Flowing Somen Noodles

After bringing the bamboo home, we immediately set about preparing it for flowing somen noodles.

“First, let’s split the bamboo in half.”

After laying the bamboo down in the yard, I used a machete and hammer to split it lengthwise.

However, there was no need to cut all the way through. Once I had made a cut about a third of the way through, I could split it cleanly simply by lifting it.

Splitting the bamboo in half revealed its beautiful, wood-colored interior. However, there were nodes here and there that would get in the way, so I smashed them down with a hammer. Then I used a chisel to smooth the surface.

If I skipped this step, the somen noodles would get caught on the nodes and cause all sorts of trouble.

Once I had finished flattening the nodes, I brought over the garden hose to test whether the water would flow properly.

When I turned on the faucet, water poured from the hose and flowed smoothly along the bamboo.

“All right, now we just need to assemble everything. I’ll go boil the somen, so I’ll leave the assembly to you two.”

“Okay.”

At this point, there was no need for all three of us to work on it.

I left the assembly to Kaito and Seram and returned to the house to prepare the somen.

I filled a pot with plenty of water and placed it on the stove to heat.

While waiting for the water to boil, I chopped some green onions, ginger, and myoga ginger, then prepared some sesame seeds.

Since everyone might get tired of the usual condiments, I also prepared cucumbers, shredded omelet, canned tuna, and kimchi.

While I was preparing the ingredients for changing up the flavor, the water in the pot came to a boil, so I added the somen noodles we had received as a summer gift. After spreading the noodles apart with cooking chopsticks, I waited for the water to return to a boil, then covered the pot and turned off the heat.

That was all I needed to do to cook the somen.

The noodles were already extremely thin, so boiling them vigorously over high heat would make them sticky and ruin their flavor. That was why this method was sufficient.

About five minutes later, I checked the somen in the pot and found that it had cooked perfectly.

I rinsed the noodles under cold water to remove their sliminess, then chilled them in ice water to firm them up.

With that, I had prepared somen noodles that wouldn’t become sticky even after sitting for a while.

Once the somen set was ready, I arranged everything on a tray and carried it to the veranda, just as I heard Seram’s voice.

Looking over, I saw a long bamboo channel supported by tripods. It was an impressively long setup for flowing somen noodles.

“Seram, could you go invite Shigeru-san and Minori-san?”

After all, Shigeru-san had let us take his bamboo. Even though we had cut extra for him, it would be nice to invite him over. Besides, having more people would help us finish the somen faster.

“Understood! I’ll go get them!”

Seram immediately dashed out of the yard toward the Sekiya couple’s house. She was almost like an eager puppy.

“Oh, you’ve even got side dishes, not just condiments!”

“You’d get bored eating nothing but the usual condiments.”

“By the way, did you make the dipping sauce from scratch?”

“It’s store-bought.”

“Figures.”

I simply didn’t have the energy to make dipping sauce from scratch, so he would have to forgive me.

Besides, Kaito had no right to complain when I was the one preparing everything for him.

“Jin-dono, I’ve brought them both!”

As I was setting out some outdoor high chairs, Seram returned.

Shigeru-san and Minori-san were following behind her.

“Thanks to you, Shigeru-san, we managed to get some excellent bamboo. Thank you very much.”

“Oh, I’m glad you found some good bamboo. We haven’t had lunch yet, so we’ll gladly join you.”

“Please, make yourselves at home.”

Excellent. Our eating forces had just received a substantial boost.

It looked like I might actually be able to get through this year’s somen quickly.

“It wouldn’t feel right to keep letting you treat us, so I brought a little gift.”

Oh? Could it be some side dishes that went well with somen? Everything Minori-san cooked was delicious, so I would certainly appreciate that.

However, despite my hopeful expectations, what she handed me was a package of somen noodles. To make matters worse, it contained thirty-six bundles.

“More somen…”

“Sorry about that. We’ve had so much delivered to our house that we were wondering what to do with it. As you get older, your appetite isn’t what it used to be, so why don’t you and Seram-chan, with all your youthful energy, eat it for us?”

“Y-yes. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.”

They had always taken good care of me, and after hearing that from the elderly couple, there was no way I could refuse their gift.

I had intended to speed up my somen consumption, but instead, I had ended up with even more.

“Hahaha! Looks like Jin’s getting absolutely crushed in this year’s food-sharing war!”

Seeing my shoulders slump, Kaito burst into delighted laughter.

“Shut up. I went to all this trouble to prepare everything, so you’d better do your fair share of eating.”

“I know, I know! I always get excited when we have flowing somen, so I’ll eat plenty!”

When I shot him a resentful look, Kaito merely laughed carefree and gave me a thumbs-up.

Once I had prepared enough bowls, chopsticks, and dipping sauce for everyone, it was finally time to begin the flowing somen.

I couldn’t very well make our guests handle the noodle-feeding duty, so I decided to take care of it myself.

At the end of the bamboo channel, Seram, Shigeru-san, Minori-san, and Kaito were lined up in that order.

Each of them held a bowl of dipping sauce and a pair of chopsticks, apparently ready to begin.

“Seram-chan, do your best to catch the noodles.”

“Understood, Minori-dono!”

Encouraged by Minori-san, Seram gripped her chopsticks and prepared to catch the approaching somen.

Apparently, Minori-san knew this was Seram’s first time trying flowing somen and was cheering her on.

Seram still wasn’t very accustomed to using chopsticks, so I was a little worried about whether she could catch the noodles properly. Still, that was part of the fun, so I decided to let her give it her best shot.

“All right, here they come!”

After calling out to everyone, I lifted some noodles from the colander and dropped them into the channel.

The moment they touched the water, the somen caught the current and glided smoothly downstream.

In the blink of an eye, they reached Seram, who was waiting at the front.

“Now!”

Seram’s eyes widened with determination as she swiftly scooped at the noodles with her chopsticks.

However, only a few strands became tangled around them.

“Huh?”

“Got ’em!”

Shigeru-san and Kaito ended up catching half of the remaining somen each.

“Delicious!”

“Yes, cold food is especially delicious at this time of year.”

Kaito and Shigeru-san happily slurped their noodles, savoring every mouthful.

“Ugh, my somen…”

“It’s all right, Seram-chan. There’s still plenty of somen left.”

“You’re right. I’ll do my best!”

Seram had been looking dejected, but Minori-san’s encouragement quickly restored her spirits.

Minori-san also took the opportunity to teach her how to hold her chopsticks. Although her movements were still clumsy, she was getting the hang of it, so perhaps she would manage to catch some next time.

Watching them, I sent the second batch of noodles down the channel.

I made the portion slightly larger this time to make it easier for Seram to catch some.

“I got them! I caught them, Minori-dono!”

This time, she had successfully scooped up a bundle of somen noodles, which hung from her chopsticks.

Seeing Seram proudly celebrating her achievement, everyone applauded.

“Well done. Now try dipping them in the sauce and eating them.”

“Indeed!”

At Minori-san’s prompting, Seram dipped the noodles she had caught into the sauce and ate them.

“Ah! Somen noodles are so delicious and refreshing! Perhaps because they’re thinner than udon noodles, they go down so smoothly!”

Seram looked thoroughly impressed as she ate the somen.

She had enjoyed udon, so I hadn’t expected any problems, and it seemed she was enjoying somen just as much.

While Seram was marveling at the noodles, I sent the third, fourth, and fifth batches down the channel in quick succession.

Unlike Seram, Minori-san, Shigeru-san, and Kaito had no trouble catching the noodles and eating them effortlessly.

Good, good. Keep eating and help me get rid of all this somen.

“I’m going to keep sending them down!”

Keeping an eye on everyone’s eating pace, I continued sending batch after batch of somen down the channel.

Being the person in charge of releasing the noodles might sound boring, but sending them flowing down the water was surprisingly entertaining, so I didn’t mind at all.

Seram had missed quite a few noodles at first, but as she gradually got the hang of it, she began missing fewer and fewer.

“Seram-chan, you’ve gotten much better at catching the noodles.”

“It’s all thanks to your guidance, Minori-dono! As long as I’m here, not a single noodle shall get past me!”

“Uh, I kind of need you to let some through, or I won’t get anything to eat…”

As Seram’s skills improved, the amount of somen reaching Kaito at the very end of the line had apparently decreased.

Of course, exchanges like that were part of what made flowing somen so enjoyable.

Seeing Kaito looking so miserable, Minori-san and Shigeru-san laughed.

“Jin-dono, allow me to take over.”

While I was enjoying the cheerful scene and continuing to send noodles down the channel, Seram approached me.

“It’s your first time, so just enjoy yourself. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Well, that is part of it, but I also simply want to try sending the noodles down myself.”

Apparently, her offer was motivated partly by consideration for me and partly by curiosity.

If she genuinely wanted to try it, there was no reason not to let her.

“…I see. All right, then. Go ahead.”

“Indeed!”

I switched places with Seram and handed her the noodles and cooking chopsticks.

“We’re starting to get full, so why don’t you and Kaito-kun move to the front, Jin-kun?”

“Thank you.”

The elderly couple seemed reasonably satisfied, so Kaito and I took up positions near the front.

“Very well, here they come!”

Seram called out from her position at the top of the channel and released a portion of noodles she had scooped from the colander.

However, the amount of noodles was clearly excessive. They flowed rapidly at first, but came to a halt around the middle of the channel.

“Oh? The noodles have stopped moving.”

“You put too many noodles in at once.”

“I see!”

Seram nodded in understanding, then plunged her cooking chopsticks into the clump of noodles that had become stuck.

The loosened noodles immediately separated and began flowing downstream.

“Jin! We’d better catch a whole lot of these, or they’ll all go straight to the bottom!”

“Grab as many as you can!”

Although the noodles had been separated, that didn’t change the sheer amount flowing toward us.

Kaito and I scooped up as many noodles as we possibly could.

Fortunately, we somehow managed to catch them all, preventing any from flowing past us.

However, our bowls were now filled with portions that could hardly be described as a single mouthful…

Still, somen was somen, regardless of the portion size.

I dipped the noodles thoroughly in the sauce and slurped them up.

“Yeah, that’s delicious.”

Despite their thinness, the noodles had a satisfying firmness, and I could clearly taste the flavors of wheat and salt.

Above all, they went down wonderfully smoothly, and eating them dipped in cold sauce was simply fantastic.

“Eating this really makes it feel like summer, doesn’t it?”

“It certainly does.”

As someone who struggled every year to get through all the somen I received as summer gifts, eating it certainly gave me the feeling that summer had arrived.

“Here comes the next batch!”

“Just keep the portions reasonable, okay?”

Once we had finished eating, Seram sent another batch of noodles down the channel.

This time, the portion was small enough to eat in one bite, and the noodles flowed smoothly without getting stuck along the way.

Kaito and I caught them easily and ate them.

Yeah, flowing somen was definitely supposed to be about catching and eating one bite-sized portion after another.

Those enormous portions from earlier just didn’t feel right.

The noodles coated in dipping sauce slipped smoothly down my throat.

Condiments such as myoga ginger, green onions, and ginger complemented the noodles perfectly, giving them a wonderfully refreshing flavor.

Even when the heat and exhaustion had robbed me of my appetite, I felt as though I could eat endless amounts of cold somen.

“Seram-chan, I’ll take over sending the noodles now.”

“Thank you, Minori-dono.”

After we had been eating for a while, Minori-san offered to take over the noodle-feeding duty.

“Now then, you youngsters had better eat plenty!”

Huh? Hadn’t my original plan been to get everyone else to eat lots of noodles so I could reduce my stockpile? Somehow, I felt like I had ended up being the one expected to eat everything instead. Oh well, there was no point worrying about the little details.

We continued catching the noodles as they flowed toward us and ate our fill.