HIYASHI CHUKA (COLD RAMEN)
A delicious, refreshing cold noodle salad that is perfect for summer!
Servings: 8 Servings
Ingredients
Dressing
- 6 Tbsp soy sauce Any all purpose soy like Kikkoman will work, or substitute half with Ponzu for a hint of citrus
- 4 Tbsp sugar Adjust to taste! Start with 2 tablespoons
- 3 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 Tbsp sesame oil
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds roasted/toasted
- ¼ tsp ginger grated
- ½-1 tsp la-yu, optional Japanese chili oil
Egg crepe, shredded
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 2 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt kosher or sea salt; use half if using table salt
- neutral flavor oil vegetable, canola, etc
Toppings
- 1/4-1/2 pound Bay shrimp
- 1 Persian/Japanese cucumbers or 1/3 English cucumber, julienned
- 1 iceberg lettuce shredded, or use romaine lettuce
- ½ Tomato cut into wedges, or cherry tomatoes quartered
- 3-4 slices Honey Ham Sub bbq pork, or honey turkey, Canadian bacon, julienned
- 4-6 imitation crab meat kanikam or splurge and use real crab, or fish cake, shredded or julienned
- 1/2 cup Kaiware radish sprouts or green onions, chopped
Other toppings
- Poached chicken or leftover soy sauce chicken shredded, in place of ham
- Julienned carrots
- dried wakame seaweed
- shredded nori seaweed kizami nori
Noodles
- 2 package fresh ramen noodles 12 ounces each substitute dry ramen noodles, or Lo-mien
Garnish
- 1 Tbsp white sesame seeds roasted/toasted
- Japanese karashi hot mustard optional
- pickled red ginger beni shoga or kizami beni shoga, optional
Instructions
- Combine dressing ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside or if made in advance, store in fridge.
- For eggs, make thin egg crepes and cut it into thin strips. Heat oil in non-stick pan over medium heat. Pour the egg mixture into the pan, tilt & swirl pan to distribute egg. Like making a crepe. Cook until set and flip egg over. You will have a few brown spots, but should be predominantly yellow. Slide crepe onto a plate and reserve. When it is cool enough you can roll the egg crepe up and cut it into thin strips.
- You can use large prawns if you like, but I like using bay shrimp which generally come precooked. Easy peasy.
- Cut all the topping ingredients as directed.
- For the noodles, bring a pot of water to a boil and add the noodles. Separate the noodles before dropping into water. Cook according to package directions. Drain the water and rinse the noodles to remove starch. Allow noodles to cool completely. Chill in fridge if desire. Place noodles in a serving bowl and mix half of dressing into noodles.
- Place all the toppings and pour the remaining dressing on salad before serving. Serve with karashi hot mustard and pickled ginger on the side, if desired. Refer to pics, ingredients are usually arranged in a radial pattern on top of the noodles.