Are you a fan of Japanese soba and udon? Do you consider yourself as a washoku Japanese cuisine connoisseur? Then, here is something you should get your hands on. Here in Japan, we see a countless number of soup base, which is ‘men tsuyu’ in Japanese, at grocery shops. After all, Japan is a country of soba, udon and thousands of soy sauce based dishes. Every household has men tsuyu in the kitchen and everyone has their own favourite men tsuyu. Mine was Ninben Tsuyu no Moto for almost two decades. Best Japanese soup base for all washoku!
One day, I kind of realised that my husband wasn’t really enjoying soba when I cooked with it. So I googled what kind of men tsuyu other people were using. Website after website, there was a rave about a men tsuyu – Somi no Men Tsuyu.
SOMI Noodle Soup Base Stock
I thought I might give it a try, but first I bought the smallest bottle, Somi no Men Tsuyu 200ml, just to see if what other people were raving about was true.
Believe me – it’s THE best men tsuyu I’ve ever had in my entire life.
I don’t know how to describe it, but it tastes just like what we have at proper traditional noodle restaurants. Most of men tsuyu are kind of salty or too fishy, but Somi no Men Tsuyu has everything just right.
Somi no Men Tsuyu was in fact introduced by Somi in 1987 as a soup base for restaurants! Well, Somi itself was founded in 1949 as a company that mainly sold seasonings to restaurants. Somi admits that their products are cheap. But in stead they take pride in their products that the higher price is a result of their uncompromising selection of high quality ingredients.
It’s so good that I started using it for almost everything, like tempura, gyudon, nabe hot pot, sukiyaki, salad and all types of stewed dishes.
With Somi no Men Tsuyu, even regular soba or udon will have a restaurant quality. It’s not salty at all and has just right taste of katsuobushi bonito. It’s the deep umami that is the base of Somi no Men Tsuyu.
My favorite dish right now is this: I buy ganmodoki (fried tofu) from a locally famous tofu shop called Mikawaya. I boil water and add a few ganmodoki and handmade konnyaku for a few minutes. Then I simply add Somi no Men Tsuyu and shallot and leave it for another minute or so. Believe it – it’s so heavenly! I know that there is no going back for me.
I know that it’s easier to just use powder soup base. But, to be able to create restaurant like Japanese cuisine, all you need is Somi no Men Tsuyu.
My husband, who kind of made face every time I cooked soba at home, is now asking me when I am going to cook soba again. With that ganmodoki, he adds.
While we can’t deliver fresh tofu products to our customers, we have now Somi no Men Tsuyu available at Takaski.com. If you are a foodie of Japanese cuisine, you must give it a try.
