Hiyashi Somen - Cold Noodles With Dipping Sauce Mark Bittman - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 cups dashi, preferably homemade
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon dried shrimp (optional)
1 pinch salt, to taste
300 g somen noodles (3 bundles)
2 scallions, trimmed and minced
1 teaspoon wasabi (optional)

Preparation

Combine the dashi with the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and dried shrimp if you're using them in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, just until the sugar is dissolved, then strain the dipping sauce into another container sitting on a bowl of ice to cool (you want it to be between ice cold and room temperature).
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Drop in the somen and cook for 2 to 4 minutes, until tender, then rinse them in a colander under cold running water.
Serve each guest a small bowl of noodles, twisted into a little nest on top of a couple of ice cubes, and a small bowl with 1/2 cup of the dipping sauce scattered with the minced scallion on the side. Pass a little dish of wasabi, if desired, stir into the dipping sauce.