saimin

Know what would taste really ono right about now?

A big bowl of warm, steamy, soul satisfying saimin!

At this very moment, I’m dreaming of dipping my chopsticks in hot dashi and slurping up some fresh saimin noodles — just the right firmness, a little curly — with a bit of char-siu (sweet roast pork), kamaboko (fish cake), fried egg and crunchy wonbok cabbage. See those chopped green onions nestled atop the noodles? I’m gonna scoop them up and slurp again. Mmmmm!

James Rubio/flickr

Saimin is truly “Hawai’i in a bowl,” a ubiquitous snack turned main dish inspired by Japanese ramen, Chinese mein, and Filipino pancit. It always, always hits the spot. Now there’s a brand new award winning picture book called Plenty Saimin by Feng Feng Hutchins and Adriano Abatayo (Island Paradise Publishing, 2010), a tasty tale sure to satisfy the appetites of diehard saimin lovers and curious foodies.