Although somen is most commonly eaten cold, it is also delicious hot. I guess it would be better to say warm, since I find a hot soup to carry the flavor of the thin noodles over, often making them too soft after a few minutes in the bowl together.

I wasn’t feeling super well this night, so I wanted a light, warming noodle dish to end the night. I started by making a light broth from bonito flakes and konbu. As the flavors and umami were extracted, I added a dash of soy sauce and green onions to make a super-light soup broth. As I let it off to the side to cool down a little, I steamed a chicken thigh. I made sure to keep the chicken nice and juicy, even after slicing it thinly.

The noodles went in a bowl with the warm homemade broth, then topped with the fanned-out steamed chicken. I garnished the bowl with green onions, sesame seeds, and some freshly ground black pepper.