Your Summer Asian Staycation: The Cold Noodle Roundup

For most Asian countries, the quintessential summer dish comes in the form of a cold noodle dish. From buckwheat to spinach noodles, from fish paste to cold beef broth, slurping these noodles cools down the sweat on your back. Being the melting pot of many ethnicities, the Los Angeles area is an ethnic dining haven which offers these summer noodle dishes – sometimes year round. Don't let recession stop you from tasting all over Asia. With dishes $8 or under, the only expense you need to worry about is gas.

1. Japan: Zaru Soba

From:
Ichimiann
1618 Cravens Ave
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 328-1323



The best place for soba in the area at the moment is probably Ichimiann. This small shop just off of the downtown of Torrance hand makes their soba and udon noodles. A couple of tables are available, but mostly Japanese businessmen would fill up the wooden counter lining the wall. You can get a variety of soba and udon noodle soups, with eel to Japanese sticky yam as an accompaniment. For the summer there’s only one thing to get: zaru soba. The zaru soba is not only a great summer dish, it is also an initiation dish for those new to this buckwheat noodle known as soba. Cold handmade soba is served atop a bamboo tray. A bowl of tsuyu sauce (a mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce, and mirin), scallions, and wasabi are provided on the side. Mix in the wasabi and scallions in the sauce, then dip your cool strands of soba in the sauce. This simple dish brings out the resilient texture and flavor of this freshly made soba like no other.

2. Korea: Mul-Naengmyun

From:
Chil Bo Myun Ok
3680 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90189
(213) 387-9292



The Korean naengmyun are delicately thin yet chewy strands of vermicelli noodles made from buckwheat. Mul naengmyun is naengmyun served in a cold beef broth along with julienned vegetables, beef slices, and boiled eggs. At Chil Bo Myun Oak, the mul naengmyun is also served with slices of Korean pear. Despite being a popular Korean summer dish, a good naengmyun is still hard to find. Chil Bo Myun Ok takes so much pride in their naengmyun that the noodles are prohibited from leaving the premises. No to-go orders, no take out, the wonderfully supple and chewy noodles must be enjoyed in their metal bowls inside the restaurant that keeps it cool during your meal. The server will ask if you’d like the noodles cut, scissors ready in his other hand. The answer is yes, you’ll need him to.

3. Vietnam: Bun Thit Nuong

From:
Com Tam Thuan Kieu
120 E Valley Blvd, Ste I & J
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 280-5660



It’s always hot in South East Asia. That’s why you can find bun thit nuong in most Vietnamese places, all year round, but summer is the perfect time to try it. Rice vermicelli is topped with chargrilled pork, julienned carrots, scallions, and crushed peanuts and served at room temperature. Order a bun thit nuong cha gio and you will find sliced egg roll (cha gio) atop your bowl. For a mere $4.99 you will find the top of the bowl generously covered with meat and egg roll. Douse everything in some fish paste and you are ready to go. For the pork lovers and the fish sauce lovers, this one’s for you.

4. China: Cold Noodles with Green Tea Pork and Cold Vegetables

From:
Bamboodles
535 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 281-1226



At Bamboodles, to keep the dish cold, the plate is served on top of crushed ice to keep it cool throughout your meal. Spinach noodle, as with all other noodles at this restaurant, is made fresh every day. The dough is pounded flat by the chef by bouncing up and down on a bamboo pole – a method developed by a Guangdong noodle chef – and when you’re lucky you can watch him do this through the glass window of the kitchen. The noodles are arranged on a platter with shredded pork cooked in green tea and sliced vegetables. Mix everything in with the sesame sauce served on the side for a cooling and healthy meal.

5. Thailand: Jade Noodle

From:
Sapp Coffee Shop
5183 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027-6113
(323) 665-1035



This place may be most famous for their Thai boat noodles, but don't skip the jade noodle. The delicate, bright green noodles are served dry with bbq pork, roast duck, , crab, and a sweet ginger sauce. Squeeze the lime and mix everything well with the chili flakes. The lime gives the dish a refreshing sourness but not as strong as the one found in the boat noodles. This bowl lets you appreciate the delicate yet springy noodles themselves.

Hot and Soupy #1: Handmade Soba and Udon at Ichimiann (You Never Knew It Could Taste This Good)

I've eaten at Ichimiann so much it's a wonder that I hadn't written about it sooner, but this cold winter weather is the perfect time to start it off as the inaugural post of my "Hot and Soupy" series of posts!

Ichimiann is a place I found through Exile Kiss' blogpost, lauding it as the one amazing teuchi(handmade) soba place in town. I was on a crazy soba kick and wanted to venture further than Yabu.

Ichimiann, aka Bamboo Garden, is a tiny shop on a dilapidated side street right next to Foster's Freeze and looks just like a typical noodle shop.
Cash only, you can place your order and then take a seat at the bar by the wall.

The rite of passage for all soba noobs is the Zaru Soba, so even though it doesn't meet the hot and soupy winter theme, it simply cannot be left unmentioned. Zaru soba gets its name from the bamboo sieve that it is served on and is typically served with tsuyu (a mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce, and mirin), scallions, and wasabi.
Mix the scallions and wasabi in the tsuyu, then pick up the buckwheat noodles and dip it in the tsuyu.
This is the dish that best highlights Ichimiann's excellent handmade soba, the wonderful texture and the flavor of the buckwheat noodle itself. The soba here is devoid of that doughy and powdery taste and texture that I always hated in mass produced noodles.

If you want hot soba, however, Ichimiann has plenty of options for you, from a simple bowl with poached egg to many more. The flavors of the broth are subtler here, unlike many places which tend to be salty, but it is ultimately more satisfying and worth savoring.

When you want your protein you could opt for the unagi soba topped with grated yam.
Even though this dish made me realize I'm not big on japanese yam, the rest of the dish was excellent. The unagi is nicely grilled and lends a nice flavor although I did miss the crisp texture of the unagi before it's soaked in broth and yam.

When Exile Kiss did a second post, this time on the udon noodles at Ichimiann, I had to go back and try that too (even if I'm still a soba girl).

A bowl of beef sukiyaki udon seems like the perfect meal for a chilly Saturday morning (ok, afternoon).

Ichimiann's udon is thin, unlike the type you normally see in stores and restaurants.
The sukiyaki udon bowl is bolder in flavor than the other soba dishes that I've had and it really hits the spot. The udon, while thinner than usual, is wonderfully chewy without that doughy consistency.
Ichimiann's subtle but deeply satisfying flavor doesn't leave you overwhelmed and dehydrated like some salty dishes might, but instead it just keeps you satiated all day long.


Ichimian Bamboo Garden
1618 Cravens Ave
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 328-1323