john ricciardi's home page - www.nokonoko.net

August 30, 2003

nagashi-somen

Reading about somen on Noriko's page earlier today reminded me of my visit to Kamakura last week. There, I had a chance to try out nagashi-somen, which was definitely one of the more unique eating experiences I've had since coming to Japan. According to the Niigata Prefecture home page, "Nagashi-somen is a summer favorite of many Japanese people; very thin, white noodles are put in water flowing along a long sink, from which diners catch the noodles with their chopsticks and dip them in a cool broth before eating them."

If it sounds a bit strange, that's because it is. But it was fun! I took a video of it so the rest of you can see it in action. Unfortunately it's a little big (almost five megs), but hopefully you can deal. Check it out here.

Posted by john tv at August 30, 2003 11:48 PM | TrackBack
Comments

That is pretty interesting. Is that all they served there, kind of like at Ramen noodle houses or did they actually have waiters and waitresses to take alternative orders? This is the first time I've ever seen a restaurant in such a setting.

Posted by: Ryu at August 31, 2003 02:32 AM

Wow, that is so cool. What is the broth you dip the noodle in? Is it flavored? Or are the noodles flavored? That is so cool.

Posted by: Parisi at August 31, 2003 08:20 AM

Truly awesome. Looks really nice for summer eats.

Posted by: James at September 1, 2003 08:45 AM

Ryu: They had other stuff, like different kinds of noodles and tempura and such. But from the looks of it, the somen was the main attraction.

Par: You dip it in mentsuyu, which is a kind of soy sauce-based broth used for soba and somen noodles. You can read about it here: http://www.bob-an.com/recipe/dailyjc/hints/men/men.html

Posted by: john tv at September 2, 2003 03:55 PM

mmm pretty woman. that's all i care!

Posted by: yuki at September 4, 2003 04:39 PM

Do you remember where in Kamukura the nagashi-somen place is? Is it only a summer thing?

Posted by: Bob Sapp at November 17, 2003 10:30 AM

Hi,

I'm from Japan ! I teach Englsh at a high school in Japan.
It's cool that you guys know what Nagashi-somen is ! I've never tried it, actually. But I've wanted to try it!

Also, I've been trying to make presentation about Nagashi-somen in English with my students. So that more people in ther world would know this cool eating style !

Posted by: Machiko at September 1, 2004 05:13 AM
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