Live

5 Easy Japanese Summer Dishes to Make at Home

Stay cool and eat well with these five simple summer dishes that are both delicious and won’t drain your energy to make.

By Whitney Hubbell Aug 8, 2024 4 min read

With Japanese summers only getting hotter, using the oven or standing over a hot stove becomes more unappealing with each day. It can feel draining to make more than a smoothie or a snack plate, but luckily, there are plenty of seasonal Japanese dishes to beat the heat.

With such hot and humid summers, Japanese cuisine includes an abundance of cool and refreshing dishes. And though foods like sushi require skill to make, here are five easy Japanese summer dishes to make at home!

1. Somen Noodles

First on our list of easy Japanese summer dishes is somen (a thin noodle made of wheat flour). These very thin noodles can be served hot or cold, but in Japan, they are most commonly served chilled with a savory dipping sauce called tsuyu.

Somen noodles and tsuyu are extremely simple to make. The noodles take less than two minutes to cook, and though tsuyu can be made at home, it’s readily found in Japanese grocery stores.

Once you’ve prepared your noodles and sauce, add some toppings of your choice. The most popular toppings are chopped scallions and grated ginger, but somen is versatile so you can also add tofu, an egg, vegetables and sesame seeds.

Try these somen noodle recipes

This in-depth recipe gives a thorough explanation of somen noodles and also includes a recipe for homemade tsuyu.
For a straightforward recipe with variations along with another recipe for tsuyu, check out this recipe.

2. Hiyashi Chuka

Hiyashi chuka is a ramen dish that literally means “cold Chinese,” as it is a Chinese-style dish that is, you guessed it, served cold. With flavorful toppings, these cold noodles are the perfect cooling summer substitute for that comforting bowl of hot ramen.

Though not as simple as somen noodles, hiyashi chuka is still about as easy to make as a bowl of ramen. It includes chilled noodles, a soy sauce base and toppings of your choice—like boiled eggs, ham, crab, cucumbers and tomatoes—served together on top, creating a cute color palette.

Try these hiyashi chuka recipes

Our own home-style hiyashi chuka uses staple toppings found in any supermarket.
This versatile recipe offers a variety of ideas for toppings and also includes vegetarian and vegan options.

3. Hiyayakko

This dish of cold tofu has been a popular summer dish for centuries, and its name is even a season word to signal summer in haiku poems. Its name comes from hiya meaning cool and yakko, which refers to the servants of samurai who wore vests with a diamond-shaped crest attached to it.

Cutting something into cubes came to be called “cutting the yakko.” So this dish is cold yakko.

There is no cooking involved in preparing hiyayakko. The traditional preparation involves a block of silken tofu topped with bonito flakes, scallions and grated ginger, and drizzled with some soy sauce.

Try these hiyayakko recipes

Various topping ideas, including vegan and vegetarian options, are explained in this recipe.
For four different variations of cold tofu, check out this recipe.

4. Rei-Shabu

A cool take on the traditional shabu shabu.

Shabu-shabu is a popular hotpot dish and an excellent meal to keep warm in the autumn and winter. Rei-shabu is shabu shabu transformed into a cold version for summer. Shabu is the Japanese onomatopoeia for “swish,” the sound the ingredients make when stirred in the pot. Rei means cold.

Of course, you may have noticed rei-shabu is not actually a hotpot dish, but rather a cold salad with ingredients that are also used in shabu-shabu. The only ingredient that requires cooking is pork, which is boiled and chilled and served over lettuce, along with other vegetables and sesame dressing. Like in shabu-shabu, use vegetables (and a dressing) of your choice to make this refreshing salad.

Try these rei-shabu recipes

For a thorough explanation of the dish as well as a recipe for sesame dressing, try this recipe.
Or, check out this slightly different variation, which also includes a longer explanation and a recipe for sesame dressing.

5. Zaru Soba and Zaru Udon

Soba and udon noodles are traditional staples in Japanese cuisine often served with a soothing hot broth. However, these noodles can also be served cold, called zaru soba or zaru udon. Restaurants that specialize in them offer hot and cold options for each set. Zaru means “strainer,” referring to the bamboo strainer the noodles are traditionally served over.

The cold version is, like somen, served with a cold tsuyu sauce instead of a hot broth. To make zaru soba or udon, boil the noodles and prepare your tsuyu. Add in vegetable side dishes you like. Then you have a cool and simple dish of soba or udon noodles to enjoy in summer.

Try these zaru soba and zaru udon recipes

This simple recipe also includes a recipe for a quick tsuyu.
For an in-depth explanation of zaru soba and zaru udon with ideas on how to serve it, check out this recipe.

Have you tried any of these easy Japanese summer dishes? Let us know in the comments!