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overhead shot of blue and purple tanabata somen in a serving dish with star decorations cut out from cheese and ham

Tanabata Somen

Print Recipe
Make ombre tanabata somen for the Japanese star festival in July. These cold noodles are refreshing in the heat and can be made with many variations.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 2 people
Author Mochi Mommy

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Put water in a medium sized pot. Add teaspoon of butterfly pea powder and stir to disperse the color. Bring water to a boil.
  • Add somen noodles and cook for two minutes, or according to the package instructions.
  • Drain noodles and place in an ice bath while you prepare the vegetables. Your noodles should be a light blue color.
  • Arrange lettuce on the bottom layer of your serving dish. Use cookie cutters or pastry cutters to cut star shapes out of the cheese and ham. If adding other vegetable toppings (such as cucumber, egg omelette, cherry tomatoes, etc.) slice them now.
  • Drain noodles from the ice bath and layer them on top of the lettuce, trying to keep the noodles from getting too tangled.
  • Put lemon juice in a spray bottle and spray the noodles on one side of your dish only. Wait a few minutes for the color to change, then spray more juice as needed for a stronger gradient.
  • Arrange your cut and sliced vegetables and ham on top of the noodles.
  • Create a dipping sauce for your noodles by putting two tablespoons of tsuyu into two small soup bowls. Add 6 tablespoons of water to each bowl. Taste the soup and adjust saltiness to taste by adding more tsuyu or water as needed.
  • Serve noodles with the dipping sauce. Leftovers do not keep well.