Cool down and relax with this popular Japanese Cold Ramen called Hiyashi Chuka. The cold noodles are mixed with homemade dressing and topped with egg, imitation crab, ham, cucumber, and tomato. It’s a bright, flavorful, and fun way to experience the magic of ramen on a hot summer day. {Vegan Adaptable}
As the temperature and humidity soar in Japan in the late summer, I just want to eat cold noodle dishes like cold soba or cold udon. But when it gets extra hot, all I can think about is the flavorful, rainbow color of toppings on a bowl of cold ramen called Hiyashi Chuka (冷やし中華).
Today, I’m sharing a hiyashi chuka recipe with my favorite homemade soy sauce-based noodle dressing.
Table of Contents
What is Hiyashi Chuka?
Hiyashi Chuka (冷やし中華) literally means “Cold Chinese-style”, but in fact it refers to a popular Japanese summer dish of which cold ramen noodles paired with toppings such as strips of thin omelette, cucumber, ham, and imitation (or real) crab. To tie everything together, it’s served with a soy sauce-based dressing that is sweet, savory, nutty, and acidic.
Refreshing and chewy, crisp and crunchy, sweet and savory—there’s plenty of flavors and textures in this cold noodle dish that it’s hard not to fall in love with it!
I also love that it is highly versatile so you can be creative and switch up the toppings as you like.
Hiyashi Chuka Topping Ideas
The classic hiyashi chuka consists of ramen noodles, egg, ham, imitation crab, cucumber, and tomatoes. However, there’s always room for customization. Here, I suggest a few variations:
- Avocado
- Blanched bean sprout
- Boiled egg
- Canned tuna
- Chashu
- Cooked shrimp
- Fried firm tofu
- Shredded chicken (rotisserie, boiled)
- Mizuna
- Lettuce
- Shredded nori
- Sautéed mushrooms
Where to Get Hiyashi Chuka Noodles
Japanese and Asian grocery stores carry Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Ramen) noodles in the refrigerated section. You can figure out the package easily as it usually has an image of the classic hiyashi chuka, shown below.
Typically, there are one to two kinds of hiyashi chuka: soy sauce dressing and sesame dressing. I am not a big fan of using the packaged sauce (check the ingredient list before you decide) so I have both dressing recipes on Just One Cookbook. The homemade sauces are healthier and easy to make at home!
- Soy sauce based dressing (see the recipe card below)
- Sesame miso based dressing
Since the noodles are fresh, you probably can’t find them online. In that case, you can try these dried ramen noodles.
Make Vegetarian/Vegan-Friendly Hiyashi Chuka
If you are vegetarian, simply omit ham and imitation crab (and egg, if vegan) and add your favorite veggies or tofu instead.
You can make the dressing by swapping the chicken stock with vegetable broth, kombu dashi, or water.
Hiyashi Chuka Cooking Tips
- Start preparing the dressing and omelette, which require cooking and then cooling down.
- Cut the topping ingredients into thin strips or bite-sized—”noodle-thin” strip for most toppings so that you can enjoy them with the noodles in one bite.
- Rinse the noodles under cold running water. It’s important to rinse off the starch for a better texture.
- Keep the toppings, noodles, and dressing chilled for the ultimate cold noodle experience!
- Gradually add the dressing; you don’t have to use it all.
On hot days, a cold noodle dish like hiyashi chuka is a nutritious meal to cool your body down, while filling up your tummy. Now pick up fresh hiyashi chuka noodles from an Asian or Japanese grocery store, prepare your favorite toppings, and create this cool Japanese dish!
More Cold Noodle Recipes to Enjoy
- Hiyashi Chuka with Sesame Miso Sauce
- Tsukemen (Dipping Noodles)
- Oroshi Soba
- Cold Tanuki Udon
- Cold Curry Udon
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Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Ramen)
Video
Ingredients
For the Dressing
- ½–1 tsp ginger (grated, with juice; from 1-inch, 2.5 cm knob)
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned)
- 2 Tbsp chicken stock/broth (or substitute water)
- 2 Tbsp water
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
- ¼–½ tsp la-yu (Japanese chili oil) (optional; make my Homemade La-yu)
For the Toppings
- 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell) (each thin omelette uses 2 eggs)
- 2 tsp sugar
- ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil (to fry the egg; use 1 Tbsp per omelette)
- 2 Japanese or Persian cucumbers (or use an English cucumber and remove the seeds)
- 1 tomato
- 4–6 slices ham
- 4–6 sticks real or imitation crabmeat
For the Noodles
- 3 servings hiyashi chuka noodles (6 oz, 170 g fresh noodles per serving)
For Serving (optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Make the Dressing
- Peel and grate the ginger (I use a ceramic grater). Measure ½–1 tsp ginger, grated, with juice. If you like a gingery taste, use 1 tsp. You can always add more after you taste the sauce.
- In a medium saucepan, combine all the dressing ingredients—4 Tbsp soy sauce, 3 Tbsp rice vinegar (unseasoned), 2 Tbsp chicken stock/broth, 2 Tbsp water, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil, and ¼–½ tsp la-yu (Japanese chili oil). Whisk them all together. Bring it to a simmer and then turn off the heat. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Prepare a bowl of iced water. Dip the base of the saucepan into the iced water to cool the sauce. Cool it completely, and store it in the refrigerator if you‘re serving later. You can make the dressing ahead and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
To Prepare the Toppings
- To make a thin omelette, whisk together 2 large eggs (50 g each w/o shell), 2 tsp sugar, and ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt in a small bowl.
- Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil and evenly distribute it. Pour the egg mixture into the pan (or if you‘re doubling the recipe, make two omelettes and use two eggs each).
- When the egg is set on the surface, flip and cook the other side for 1–2 minutes. Transfer the omelet to a paper towel to absorb the excess oil and let it cool.
- Peel the skin of 2 Japanese or Persian cucumbers, alternating peeled and unpeeled strips to create a stripe pattern. Diagonally cut the cucumbers into thin slices, and then cut them into julienned strips.
- Cut 1 tomato in half and then cut the halves into wedges.
- Cut 4–6 slices ham into thin julienned strips.
- Separate 4–6 sticks real or imitation crabmeat into thin strips.
- When the omelette is cool, cut it in half and then into thin strips.
- Now, all the toppings are ready.
To Cook the Noodles
- Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Loosen and separate 3 servings hiyashi chuka noodles with your hands and add them to the boiling water. Cook the fresh noodles according to the package directions. Tip: I usually cook the noodles for less time for a firm, al dente doneness.
- Transfer the cooked noodles to a colander and rinse them thoroughly with your hands under cold running water. This stops the cooking, cools the noodles, and removes the excess starch. Drain completely, shaking the colander to remove the excess water.
To Assemble and Serve
- Divide the noodles into individual plates or bowls. Place all the toppings and pour the dressing on top before serving. Sprinkle with 1½ tsp toasted white sesame seeds (optional). Serve optional pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga) on top and Japanese karashi hot mustard on the side, if desired.
To Store
- You can keep the leftover sauce and toppings in separate airtight containers and store them in the refrigerator for 2 days. I recommend preparing the noodles right before you serve.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on July 7, 2013. The images and blog post have been updated and the recipe is slightly revised on July 17, 2022.
[…] go into the details of ramen deviations such as Tsukemen つけ麺 (ramen with dipping broth), Hiyashi Chuka 冷やし中華 (cold ramen), Abura Soba 油そば (soupless ramen tossed with oil based dressing) among others, […]
[…] Just One Cookbook, you can find the classic Hiyashi Chuka recipe with soy sauce-base sauce, and this version is with a sesame miso […]
Just an FYI for all of those folks who may have switched, or wanted to, to a low(er) carb diet: we have made this recipe with zucchini noodles on a Spiralizer and cut the sugar in the sauce in half. It is obviously not the same recipe, but for those that are seeking a lower carb alternative, it will give you hope. I apologize to the traditionalists who think giving up noodles and rice are crazy.
Hi Jason! You’re kind and polite. Thank you for sharing your low-carb option! My readers and I appreciate your feedback! 🙂
Nami,
I made this for dinner tonight and it’s absolutely perfect for summer. It’s 98 degrees in NM today, so turning on the oven at all, or the stove for long, just isn’t an option. I’ll be doing your cold udon noodles in the very near future.
I did have one question for you… would the method for cooking the shrimp work with any alcohol? Or is it something specific to sake? I was curious if I could use vodka for a shrimp cocktail.
Thanks, as always, for the fabulous recipe.
Hi Madeline! So sorry for my late response (I was traveling…). I hope you enjoy cold udon. I make it at least twice a week with different toppings. Sure, you can use vodka for a shrimp cocktail. White wine etc works too. You don’t need much, but the alcohol evaporate with unwanted smell. 🙂 Thank you for reading my blog!
My relative recently recommended that I eat hiyashi chuka since it’s been so hot. I found your recipe and tried it out. The husband and I love it! I know that I could buy bottled sauce but the recipe that you provide is so tasty. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Kathy! I’m so happy to hear you liked Hiyashi Chuka. I love cold noodles in general (like Cold Tanuki Udon) and I can’t live without it in the hot summer days. I’m happy to hear you liked the homemade Mentsuyu too! 🙂 Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
can i make this the night before for next day’s lunch?
Hi Jill! Ideally, boil the noodles and pour the sauce before you serve. That way, the texture of the noodles is best and noodles won’t get soggy. You can cut all the ingredients for toppings on previous day. However, if you absolutely don’t have time on the day, then make the noodles on previous day, but please pour the sauce right before you serve. Hope this helps!
Your recipes all look so delicious!!! My husband is Japanese and I am mainly Hawaiian/Irish. I don’t know any japanese recipes. I have a question though. Is there any non seaweed/seafood dashi recipes? My mother in law is allergic to anything from the sea which really limits me from using a japanese recipe. Thank you for all the mouth watering recipes 🙂
Hi Alina! Thank you! I have a lot of readers who have a Japanese husband like you and try to cook Japanese dishes for him. 🙂 Non-seafood dashi will be kombu if you don’t consider kombu as seafood. It’s kelp, and I’m not sure how your mother-in-law feels about kombu from the ocean…maybe allergic also? Another good dashi is dried shiitake mushroom. It has great flavor to it, so you can soak the shiitake to rehydrate and reserve that liquid for cooking. We don’t necessarily call it “dashi” but it’s better than using water in terms of flavor. Hmmm other than that, everything else includes fish (dried bonito flakes and dried anchovies). Depending on the dish, you “can” use chicken stock too. But usually flavor is too strong unless you cook Japanese chicken dish. If you have a specific recipe you want to try that includes dashi, let me know. I can maybe say you don’t need dashi (esp. if it’s 2 Tbsp. etc). Hope that helps! 🙂
This dish originates from China, hence the name. Cold sesame noodles are very common all over the east coast of China, and have been served for quite some time.
Hi Marcus! Yes, all the 中華 recipes have sesame oil in it and the Japanese love the flavor!
Hi Lisa! Thank you for visiting my blog! Compared to freshly made Hiyashi Chuka, I have to say the taste and texture won’t be the same if you make it in advance. You can cut cucumbers, hams, eggs etc (toppings, basically) and make the dressing ahead of time but please try to cook the noodles on the same day at least? Maybe it’s just me, but I am very particular about texture of noodles and I don’t like them to be soggy and not fresh. Hope this helps. 🙂
What a great meal for a hot day! You took beautiful pictures of the dish. You need to teach me some photo taking skills. =)
Hi Candice! Thanks for your kind words. Every photo shooting is practice for me…until I really understand everything. I’m not very technical so it takes extra time to learn. 😉
Love hiyashi chuka, takes me right back to tokyo july 1990 and sooo hot and humid like I never felt before, my friend yumiko introduced me to these chilled noodles and I survived on them on many hot days, we are having a heat wave now so this is a perfect time to try your recipe, oishiso 🙂
Hi Ran! Arigato! It was nice to hear your hiyashi chuka story! Japan’s summer is so humid and hot and we definitely enjoy eating cold noodles. I’ll post 2 more cold noodles recipes and hope you will enjoy them this summer. 🙂 Thank you for following my blog!
Looks so good! Just the perfect thing to make on this hot day in LA! Thanks!
Thank you Julia! Yeah I already had this three times since I came to Japan… LOL. Perfect summer meal!
This looks so delicious and refreshing! I think the sauce is the most important part of the dish and I can’t wait to try this recipe. So happy you and the family are having a grand time in Japan!
Agree, sauce is the most important part! Thank you so much for your kind words, Donna! xo 🙂
Nami, I’m not sure we have fresh ramen noodles on Guam, I’ve never seen the cold noodle packages sold here. We have something similar but in hot soup flavors (I can’t recall their names). These noodles are coated with something white and powdery. Would it be safe to use these instead of what you use? If not, do you have a substitute noodle to recommend? Thank you
Hi Vanessa! You can use the regular (hot) fresh ramen noodles, and those white powders are flours to separate the noodles so it’s safe to use. When you drop the noodles, make sure to separate noodles so they don’t stick each other. 🙂 You can use somen or udon noodles, soba is okay too, but I’d prefer somen/udon to eat with these toppings. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Thanks for the quick response! I’m thinking ill use udon noodles instead, but I only have the dried version not the fresh frozen type. I hope this would be fine to use as well. Going back to the ramen noodles here on Guam, I noticed that after cooking them, they are sticky. If I should use these, will rinsing them (as you instructed) take care of the stickiness? Thanks
I like Sanuki Udon, but if you cannot find it, then dried udon is perfectly okay! About ramen texture, the noodles can get sticky from the following reason 1) overcooked 2) not rinsed enough and there is too much starch (but I’d say it’s more “slimy” than “sticky”…). Or simply the kind of noodles is different. I’m not sure about this brand and kind of noodles so it’s a bit hard to tell. 🙂 Hope rinsing will help!
Looks great! Can I replace ramen with soba?
Sure, or if you can find somen noodles or udon noodles, they are probably better kind of noodles with this dressing. 🙂