Noodle Salad (freshly made noodles & greens w/ grapefruit dressing)

by Celia Sin-Tien Cheng
July 28, 2008

IPPUDO
65 4th Ave
(9th & 10th Sts)
New York, NY 10003
212-388-0088
$$

The Japanese are good at creating salad noodles for summertime. It makes sense. It’s hot out, you want to have a meal, but pure carbs are too heavy, and a salad might not do it, so the Japanese combine the two as in the noodle salad at Ippudo. A much lighter option than the signature ramen, the slightly thicker egg noodles used for tsukemen are cooked then chilled and dressed in a soy sauce and mustard based mixture. The salad is mesclun with sliced bell pepper, daikon, tomato, grapefruit and grapefruit jelly. The contrast between the pungent mustard and the aromatic grapefruit is a delight. It’s topped with deep-fried thin strips of gobo (burdock root), and comes with a soy, grated radish and ginger sauce on the side. I find this additional sauce unnecessary, adding too many elements to the already vibrant noodle salad. Nevertheless, each time I finish this dish, I feel sated but light and totally refreshed.

Also in East Village, Japanese, Noodles, Ramen, Salad