Harusame Noodle Salad

Harusame noodles are a potato starch noodle that are absolutely refreshing.

They won’t weigh you down, they go great as an appetizer or snack, and they can absorb any dressing you throw at them.  You can easily get these and any asian grocery market too.

There’s a small sushi restaurant in San Francisco called Tanuki.  My parents would take me and my sister here on special occasions and the one thing I’d always remember is this killer appetizer dish they have which consisted of mayonnaise noodles, with ham and cucumber.  For obvious reasons, I no longer frequent the restaurant, but boy do I miss those noodles. I miss everything about them! The thick mayo coating the noodles had, the cheap little slices of ham…and most importantly, sharing those noodles with my family.

Nostalgic

So, I guess this would be my attempt at reliving my childhood and Veganizing a dish that’s so simple, super refreshing, and always on point. Let’s get started…

We’ll want to make a balanced mayonnaise sauce with just the right acidity. Rice Vinegar is used in a ton of Japanese cooking so make sure to grab a good brand of this stuff. I use Marukan brand and find that it has a really nice finish and sweetness to it.

Once we have our mayo set, we’ll dice up our Vegan ham. There’s a local asian market that has a vegan brand of ham that I love, but you can use anything out there. I’d even say slices of Tofurky Deli Slices might do the trick too.

We’ll fry up the pieces to give them a little bit of texture and crispiness to them and set that aside.  Next up, we’ll prepare some cucumbers and green onions  for mixing up the noodles. Simply cut a small cucumber in half and thinly slice into half-moons. Boil the Harusame noodles for about 6-8 minutes, and rinse it under cold water when strained. Then we’ll toss everything into the bowl, including the ham pieces and stir in the mayo.

Simple To Make

I’m actually in love with how easy this dish is to make because the end result is SO GOOD. I almost can’t believe it takes under 5 steps to make this dish, but hey, the easier the better! Once you get that mayo in there, make sure everything is evenly coated.

To serve the dish, you’ll want to serve it cold. Any salad served really cold, is the best summertime treat ever. What this means is that you’ll have to put this in the fridge for about an hour before you can eat it…I know, what kind of torture is this?! BUT, rest assure, this cooling process is totally worth it.

To serve, you could even go the extra mile and chill the plate! That’s just being fancy though. Are you about that chilled plate life? Top everything off with some Furikake and you’re ready to grub! Hope you enjoy this simple and delicious recipe!