Cold Noodles With Tomatoes
Halved cherry tomatoes provide a strong flavor foundation for this cold noodle dish that’s at once savory like gazpacho and refreshingly satiating like naengmyeon, the chilled Korean noodle soup. Inspired, too, by oi naengguk, a hydrating cold cucumber soup, this dish leans into the wonders of ripe tomatoes and lets you taste them as they are: raw and juicy. Julienned cucumber would taste wonderful here, as would supple poached shrimp or halved hard-boiled eggs.
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 2pints ripe cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2teaspoons kosher salt (Diamond Crystal)
- 12to 14 ounces somyeon, somen, capellini or other thin wheat noodle
- ¼cup rice vinegar
- 2tablespoons soy sauce
- 2tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1large garlic clove, finely grated
- ½teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- 2cups cold filtered water
- 1tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
- 2radishes, thinly sliced
- 2scallions, thinly sliced at an angle
- 2cups crushed or cubed ice
Instructions
Step 1
In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes and salt. Let sit until juicy, about 10 minutes.Step 2
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to package instructions, drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.Step 3
Add the vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, garlic, mustard and sesame oil to the tomatoes, and toss with a spoon until well combined. Stir the filtered water into the tomatoes and sprinkle the surface of the broth with the sesame seeds, radishes and scallions.Step 4
Right before serving, add the ice to the broth. Divide the noodles among bowls, and ladle in the broth and any unmelted ice, making sure each serving gets a nice sprinkling of tomatoes, radishes, scallions and sesame seeds.