Sunomono noodle salad is tangy, mildly sweet and refreshing! Often available in sushi restaurants and usually topped with thinly sliced cucumber or shrimp, this dish makes a great appetizer or side dish. It can also make a light refreshing lunch!
Course Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Asian, Japanese
Keyword easy side dishes, gluten-free, sour, vegan, vegetarian
In a bowl, completely dissolve sugar and salt in just-boiled water. Add rice vinegar and stir well. Refrigerate at least one hour.
Cook Japanese harusame noodles according to package instructions. (I boil mine for 10 minutes.) Rinse under cold water.
Divide noodles among bowls and top with any combination of thinly sliced cucumber, cooked shrimp, or wakame.
Pour the vinegar mixture over the noodles. Garnish with a thin slice of lemon, if desired.
Notes
Japanese harusame noodles are made of potato starch and can be found with other dry noodles in a Japanese grocery store or in the Japanese food aisle in your Asian market. You can also order them online.
Harusame noodles are sold dry and may be in the form of sticks (like what I used) or bundles.
Substitutions
If you cannot find harusame noodles, other possible substitutions are rice noodles, bean/glass noodles, cellophane noodles, or Korean sweet potato noodles, but each of these noodles will have a slightly different texture than the Japanese noodles. Cook them according to their package instructions.
Rice vinegar can be substituted with regular white vinegar.
Omit the cooked shrimp for a completely vegan dish.
Adjust the amount of sugar according to your desired level of sweetness for the dressing.
Leftover sunomono salad can be stored in the vinegar dressing in the fridge. The harusame noodles will not be as soft, but they will still be good to eat.
I would not recommend keeping leftover salad if using cellophane/glass noodles because the noodles will not be as enjoyable to eat.
Place the noodles, toppings, and vinegar dressing in a jar and pack it for lunch!