When the heat and humidity of Tokyo's summers bear down we try and do as little cooking as possible. Cold noodles always hit the spot like soumen or soba. Another favorite cold noodle dish we love is reimen, a popular food from Morioka in Iwate prefecture in Tohoku.
The toppings are simple. Julienned cucumbers, kimchi, julienned Japanese omelet, and some stir-fried beef. I believe this dish is traditionally served with a hard-boiled egg but we were in a rush to get our lunch on the table. To this you could also add some fruit tomatoes or for some sweetness some thinly sliced nashi.
When we lived in New York we often bought several packages of reimen at H-Mart, the Korean supermarket. Back in Tokyo, our neighborhood Seiyu supermarket had several brands of reimen in the refrigerator section. This pack comes from Osaka Tsuruhashi, a famous part of Osaka for its many Korean shops.
The noodles only need to be cooked for a minute. The package comes with a pack of lightly flavored dashi. I love to freeze the packet for a little bit some some of the soup stock is slightly frozen like a slushy.
If you can't make this at home, look for it at Iwate restaurants like Pyon-Pyon Sha in Ginza. Alternatively, many Korean restaurants will serve this dish in the summertime.
