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Jul 30, 2026

Favorite Noodles

Chilled noodles because it's summer, hot noodles are also accepted. Is it somen or chukasoba or zarusoba? Reimyun or pasta salad? Chanpon or udon or ramen? Pad Thai or Pho?! This year I made somen for the first time! I'm a soba fan. I used to love ramen and tsukemen but for some reason I'm not as into the rich and oily noodles anymore.

helloalissa

helloalissa

Kanji and design nerd.

10 Answers



  • TonetoEdo

    on Jul 31

    Recently, I tried abura soba for the first time. Kirijinji in Nagareyama City. https://www.city-cost.com/reviews/GbkYR-_KIRINJI_Food_Drink_Nagareyama_shi?vid=1 It's kind of heavy for me now, but when I was younger and running at high rev, I could have eaten a fatty, protein-laden bowl of abura ramen daily! Favourite noodles? These days it's chilled soba with ice in the tsuyu. Simple is good.

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  • genkidesu

    on Jul 31

    During summer it's hegi soba for me, which is a local Niigata specialty. It always hits the spot. In the wintertime, I love tantanmen, but I do hear you on the rich/oily noodles. I know they're not the best option but they sure do taste good.

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  • TonetoEdo

    on Aug 1

    @genkidesu Some ramen shops in the Kanto region do hiyashi tantanmen. The best meaty version I've ever had was at 万豚記 Wansuchi in Yoyogi. I might take a crack at making it at home.

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  • TonetoEdo

    on Aug 1

    How about hiyashi chuuka? It's light, and you can riff on the base recipe. I blogged about it here - https://www.city-cost.com/blogs/TonetoEdo/w5ndX-food_noda_shi_chiba

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  • BigfamJapan

    on Aug 3

    Overall, ramen is my favorite, but not in summer. This year, I am really into somen, but in previous summers it was chilled udon.

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  • helloalissa

    on Aug 3

    @genkidesu I just ate "soy milk tantan cold noodles" today. I Love tantan nabe with noodles in winter and am going to have to recreate a cold version at home. I'd never heard of hegi soba, but I love funori, so that sounds nice.

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  • helloalissa

    on Aug 3

    I'm happy to see other soba fans. I made (jyuwari) zaru soba a couple weeks ago and randomly added salmon sashimi, avocado, cucumber, nori and shiso. My husband really liked it and made it over the weekend. That isn't a traditional way to eat soba, but it was luxurious.

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  • BigfamJapan

    on Aug 5

    @helloalissa sounds delicious. I'd have to replace the soba though as unfortunately it doesn't agree with me!

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  • helloalissa

    on Aug 16

    @BigfamJapan It's unfortunate you can't have soba but why not, it also sounds good to have somen, udon or hiyashi chuka with sashimi. I like that noodles are like rice, a good base for any leftovers or toppings you like. PS: I had ramen a couple weeks ago (in an air conditioned restaurant) and it was still really good, hah.

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  • TonetoEdo

    on Aug 17

    @BigfamJapan Chilled udon is awesome in summer. I took cues from supermarket and conbini offerings and mix it up with wafu and inertnational ingredients. Some TtoE (Tone to Edo) cookery on the way!

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Favorite Noodles

Chilled noodles because it's summer, hot noodles are also accepted. Is it somen or chukasoba or zarusoba? Reimyun or pasta salad? Chanpon or udon or ramen? Pad Thai or Pho?! This year I made somen for the first time! I'm a soba fan. I used to love ramen and tsukemen but for some reason I'm not as into the rich and oily noodles anymore.

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