Tanabata Somen is a popular summer noodle dish is enjoyed during Tanabata Festival in Japan on 7/7.
Tanabata (七夕) is the Star Festival in Japan and takes place on July 7th. It comes from the tale of the meeting of two dieties, Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair). During the year, the milky way separates the lovers but on the 7th day of the 7th month, for one day only, they are allowed to meet.
There are many festivals, often showcasing beautiful decorations such as large, colorful streamers. Also to celebrate, wishes are written on pieces of paper and tied to bamboo. I have many fond memories growing up writing wishes year after year on pretty colored paper and tying them to the bamboo in our backyard.
When it comes to food customs for this holiday, the most popular is Tanabata Somen.
Somen is a popular Japanese summer noodle that are very thin and made of wheat flour. They are most commonly enjoyed by dipping the noodles into tsuyu, or a dipping broth. You can learn more about somen on my past blog post here.
Tanabata Somen is pretty much a more festively decorated type of somen. The noodles represent the milky way that separates Orihime and Hikoboshi, and colorful veggies or proteins are used and cut out to the shape of stars.
Some common topping ingredients are:
- tomatoes
- ham (cut into star shapes)
- tamagoyaki (egg omlette – cut into star shapes)
- cucumber
- okra (since they are star-shaped naturally
- tomatoes
- edamame
- carrots (cut into star shapes)
But you can put whatever you want on top! Have fun with it.
You can find my traditional somen recipe here and while I am including a tsuyu recipe in the recipe portion, you can always save time and use a pre-made tsuyu, which I will have linked below in the Shop this Post section or linked in My Pantry.
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Tanabata Somen / 七夕そうめん
Ingredients
- 2 bundles (servings) somen noodles
- water for boiling noodles
- cherry tomatoes halved
- 2 eggs for tamagoyaki
- ham
- edamame
- ice if you would like to keep your noodles chilled even more
Tsuyu
- 1 cup water
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp dashi bottled concentrate or granules
Instructions
Tsuyu
- In a small pot over medium heat, combine all tsuyu ingredients. Mix well until boiling.
- Remove from heat and allow it to cool down. Put in fridge to cool it down even more.
Somen
- Prepare the toppings. Use a star shape cutter to cut out shapes.
- Beat the 1 egg and make a Japanese rolled omelette (tamagoyaki). Use the star cutter to cut it into stars.
- Boil water in a pot over medium high heat.
- Once boiling, add in the somen noodles. Cook according to package instructions.
- Once cooked, drain the noodles and rinse in very cold water. If you prefer you can also just transfer them to an ice bath.
- Pour the prepared, chilled tsuyu into a small bowl or soba cup.
- Lay down the soba and top with toppings – have fun with this!
- To enjoy, dip the noodles and toppings into the tsuyu.
Notes
Shop this post:
Karu:ecle Blue Soba Cup
Tsuyu / 本つゆ
Soy Sauce Plate Set
Vegetable Cutters
Somen Noodles / 素麺
Mirin / みりん
Dashi / だし
More items can be shopped in my Pantry, my Tools, or my Amazon shop.
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