Do you feel pretty confident in your chopsticks skills? If so, you might be ready to try nagashi somen, a fun Japanese eating style that serves noodles not in a bowl or a plate, but racing by in a bamboo pipe full of flowing water. Get those chopsticks ready!
Somen noodles are a type of thin wheat noodle usually eaten cold, so after catching their noodles from the cold flowing water, diners dip them in a cup of flavorful sauce and eat. Nagashi somen is a summer tradition, often seen at festivals or in restaurants, but families can also rig up their own backyard bamboo pipes.
To be transported to summertime Japan for a moment, take a look at this short, lovely video of a family enjoying nagashi somen.
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I love this, thanks for posting! It's so fun to get a glimpse into other cultures!
That looks like a fun family activity!
I guess the closest Americans have is standing around eating slabs of watermelon and seeing who can spit the seeds the farthest. Or apple bobbing in the Fall.
Don't forget the good 'ol ice luge for alcohol. Not exactly family-friendly, though...
ahhh.... This is a Summer thing to do there, and brings back a lot of memories of when I lived in Japan. I did this with the preschoolers (I was there teaching English) and it was so much fun. I love that kids are taught early on about their culture through food.
how fun!
this is so awesome! does anybody know what they have in their bowls to dip the noodles in?
While living in Korea where they use stainless steel chopsticks, the best entertainment was watching anyone try and pick up ball bearings coated with mineral oil. If they got it from the plate to a bowl, they were winners!!!
mrs. p: The dipping sauce for cold noodles is called tsuyu. You can search for recipes online or look for it in Asian markets or on Amazon. I like it with green onions, ginger and sesame seeds added in.
Oh I love this. I never got to experience this but I heard a lot about it.
Beautiful video! Thanks for sharing.