Description: Somen is not just summer food. This can be eaten when it’s cold. 
Serves: 2
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• Somen – 200g (dry) or 540g (cooked)
• Pork mince (4%) – 50g
• Green Pepper – chopped, ½ piece or 50g
• Ginger – pureed, 2g or ½ teaspoon
• Sesame oil – 1 tablespoon
• Sesame seeds – 1 teaspoon 
• Sake cooking wine – 1 tablespoon
• Soy sauce – 1 tablespoon
• Water – 50mL

Method

1. In a non-stick frying pan, add oil and the pork over medium heat, stirring regularly. 
2. Add the green pepper, ginger, sake, soy sauce, and water to the pan and cook until the meat is completely cooked.
3. Once cooked, stop the heat. Prepare the somen (follow the package instructions).
4. Place the somen on the plate, then pour the meat sauce on top.

Serve: Sprinkle sesame seeds.

Nutritional Values Per Serving

Kcal	Protein	Fat	Carbs	Fibre	Sugars	Salt	Saturated Fat
468.9	19.7g	9.1g	76.7g	0.7g	0.9g	2.3g	1.5g
23.4%	39.5%	13.0%	29.5%	2.3%	1.0%	38.8%	7.5%

Nutritional Tips

Somen (素麺 in Japanese) is very thin noodles made of wheat flour. It is usually less than 1.3 mm in diameter. 

“Ibonoito somen” is one of the most popular and famous somen in Japan. It maintains its firmness when boiled (I may want to call it “al dente” Japanese somen). It is very smooth and leaves a pleasant feeling on our tongue. Therefore, usually, the package instruction indicates that boil only 1.5 mins to 2 mins. So make sure you do not overcook, otherwise, the best part of somen will be lost.

This somen is from the Banshu area (Hyogo prefecture, West Kansai area). It is considered as a luxury somen and some are even sent this as a gift in the summer as “Ochugen”. This is a traditional Japanese custom which is to give gifts to people to whom they want to show their gratitude.