Somen salad supreme from Cook Real Hawai'i (page 186) by Sheldon Simeon and Garrett Snyder

  • Chinese five-spice powder
    This classic Chinese five spice mix unites the five flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and savory. Based on the traditional philosophy of balancing yin and yang, Chinese five spice complements fatty meats like pork belly, goose, and duck. (The Spice House) Buy Now
  • toasted sesame oil
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  • EYB Comments

    Can substitute smoked ham for the book's "Easy char siu" called for in this recipe.

Where’s the full recipe - why can I only see the ingredients?

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • Eat Your Books

    Can substitute smoked ham for the book's "Easy char siu" called for in this recipe.

  • bernalgirl on March 16, 2026

    I adapted this to what I had on hand with a few “gimmes” for my teen and served it as a build-your-own salad. I made the dressing as written and served somen noodles as a base, then offered the following mix-ins: - Slivered romaine lettuce - Grated carrots - Persian cucumbers cut julienne - Slivered scallion greens - Slivered radishes - Sliced avocado - Slivered nori - Slivered egg (kinshi tamago) with white pepper in place of sugar - Browned maitake mushrooms with garlic and soy sauce in place of slivered rehydrated shiitakes - Slivered surimi in place of fish cakes - Chinese bacon (lap yuk) in place of char siu - Red cabbage in “Benihana dressing” - Soy and butter-braised corn - Furikake - Edamame The dressing balances the ingredients beautifully. I will absolutely make some variation of this again in our next burst of warm weather.

  • anya_sf on August 11, 2023

    Delicious noodle salad, great for a warm day. For the toppings, I used cooked egg (which I failed to flip neatly, but that didn't matter), iceberg lettuce, bean sprouts, carrots, cucumber, snow peas (blanched per my preference), char siu (store-bought), scallion greens, cilantro, and kamaboko. Leftovers were still good the next day even though they'd been tossed in the dressing. There was a lot of extra dressing.

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