, ''somyeon'' (), or ''sùmiàn'' () is a very thin

noodle Noodles are a type of food made from unleavened dough which is either rolled flat and cut, stretched, or extruded, into long strips or strings. Noodles are a staple food in many cultures and made into a variety of shapes. The most common noo ...

made of

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of common wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ...

, less than 1.3 mm in diameter. The noodles are used extensively in East Asian cuisines. Japanese ''sōmen'' is made by stretching the dough with vegetable oil, forming thin strands that are then air dried for later use. This is distinct from a similar thin noodle, ''

hiyamugi Hiyamugi () are very thin dried Japanese noodles made of wheat. They are similar to but slightly thicker than the thinnest Japanese noodle type called '' sōmen''. The Western-style noodle that most closely resembles ''hiyamugi'' is probably vermi ...

'', which is knife-cut. In Japan, ''sōmen'' is usually served cold with a light dipping sauce called ''tsuyu''. South Korean ''somyeon'' may be eaten in hot or cold noodle soups. ''Sōmen'' is typically high in

sodium Sodium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Na (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 element, group 1 of the peri ...

. Other names are ''nyūmen'' (煮麺) in Japanese, for a version served warm in soup, and the Chinese name ''guàmiàn'' (), which can be further classified into ''lóngxū'' () for the variant with long and thin strands and ''fèngwei'' () for the variant with flat and broad strands.

History

The earliest record for what would later be ''sōmen'' dates back to the Tang dynasty in 618-907 China. Around that time, the Japanese Imperial Court in Nara brought in some knotted pastry from China which they called sakubei/索餅 (most likely Chinese mahua/麻花). Sakubei later evolved into somen first in modern-day

Sakurai, Nara file:Sakurai city-office.jpg, 270px, Sakurai City Hall is a city located in Nara Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 54,384 in 25678 households, and a population density of 550 persons per km2. The total area of the city i ...

's Miwa district during the

Heian Period The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

and then evolved to become high-class Japanese cuisine served to emperors and nobles.

East Asian cuisines

Japan

Sōmen are usually served cold with a light flavored dipping sauceHiking in Japan - Richard Ryall, Craig McLachlan, David Joll
p. 177. or ''tsuyu''. The tsuyu is usually a ''

katsuobushi is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'', sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes or broadly as . Shaved ''katsuobushi'' and dried kelp—''kombu''—are the main ingredients of ...

''-based sauce that can be flavored with Japanese bunching onion,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is an herbaceous perennial that grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of l ...

, or '' myoga''. In the summer, sōmen chilled with ice is a popular meal to help stay cool. Sōmen served in hot soup is usually called ''nyūmen'' and eaten in the winter, just like

soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") are Japanese noodles made primarily from buckwheat flour, with a small amount of wheat flour mixed in. It has an ashen brown color, and a slightly grainy texture. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sau ...

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a soup as with a mild broth called made from dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usual ...

are. Some restaurants offer ''nagashi-sōmen'' (流しそうめん flowing noodles) in the summer. The noodles are placed in a long

flume A flume is a human-made channel for water, in the form of an open declined gravity chute whose walls are raised above the surrounding terrain, in contrast to a trench or ditch. Flumes are not to be confused with aqueducts, which are built to t ...

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

across the length of the restaurant. The flume carries clear, ice-cold water. As the sōmen pass by, diners pluck them out with their chopsticks and dip them in

tsuyu Tsuyu may refer to: * East Asian rainy season (梅雨) * Dipping sauce or soup served with Japanese noodles * Tsuyu Asui (蛙吹梅雨), a character in the manga and anime series ''My Hero Academia'' * (ツユ), a mu ...

. Catching the noodles requires a fair amount of dexterity, but the noodles that are not caught by the time they get to the end usually are not eaten, so diners are pressured to catch as much as they can. A few luxury establishments put their sōmen in real streams so that diners can enjoy their meal in a beautiful garden setting. Machines have been designed to simulate this experience at home. File:Simple somen.jpg, Sōmen (in large white bowl at upper-right) with assorted toppings File:Nagashi somen by tasteful tn.jpg, ''Nagashi-sōmen'' File:Somen champru by ayustety in Naha, Okinawa.jpg, ''Sōmin Chanpurū''.

Okinawan cuisine is the cuisine of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The cuisine is also known as , a reference to the Ryukyu Kingdom. Due to differences in culture, historical contact between other regions, climate, vegetables and other ingredients, Okinawan cuisine ...

Korea

Korean cuisine Korean cuisine is the set of foods and culinary styles which are associated with Korean culture. This cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient Prehistoric Korea, agricultural and nomad ...

, ''somyeon'' is used in hot and cold noodles soups such as ''

janchi-guksu ''Janchi-guksu'' () or banquet noodles is a Korean noodle dish consisting of wheat flour somyeon noodles in a light broth made from anchovy and sometimes also '' dasima'' (kelp). Beef broth may be substituted for the anchovy broth. It is serv ...

'' (banquet noodles) and '' kong-guksu'' (noodles in cold soybean soup), as well as soupless noodle dishes such as '' bibim-guksu'' (mixed noodles). It is often served with spicy '' anju'' (food that accompanies alcoholic drink) such as '' golbaengi-muchim'' (moon snail salad). File:Janchi-guksu.jpg, ''

Janchi-guksu ''Janchi-guksu'' () or banquet noodles is a Korean noodle dish consisting of wheat flour somyeon noodles in a light broth made from anchovy and sometimes also '' dasima'' (kelp). Beef broth may be substituted for the anchovy broth. It is serv ...

'' File:Korean noodles-Kongguksu-01.jpg, '' Kong-guksu'' File:Bibim-guksu.jpg, '' Bibim-guksu'' File:Golbaengi-muchim.jpg, '' Golbaengi-muchim'' served with boiled ''somyeon''

Gallery

File:Five-colour somyeon 1.jpg, Five-colour ''somyeon'' File:Somyeon.jpg, Boiled ''somyeon''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Somen Chinese noodles Cold noodles East Asian noodles Japanese noodles Korean noodles