Tsukemen

Tsukemen is a noodle dish from Japan that is eaten in a unique way. Cold noodles are dipped in the accompanying soup, broth, or sauce, which are served hot in a separate bowl. The noodles can also be dipped in vinegar or spiced up with chili sauce before consumption.

Unlike ramen, where the boiled noodles are placed in the soup bowl, tsukemen is characterized by first washing the noodles with water, which stops them from expanding. It is said that tsukemen is ideal for summer because it provides the wonderful flavors of ramen without the extra heat.

The dish was invented in 1955 by Yamagishi Kazuo, a chef at Taishoken Ramen Restaurant, who discovered it when he ate the noodles with the leftover broth and soy sauce. With a few tweaks, he placed the dish on the menu and called it Tokusei Morisoba, and ever since then, the dish gained popularity.

Today, it is a standard menu item in most ramen restaurants with a wide variety of broth bases, such as tomato or miso.