miyako ichi

How are you doing?

We are doing fine, trying not to get on each other's nerves and staying indoors whenever possible.

It was bittersweet to see a story on tv about Hawaii and their lockdown recently.

I hope we will all be able to get our numbers down safely.

On a recent trip to the market, I noticed this package of chuka soba (literally chinese noodle).

Upon researching, I was surprised that Miyako Ichi is apparently the first "instant" noodle in Japan (they were manufacturing these noodles about 5 years before Nissin's chicken ramen).

Relatively healthy as there are only 3 ingredients...flour, salt and kansui (alkaline solution).

The noodles are not fried and there is no soup packet included.

One packet has two servings in it, plus it is super cheap (about $1.50 a package).

Since it has been so hot and I had some leftover dashi from making hiyajiru, I made hiyashi ramen for our dinner the other night.

According to the package it says to cook the noodles for 6 to 7 minutes, but I cooked them for 5 because I like my noodles on the stiffer side.

For the soup (2 servings), I used 300 milliliters of dashi, 2 teaspoons of shoyu, 2 teaspoons of sesame oil and some rayu (chili oil).

For the topping, I poached some shabu shabu (thinly) sliced pork, julienned some shiso, thinly sliced okra, myoga and also put some sliced cherry tomatoes and edamame.

It didn't look like a lot in the package but when cooked, one serving of noodles was quite a lot and I loved the texture of these noodles.

The package also said you can make yakisoba, so we tried them this way with the last lup cheong from our freezer.

I would cook these a little less than 5 minutes, maybe 4?! so the noodles would be a little more stiff when cooked with the yakisoba sauce.

Overall, I'm glad I tried this and would continue to purchase them in the future.