Go Back
–+ servings

Hiyashi Chuka (Japanese Cold Noodle Salad)

Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time20 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 3 portions

Ingredients 
 

For the tare

For the kinshi tamago

  • 1 egg
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp cooking oil neutral
  • 1 tsp water to dissolve the starch
  • ½ tsp potato starch or cornstarch/tapioca starch

For the noodles

Toppings

Instructions 

  • Beat 1 egg with 1 pinch salt and ½ tsp sugar until fully combined and set aside. Stir the sauce ingredients (3 tbsp Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu), 3 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar (komezu), 1½ tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp cold water, ⅛ tsp dashi granules) in a small container until the sugar dissolves, then chill it until you plate up. Cut all the vegetables and have the ice ready.
    Sauce, egg and toppings prepared to make hiyashi chuka.
  • Pour the beaten egg once through a tea strainer or fine sieve into a bowl. Dissolve ½ tsp potato starch in 1 tsp water in a separate dish, then stir that slurry into the strained egg.
    whisked egg strained through a fine-mesh strainer into a steel mixing bowl
  • Heat a frying pan over medium heat (a 20cm pan suits a single egg). Lightly oil it with 1 tsp cooking oil and wipe the excess with a paper towel. Drop to medium-low, pour in the egg, and quickly spread it thin across the pan.
    kinshi tamago (Japanese shredded egg crepe) frying in a thin layer in a gray frying pan on the stove top
  • When about half the surface sheen has gone, lay a lid or foil loosely on top for about 20 seconds, turn off the heat, and let it steam in place for 1 to 2 minutes.
    Kinshi tamago (Japanese shredded egg crepe) in a frying pan with a lid
  • Lift an edge with cooking chopsticks and carefully peel the sheet out without tearing. Lay it flat on a paper-towel and cool it completely. Once cool, stack or roll the sheets, cut them thin.
    Japanese kinshi tamago (shredded egg crepe) cut on a wooden cutting board
  • Boil 3 portions ramen noodles in plenty of water. Cook them a touch soft, a little past where you would pull a noodle for hot ramen.
    homemade ramen noodles cooking in a pot of water
  • Drain off the boiling water. Rub-wash the noodles under running water to strip the slimy numeri off the strands, then move them into ice water to firm. Drain hard, pressing the water out, then toss with the 1 tsp toasted sesame oil.
    cooked homemade ramen noodles in a sieve over a bowl filled with water and ice cubes
  • Divide the noodles between serving plates and pile on plenty of the ham, vegetables, and kinshi tamago. Pour the tare over the dish right before eating.
    Pouring sauce over hiyashi chuka on a cream-colored plate with brown rim.
  • Optionally add mayonnaise, chili oil, toasted white sesame, and benishoga to taste. Mix well before eating. Enjoy!
    Pouring rayu (Japanese chili oil) over hiyashi chuka for a spicy kick.

Notes

Chill in stages, then drain hard: Do not drop piping-hot noodles straight into ice water, the core stays warm. Cool through 3 to 4 changes of plain cold water first, finish in ice, then press the water out by hand.
Pour the tare only at the table: Sauce the noodles early and they go soggy fast.
Boil the noodles longer, not shorter: This runs backward from instinct. The ice bath firms the noodle hard at the end, so a short boil leaves it stiff once chilled. Cook a touch soft and let the cold do the firming.
Wash the slime off the noodles: Rub-wash the boiled noodles under running water to strip the slippery numeri. Left on, it dulls the bite and stops the tare from clinging, so the sauce slides off instead of coating the strands.
Slurry the starch into the egg: Dissolve the potato starch in the water first, off to the side, then stir it into the strained egg.
If you can't get fresh ramen noodles, check out my spaghetti ramen hack.