimen, a type of flat udon particularly popular in Aichi, the region of Nagoya. (read more)
Served cold, they remind some white Chinese noddles they serve in Pekin’s streets.

Salmon slices ready for sashimi (it has to be frozen, don’t forget if the fishmonger didn’t do it).

Ceviche : I just covered with kabosu citrus juice cut at 50% with water, kabosu zest, a little sea salt. Let only a few minutes. The more you wait, the more your fish will be cooked.

My grandma’s technique to cut parsley thinly (yep, with scissors).

4 layers :
-a bed of grated cucumbers and minced parsley, slightly salted and later pressed to get out excess water
–kishimen noodles, boiled, refreshed in iced water
-onion slices (salted, let, rinsed) and kikuna chrysanthemum greens
-salmon kabosu ceviche

Mix and you have a very fresh salad meal.

Dragon fruit and litchis for dessert. Natto-wasabi as a side :

Chilled miso somen soup

A very simply lunch, for a busy hot day.

Boil a bundle of somen noodles. with 1/2 onion. Refresh in cold water. Put in a bowl cover with iced water.

In a second pan, make a dashi stock with kombu seaweed and dry shiitake mushroom. Add veggies (okra, bell pepper, edamame). When they’re cooked, mix in a tbs of miso and refresh with ice-cubes.

Combine the noodles and the soup. I’ve let the shiitake and I’ve cut a few ribbons from the piece of kombu seaweed.
Add toppings :

Ribbons of nori seaweed cut from a sheet. The color is slightly purple as that’s raw nori (often for sushi, it’s grilled). I’ve also added sesame, chili flakes and sticks of peel of kinosu lime (the yellow bits).

Tororo soba

It’s a very simple Japanese dish. This fresh sauce, tororo, is made from this root vegetable : Nagaimo.

Grating the nagaimo in the traditional way in a suribashi (mortar). You peel a length of that long potato and you rub it against the line of the pottery. You get this slimy texture, and that’s how we like it as it’s very refreshing. I guess some people don’t appreciate, and this vegetable is not for them.

Sudachi lime juice. A little sea salt.

Okra.

Juwari soba (100% buckwheat noodles), boiled, refreshed in iced water.

Sudachi somen

Somen + Sudachi = Freshness.
Here is another simple Summer meal.

Tsuyu dip with eringi sudachi tsukemono.

Natto with freshly grated wasabi.

Chilled shirataki noodles with black gomadare sauce

And advantage of shirataki (konnyaku noodles) is unlike other noodles, you don’t need to boil them again then chill. All you need is rinsing them in clear water.