Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Ume Somen Salad Bento
It's still mighty hot here, but gradually getting cooler. Today's high was only 87F, so pretty nice actually. I had boiled some ume somen yesterday so it was nice and cold today for lunch. It's a pretty pink color and I've never had it before so I was interested to see how it tastes. Straight out of the package it smells sweet to me, kind of like strawberry. Maybe that's just psychological due to the color; I don't know. After cooking, it still had a sweet taste to me -- not salty or sour at all. Anyone else have this experience? Anyway, it does retain its nice pink color after cooking, so that's cool! I lay some inside a lettuce leaf, then added shiitake, julienned cucumbers and carrots, green onions, and sesame seeds. I added some ocean salad in the corner, and in the other corner I slipped in a strawberry bottle filled with somen tsuyu. I finished with a maple cut radish for red color. The top tier contains the rest of the bright color: dapple dandy pluot, red grapes, purple cauliflower and yellow carrot stars. I think I got all the rainbow colors in this one! I hope it serves its purpose and cools down my boy at school tomorrow.
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This is like the perfect meal for warm days. I like how you added carrots! Funny that I never ate somen with carrots. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteI just started making Bento style lunches for my daughter this year. She is 5. I post about them on my blog under the tab "Lovable Lunches" -I'm no pro like you though!
~Jody
Thanks Debra: Me too -- or shiitake either! But I figure any garnish is okay. I usually sprinkle furikake but I'm hoping there'll be enough flavor for him.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jody! Great that you're starting bento; I took a look at yours and they are cute! Nice!
Love the pink strawberry ume somen and the cute Panda bento box!
ReplyDeleteThanks Bobo! I love the pretty somen in this cute box too!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great looking lunch. I have never had ume somen since they do not sell it where I live but it sounds like a good combo of flavors though. I cannot wait to see what other bento creations you come up with.
ReplyDeleteOoo pretty! And a great dish for hot days. We've been hitting 104 for a couple of days straight. Ug. Love the noodle toppings. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristin! It's only available in certain Japanese markets here too. We have green tea (cha) soba too, which is very pretty.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle! Really? Wow! It's cooled down a lot in the east bay and should be in the 70s tomorrow. Hope you get some relief up north too!
So pretty and delicious! I love pink ume somen but it is a little bit sweet compare to the other somen (green-green tea somen or egg-yellow somen). You inspire me, I will try to put somen in kids' bento next week :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Lia! I'm surprised ume somen is sweet; I expected it to be sour like ume, but I guess not many would like sour noodles. Anyway, it is very pretty and we'll see what my boy says. We don't have yellow somen, but we have carrot flat noodles. Haven't tried that one yet. Look forward to your colorful ones :o)
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I'd never seen pink noodles before - my daughter would love them!
ReplyDeleteOoh, I've never seen pink somen before. Actually, what is all these fruits?? lol. I am horrible at picking fruits only getting what I know the kid will eat. Can't believe you are still in heat wave, this is such a great hot weather dish!
ReplyDeleteyum, the toppings you chose for the noodles kind of remind me of the filling in the vegetarian bahn mi that i order! so fun to deconstruct and then reconstruct.
ReplyDeleteso many colors in this one, too! super cute pink noodles (though i must say i would want mine to be sour and salty like ume)!
Thanks Amy; I bet she would. It's so pretty.
ReplyDeleteChantale, the only fruit in here is grapes and dapple dandy pluot (plum / apricot hybrid). The pluots are only available in the summer so this is about the end of them. I'll have to rely on apples pretty soon for fruit :)
You're right megan; they are banh mi-esque. Love the shredded veggies. I'm with you on the sour noodles. Ah well.
I love this bento! It's so pretty and delish. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Susan!
ReplyDeleteDELICIOUS looking noodle salad! I haven't made one in too long, now I'm craving some. Lovely!
ReplyDeleteume somen, what a refreshing treat! the starry accents on ripe fruit are delightful...
ReplyDeleteThanks veganf and bentobird! Summer always calls for cold noodle salad to me.
ReplyDeleteume is plum so thats why its pink and has a slight flavor =]
ReplyDelete