Does the summer heat have you dreaming of taking a dip? Then cook up a bowl of Tsukemen – cold ramen dipped into a bowl of flavorful soup!
Have you heard of Japanese Dipping Noodles? The dish is called Tsukemen, but I’m sure you will remember it by the action – Dipping! Tsukemen is either cold noodles served with a side of toppings and a bowl of hot dipping soup (or Hiyashi Tsukemen, which is cold noodles and cold dipping soup).
What Is The Difference Between Ramen And Tsukemen?
While ramen is served with noodles and everything else in one large bowl and enjoyed hot, Tsukemen is served with cold noodles separately from the sauce. This way the noodles stays cool without losing its firmness, and the soup stays hot enough for you to flavor and moisten the noodles. What a simple yet thoughtful idea! With the perfect balance of temperature and texture, it is no wonder tsukemen is a summer favorite noodle dish.
Dipping Ramen for the Summer
Just like ramen noodles, there are all sorts of tsukemen soup types and flavors. Today I’m going to share one that my family really enjoys – a soy sauce-vinegar based tsukemen that has a tangy kick. If you enjoy spicy food, this dish has a spicy chili bean paste (la doubanjiang) that you can freely add in as you like.
For a very flavorful tsukemen soup base, I used fatty pork belly, but you can substitute with ground pork or another meat/seafood. It’s tempting to drink the soup, but it is intentionally made to be too salty to drink. That’s because when you dip the cold ramen into the hot soup, the salty flavor is well balanced with the cold noodles and other toppings.
For toppings, I served Tsukemen with shrimp, eggs, narutomaki (fish cake), and nori. Feel free to add other ingredients too. Whatever you like to dip in the soup!
We use chukamen (fresh ramen noodles) that are springy and chewy for this Tsukemen dish. The cold noodles go well with hot soup and a variety of toppings. You simply pick up a few strands of ramen with your chopsticks, dip them into the soup, then slurp them up. Affectionally called the dipping ramen, tsukemen is a fun Japanese noodle dish for the summer!
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- 2 servings ramen noodles (10-12 oz or 283-340 g fresh noodles; 6.3 oz or 180 g dry ramen noodles; For gluten-free, use these GF ramen noodles)
- ½ lb sliced pork belly
- ½ inch ginger
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 shiitake mushrooms
- ½ shimeji mushrooms
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil (roasted)
- 1 Tbsp Doubanjiang (spicy chili bean sauce/broad bean paste)
- 1 package katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
- ⅓ cup Mentsuyu/Tsuyu (noodle soup base) (100 ml; to make Homemade Mentsuyu, click here.)
- 1 cup water (240 ml)
- 1 tsp miso (I use awase miso)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 ½ Tbsp rice vinegar
- 6 shrimps (+ 1 Tbsp sake for boiling)
- 2 soft/hard-boiled egg
- 2-3 slices Narutomaki (fish cakes)
- nori (seaweed)
-
Gather all the ingredients.
- Cut the meat into 1 inch pieces. Mince the ginger and garlic. Discard the bottom of shimeji and shiitake mushrooms and slice shiitake mushrooms. Finely chop scallions. Remove the shell and devein shrimps.
- In a medium saucepan, heat sesame oil over medium high heat and add ginger and garlic when oil is hot.
- When fragrant, add (spicy) chili bean paste (Doubanjiang or La Doubanjiang) and stir constantly so it won’t burn.
- Add the meat and cook until no longer pink.
- Add the shiitake and shimeji mushrooms and cook until wilted.
- Add Menetsuyu and water and bring to a boil.
-
Using a fine sieve, skim off the scum and foam if necessary.
- Lower the heat to medium low and add miso and soy sauce in the soup and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the chopped green onions and rice vinegar. Turn off the heat and set aside.
-
Prepare toppings. In a small saucepan, bring 1 ½ cup water to a boil. Add 1 Tbsp sake and shrimp. Once the shrimp starts changing color, turn off the heat and cover to let the remaining heat cook the shrimp (so you won’t overcook the shrimp). Drain and set aside.
- When all the toppings are ready, bring a big pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles. Make sure to separate each noodles when you drop them into the boiling water. Cook according to the package instructions, but keep the noodles al dente. Drain the water and rinse the noodles to remove starch. Soak the noodles into a bowl of ice water to cool. Drain completely and divide the noodles on plates/bowls. Serve all the toppings on the noodles or on a separate plate.
- Pour the hot soup in a bowl. Serve the cold noodles, toppings, and soup and sprinkle katsuobushi in the soup right before eating. Enjoy!
Mentsuyu (noodle soup base): Homemade recipe, click here.
Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe in your own words and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.
I’ve never heard of this before but it sounds delicious. I love stopping by your site – I always learn something new. Thanks for sharing.
Oh man this is good. Know what you mean by the right kind of springy ramen!
Oh, that looks so good! It’s been hot here in Hawaii and I’ve been making your Soba Salad, but this looks like a refreshing change!
Hi Donna! Hope you will enjoy this noodles! This is more “Japanese” taste than the Soba Salad and you can use udon instead of ramen noodles too. 🙂
Hi Nami! I will definitely try it with udon as I recently bought some Sanuki Udon! Can’t wait to try this recipe! Thank you!
Do you have any recommendations for increasing the thickness of the soup?
Hi Andy! Less broth, a bit more fat in the soup to make creaminess? 🙂
Ah, good point. I think more pork belly and less water. Any thoughts on corn starch?
Thanks for the help on this adventure!
-Andy D
Seattle, WA
Hi Andy! I wouldn’t use cornstarch to thicken… I’ve never had tsukemen sauce that looks like they use cornstarch to thicken. 🙂
Hi Nami!
The simmering step was the important part for thickening. I simmered for 15 min and it got extra thick. I will be playing with that to make my perfect tsukemen. Thanks again for the tips 🙂
Hi Andy! Wonderful! Thank you for your update! I’m excited and happy to hear that! 🙂
What an amazing noodle soup dish, yet so simple to do. I loved ordering noodle dishes when we were in Tokyo. Your flavors are superb. Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thanks for sharing, Nami and thanks for the nice blog comments 🙂
Nami, for some reason it tickled me that you used the term “al dente” to describe a Japanese noodle dish. 🙂 But I understood what you meant exactly and this sounds like a wonderful meal to ward off the heat!
G’day and thank you Nami, I LOVE learning all things food wide new!
Never heard of Tsukemen; also love your step by step photos…looks YUM too!
Cheers! Joanne
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なみさーん！写真を見ているだけで涼しくなってきました。いいですね、やはり夏はこれですね。箸で麺をつかんで浸けてすする、日本の夏を懐かしく思いながら頂きたい一品ですね。Oh, noodles! I could even gulp the dipping sauce:)
Another recipe that I have to pin! I just love all of your recipes, Nami. I need to get on the ball and start making some of them. I know my boyfriend will love them!
I have never heard of this, but love all that is involved in this recipe! It really sounds hearty and delicious! Hugs, Terra
I’ve never tried dipping noodles before but it sounds like they’d be really fun to eat! I can barely eat ramen though so I think I need a little bit more practice first 🙂
Wow, that sounds amazing. I bet the contrast of hot and cold is fantastic. Just out of curiosity, why isn’t ok to use dry ramen noodles?
Hi Christiane! There are only a few brands of “dry” ramen noodles that I consider really close to real fresh ramen noodles (but unfortunately not available in the US – or at least I haven’t seen they are imported to the US yet). Usually the texture is very different and they are more like “instant” ramen noodles… You can also try using Chinese fresh noodles or udon noodles for this dish. 🙂 Thank you for your question!
This dish is new to me, and it looks wonderful! I’ve never met a noodle dish I didn’t like, and this looks so flavorful. Hope you’re enjoying your time in Japan – but I’m sorry it’s so hot and humid. Anyway, thanks for this.
This sounds incredible right now! There’s a Chinese style noodles that is similar to this, though using more Chinese ingredients. It’s called “lo mee” or braised noodles, generally using fresh thick chewy wheat flour noodles. The sauce is stickier with the addition of corn starch but it’s generally meat and soy based. To eat, you’d need to add black vinegar into your own bowl and stir up. I ALWAYS add a load of vinegar into mine, making my mom squirm. haha!
I love cold noodles and these noodles look so heavenly… the weather in Singapore is always hot and this will always be one of my favourite!
I’ve never tried Tsukemen and thank for introducing this Nami. The pictures are so good, so proud to know you. Thanks for visiting my blog and for your sweet comment, means a lot.
I’ve never tried tsukemen but this looks so delicious and perfect for hot days!
Konnichi wa Nami-san, How is your trip? Are you gathering up some old family recipes from your mom? I love cold buckwheat noodles but I have not had cold ramen noodles when living in Japan. I guess I will have to give your recipe a try. I hope you are also stocking up on lots of fun pottery and props while at home for just one cookbook. Take care, BAM
That soup looks really rich and flavourful! I haven’t tried this way of serving ramen but sounds really refreshing. If I can find fresh ramen I will give it a go.
I’ve never had Tsukemen but I can’t wait to try it! I love that there’s pork belly in this too – my favorite!
Hi Nami, another wonderful dish, beautifully photographed. I love this sort of food and you make it sound so easy.
that looks absolutely delicious, Nami, perfect for the summer.
This looks delicious and I can’t wait to give it a try. I just love Ramen.
This looks so good! Love the detailed step by step pictures!
I’m not used to having cold noodle dishes as I’ve only ever eaten noodles hot but I can see how this can be wonderful during hot humid conditions. There are so many wonderful ingredients in the soup base that these noodles must take on incredible flavour xx
You know Nami, I know of this but now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten it. And I really want to right now after seeing your recipe. Looks so so authentically good!
Nami it’s super hot in Berlin as well. I am not familiar with Tsukemen, but I should be. I like everything you make.
Your photos are gorgeous! The colors are amazing.
I’ve never had cold noodles… I need to get out more. 😛
How interesting, Nami! I have seen cold noodles in salads but never served with a dipping sauce. Love it!!!
You never cease to amaze me with your creative recipes – this looks ridiculously delicious! 🙂
This looks so good that its making me drool. Loved this recipe and beautiful props
Lipsmackingly scrumptious! Such noodle dishes are terrific.
Cheers,
Rosa
We were in LA recently and had lunch at Tsujita LA Artisan Noodle on Sawtelle Blvd. Their specialty is tsukemen. Long lines form before noon each day for this small restaurant which added an annex across the street due to its popularity.
Personally I thought their broth was heavy and salty. I’ll be anxious to try your version of the broth. Imagine my surprise to see your recipe pop up today. Our thick ramen noodles were only garnished with lime and one piece of nori. The other options were boiled egg and few slices of roasted pork.
Hi Mae! I should try their Tsukemen next time when I’m in LA. I hope you like my recipe! 🙂 Thank you for your kind comment!
Yumminess in a bowl! Nami, do you think H mart will have the Menetsuyu ? I want to try making this over the weekend, I could also look for the ingredients for Menetsuyu there.
Hi Nik! Hmm! I wish I can tell you. I’ve never been to H Mart in my area, and not too sure if Korean store carries the Japanese noodle soup base. I know Chinese stores in my area carry various brands of Mentsuyu because Cold Soba (Zaru Soba) is a popular dish. There are different brands, but they all say Noodle base soup or something in that line… (could be soba dipping sauce, etc).
Here’s Japanese online store link: http://shop.mitsuwa.com/eng/egoods/eindex.php?c=7&s=19
Hope this helps… 🙂
Our resident princess has a thing for the store bought dried ramen noodles. I would love for her to have a thing for these.
Beautiful dish Nami! Sounds so flavorful!! BTW having a great time seeing your instagram photos… =) the kids seem to be enjoying themselves!
Hi Nami! I’m always amazed at how many varieties of noodles there are and how many different ways there are to cook them. I’ve never seen or heard of this dish or these noodles before. I love learning new things! I hope that you are enjoying a great visit with your family. 🙂 School will be here before we know it (I’m already seeing back to school ads!)
This looks so good. I love noodles and I have never seen a soup like this.
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to make it. Pinned!
xx Kait
Nami, this is so intriguing – cold noodles with a hot dipping soup and toppings – it sounds so tempting and so perfect for this hot weather. I do not think that I ever tasted something similar to this but I would love to have a taste or two or three of this! I really like the contrast of hot and cold in this dish and the combination of all the different flavors. Another truly amazing post!
I hope you are having a wonderful summer in Japan! Enjoy your vacation, my friend!
美味しいそう。なみさんのつけ麺を食べたいですのでレシピは本当にありがたいです ＝）
This is delicious. My partner and I have made this twice in 1 week. It is so good and reminds us of the time we lived in Tokyo. Thank you.
Thank you, Nikki! I’m glad to hear you enjoy this recipe. Hope you had a wonderful time in Tokyo! 🙂
I would love this for my dinner right this moment, Nami! What a tempting pictures and great recipe! You know how much I love ramen so this is perfect for me! 😀
My fav tsukemen is the one from Menya Musashi, I think the one I tried had a black garlic dipping sauce. Very nice! Can’t wait to try this.
I was eating warm noodles in warm broth in Shanghai where it was 102 degrees F – cold noodles must be strictly Japanese – the Chinese need to adopt this dish 🙂 Wonderful as always, Nami!
What a beautiful meal. Everything is so fresh and colorful. I love the dipping noodles!
Looks great, I would love to try this recipe, sounds so good.
Ooh! This sounds fabulous! I’ve never heard of it before. I know my husband would love this esp since it has pork belly in it. However, with his heart condition, I watch his cholesterol level like a hawk. Perhaps I can substitute it for a leaner cut of meat? Hope you are having a wonderful time in Japan despite the weather 😉
I remember eating these when the weather was hot! They were so refreshing! 😀 Yours look really full of flavours and textures too 😀
Awww..I just had this last week and am very eager to learn the recipe. I usually get the sauce for cold noodles with soba. This is a good change on the menu. Yum!
what a great and delicious looking noodle dish that doesn;t seem to hard. Sometimes i get overwhelmed with Japenese cooking especially with noodles because I tend to cook the noodles to long or not enough but I love this recipe and the sauce sounds fantastic!
Looks very tasty. I wish more of these ingredients were available to me.
Oooh, that looks delicious. Even to a vegetarian like myself 🙂
Hope you’re well!
This noddle dish looks delicious Nami, really packed with flavor.
Hope you are having a fun week 😀
Uhoh…..Now I’m hungry! I wish we had a good Japanese restaurant near my work so I could curb these noodle cravings!! hehe
That’s an amazing way to serve these delicious noodles.
The idea reminds me a bit of Swiss fondue, but this recipe is much tastier with all the wonderful flavors .
Tsukemen noodles is not easy to get in India. I would have loved to try this recipe. This really looks intriguing, Nami. I love the fat pork belly. It just goes so well with Japanese ramen! Wonderful recipe. 🙂
Hi Nami!
This will be our dinner tonight =)
Hi Ucaco! Sorry I missed your comment. I hope you enjoyed this dish! xo 🙂
Nami, feel hungry looking at your bowl of noodles, simply delicious!
Oooh I’d love to try the spicy version. I don’t eat enough cold noodle dishes and I should to try something different now and then. Thanks for the step by step!
This looks so delicious! Can’t wait to try it!
What I really love about some Japanese dishes is that they are so much fun to eat! This is another perfect example: it looks both delicious and I can imagine I would enjoy dipping the noodles, choosing the toppings… I love all the ingredients anyway (I see katsuobushi too! this is one of the ingredients I couldn’t live without). Time to prepare and taste tsukemen!
mmmm this looks like such a tasty dish!!
I am such a dipper and these noodles would be great to make. I definitely must try out this recipe. Delish
What a delicious and easy meal, full of fresh flavor! Thank you for sharing this dish and your helpful tutorial, Nami!
I learn so much from you, Nami! My family would go nuts with all of these ramen recipes. I need a personal guided tour through the Japanese market to get rid of the intimidation factor! This looks amazing!
Looks wonderful! Light and perfect for summer.
Love tsukemen but don’t eat it often. Thanks for the recipe. Looks tasty and definitely want to try it sometime….
Hi Kit! I hope you try making this at home and like the recipe! 🙂
Really, I have never heard of this before but it look so flavorful.
Enjoy your vacation in Japan.
A lovely looking meal for this hot weather Nami. Thank you for mentioning about the udon as well – I always seem to have those rattling around in the cupboard, but have never seen fresh ramen before.
I feel like we’ve had this conversation before, but what does “tsuke” mean… dipping? I’m trying to figure out how that works in “tsukemono”?
Hi Charles! Haha, okay here is Japanese 101 today. “Tsuke” comes from “tsukeru (v)” meaning dip, soak, etc. Hope you can spot other words with “tsuke”. 😀 Udon works really well with this recipe and my daughter prefers this recipe with Udon (I like both…).
What a perfect summer meal! I love the idea of this meal – a dipping sauce and noodles. It sounds as much fun to eat as it is delicious I’m sure.
I love eating cold noodles and would love some right now! 😀 I love the pictures, since it`ll make it so much easier when I attempt to make these.
I am seriously so happy that I found your blog a few weeks back. Everything you post always looks so delicious and it’s always something I love to get when I dine out but have never tried to make it at home. And like everything else I’ve seen on your blog, this looks fantastic!
I never heard about dipping noodles, and I found great, is like having a noodle fondue 🙂
Mmm… this is my kind of comfort food!! Yum 🙂
The soup broth must be super flavorful, looking at the ingredients used to make the base.
I always learn something new from you, Nami! This dish looks both stunning and delicious!
What a cool concept to dip the cold noddle in hot soup! And pork belly is a great choice for stock :-D. Looks great. Keep cool!
Hi Nami,
Wow,
Your cooking rocks. This dish looks like the ultimate comfort food to me. Please can I come over for dinner???
amazing. <3
Oh wow…this looks like some serious summer comfort food! Too bad it’s winter here now, gotta save this one! 🙂
Thank you Melissa! The noodles are cold but you dip in hot soup so we actually eat in winter too. 🙂 Thank you for your comment!
Hi ! I love this recipe. But I have a question: is there a way to make it meatless (for the broth especially) ? We don’t eat meat but do eat seafood.
Thanks a lot.
Hi Nolwenn! Sure, make this with meatless, or replace with shrimp or any seafood you enjoy. However, I’d recommend adding precooked (seafood of your choice) after Step 6, so your seafood is not overcooked. Or you use your seafood of your choice as toppings, too. Depends – if you think it gives nice flavor to the soup, add in to replace the meat. Hope this helps? 🙂
Nami, you post amazing stuff, and this is making me super hungry. Too bad I can’t walk into the monitor and grab it…
now I know what I’ll be cooking next 🙂
Tried Tsukemen at Tsujita LA last week and it was amazing. I love to cook so of course I’m gonna give this a try. Gonna head to Lil Tokyo and shop for specialty ingredients no available to me locally. Tsujita says they simmer broth for 60 hours. I’ll let you know how that turns out.
Hi George! I’d like to try Tsujita next time I’m in LA! Wow 60 hours! I hope my recipe is decent enough even though we don’t cook for 60 hours. Let me know what you think if you try! 🙂
Ok so I made it finally. I followed your recipe to the letter using the spicy bean paste and simmered about 45 min. before transferring to a crock pot for the 60 hour low simmer. I added the scallions and rice vinegar after the simmer prior to serving. If you have the time, I highly suggest trying it once. I tried the broth before putting into the slow simmer and the flavor was amazing but after the 60 hours the flavors infused into the broth and it was thicker and richer by far. Squeeze of lime wedge and garnished and OMG you are the best for sharing 🙂 P.S. for anyone using recipe, don’t use shortcuts and use fresh garlic and fresh ginger minced as instructed.
Hi George! Thank you so much for your kind feedback and I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! 60 hours! Now I want to try your soup!!!!! I can totally see how delicious it must have been! I now own a slow cooker so I shall try it next time! 🙂
At 60 hours, everythink would fall apart.
He may mean 6.0 hours?
Sad news:
NHK News.
Death of a Noodle Master
Large crowds of customers lined up in front of a noodle restaurant in Tokyo to remember a dish created by restaurateur Kazuo Yamagishi, who passed away on April 2.
Yamagishi first served his special dish, called tsukemen, 54 years ago. It was an instant hit.
Tsukemen means “dipping noodles.” You eat the ramen after swishing it in a separate bowl of thick soup.
Yamagishi got the idea from a staff meal served in the restaurant where he apprenticed as a teenager.
Now, more than 100 chefs who worked under him have opened their own restaurants across the country, featuring tsukemen on their menus.
On the day after Yamagishi’s death, loyal customers flocked to the restaurant before it opened for business.
“I heard that Mr. Yamagishi passed away,” said one. “So I wanted to taste his noodles one more time.”
“He was a cheerful man who always said ‘Welcome’ and ‘Thank you,'” said another. “That’s how I remember him.”
Yamagishi died of heart failure at a hospital in Tokyo. He was 80 years old.
www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/onbusiness/2015040201.html
Hi Phil! I think he means 60 hours. It’s common to cook ramen broth for more than a day at ramen shops. 🙂
Thank you for sharing the NHK article about the Tsukemen master. If I had a chance, I’d definitely visit his shop!
I never had the chance to try it. I was only in Sendai a few months back in 1987.
If my wife, who was Japanese was still alive, she’d make it. As for me, I don’t have to patients and stick pretty much to my American recipies.
Hi Phil! I’m sorry about your wife. 🙁 I wish I could send you a bowl of this noodle! 🙂
I love the bowls! Where did you get them?
Thank you so much Amy! I brought them back from Japan…
I love your recipe so yummy ????????????
Thank you Maria!
This looks like a really fun one to try! I love dipping noodle dishes a bunch and the hot broth variety would be perfect for the chilly spell we’ve been getting over here.
Quick questions though- what would be a good vegetarian substitute for pork belly? Does it need a sub?
Hi MC! I apologize for my late response (have been quite busy…). Yeah, I hope you give this recipe a try. It’s fun dipping in the hot broth – so delicious too!
As for the sub for pork belly… boost the flavor with dried shiitake mushrooms instead (it has more flavor than raw shiitake mushrooms).
All the fermented seasonings have bold flavor, so you shouldn’t be missing the umami flavors (but will miss that savory note from the meat). It will be still delicious! Enjoy!! xo
Thanks so much!
Happy holidays!
hi! can we use minced pork instead of the belly for the dipping sauce?
Hi Cheok! Sure, you can do that. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! Is there a way or alternative to make this with cold broth?
Hi Artur! Typically tsukemen broth is typically hot but you can make it cold broth. If you make a fatty broth, you have to remove the fat solid once the broth is chilled. You may need to strain into a fine-mesh sieve to get rid of the fat. 🙂
Great!! But how much water do you boil before adding sake and the shrimp? I’ve never figured that out.
Hi Ann! 1 ½ cup would do for the amount of shrimp we use. I updated the info in my recipe. Thank you for asking!
Hi! Is it ok if I use Somen straight Mentsuyu for this recipe? Or should I use a different kind of Mentsuyu? Thank you!! This looks delicious
Hi Alison! I use concentrated one, so if you use “straight”, you need to use 1 1/3 cup straight mentsuyu and see if the taste is okay. Sorry I couldn’t get back to ou sooner!