This week has been, to turn a phrase, stinking hot. Not that we would mind so much in August, but being suddenly whacked with rainy season and 30-degree+ days (that’s like 90, folks) in the same week is a bit much. I was scheduled to have lunch with You today, and all I could think leading up to the event was “Hiyashi Chuka”. I have no particular axe on hiyashi chuka, so I left it to him, and we walked way up north into east-side Kanda, to a very nondescript Chinese place under the tracks.
You know hiyashi chuka? I guess it literally means something like “cold Chinese” or even “cold China”, but it’s really a specific formula for cold noodles. Think of it as summer ramen. Take a pile of ramen, cook it, wash it in cold water like soba. Put it in a bowl and cover with a soup? a thin sauce? that’s sweet, sour and soy in equal measure (vinegar is good for hot times too, isn’t it?). Then arrange on top, in radial tranches, a specific set of additions: cucumber, processed ham, egg. It’s pretty cool looking, actually, because all of these things are julienned and set up in neat little piles. Ajibou’s version had roast pork in the mix too, which was so fatty as to resemble butter in places, but not in such a bad way. And for Y800, the side order of fried rice was egregious but tasty, with a touch of char in it.
You tells me that this place is good at night too, and I’m inclined to believe it. I’m also inclined to believe that I’m going to embark on a project I’ve contemplated for ages – cheap Chinese in Kanda – since I now have a reason (hot weather + hiyashi chuka) to get into it. Maybe next week. Any takers?
Bou, bou, bou your bout…heatstroke?
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