Cold Ramen aka Hiyashi Chuka
Let me talk about summer in Japan.
It is HOT and HUMID.
All my Marylanders can agree that summer in Maryland can get pretty gross. But, that cannot even compare to what it’s like in Japan.
To get through hot and sticky (it sounds wrong lol) summer, Japanese people have come up with a number of different ways to feel more refreshed and cool.
One example is through food. You know how much we love some good ramen, right?
If you ever go to Japan, you’ll see ramen restaurants everywhere. When I say everywhere, really, EVERYWHERE.
Unfortunately though, ramen is quite hot, and I wouldn’t say it’s refreshing? Maybe not something you’d be looking to eat during summer.
(Personally, I like some “hot food on a hot day detoxing” situation😂)
Anyways, to get through some hot summer days, Japanese people created “Hiyashi Chuka.”
So, what the heck really is Hiyashi Chuka??
If I were to directly translate it, it quite literally means “cold Chinese.”
But, basically, it is chilled ramen noodles with colorful toppings like cucumbers, ham, imitation crabs, strips of cooked eggs, etc. with either soy sauce based sauce or sesame based sauce. As far as toppings-wise, really, you can put anything on it. You can arrange it your own way!
Making it your way.
I mean, that’s the beautiful thing about cooking right?
That’s why I love it so much. I can always be creative😌
I hope y’all had a great weekend!
Remember, this pandemic is still going strong and BLM is not over, so let’s show some support for each other. Play your part and make sure you WEAR A MASK!
Alright, so, here is the recipe!
Hiyashi Chuka
Ingredients
- 1 small seedless cucumber
- 4 slices ham
- 1 large egg
- 6 pieces imitation crab
- 4 cherry tomatoes
- 2 packets ramen noodles (please do not use top ramen/cup noodle noodles. get fresh ones or chow mein noodles for this recipe.)
Sauce Ingredients
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp vinegar (I used rice vinegar for mine.)
- 5 tbsp water
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
- Combine all the sauce ingredients and set it aside.
- Cook the noodles as the instruction says, and once cooked, run the noodles with cold water. (It usually takes about 3 minutes for the noodles to cook in boiled water.)
- Cut a cucumber, ham, imitation crabs, and tomatoes into small pieces and set aside.
- For eggs, whisk together the eggs and salt. Heat the oil in the pan over medium heat. Pour the eggs into the pan and cook both sides. Once cooked, cut it into thin slices. (Basically, make a thin egg crepe and cut it.)
- Put the noodles on a plate, place all the toppings on top, and pour the sauce mixture.