Do you have seasonal food in your country? We have some in Japan. We love eating cold noodles in the summer, and hiyamugi is one of the dishes.

Today, I'd like to write about hiyamugi. Last month, my husband and I met his aunt in Nara. I'll write about that visit in another journal entry, and I'd just like to focus on hiyamugi today. She gave us the best one in her region when we met her. I like cold noodles, but I had never been a big fan of it because it's thicker than sōmen and half-thick, and I don't like the texture.

Ever since the rainy season ended, the weather has been getting very muggy. I've started losing my appetite. When this happens, I tend to cook spicy dishes or cold noodles, so I cooked hiyamugi that Seiji's aunt gave us.

Making cold noodles is very simple. I went out to my garden to pick my homegrown shiso (a type of Japanese herb) and a cucumber. I sliced them and prepared some shredded egg and seasoned fried tofu as toppings.

After boiling the hiyamugi, I rinsed it in ice-cold water to chill it thoroughly.

I topped it with my homemade fermented ginger, shiso, fried tofu, shredded egg, cucumber and dipped the noodles into the soup. When I took my first bite, I was amazed by the texture. It was my first time enjoying hiyamugi. I instantly become a big fan of it.

Since then, I've ordered the same brand online and shared some with my parents and our daughter. I haven't heard what they think about it yet, but I'm sure they'll also love it. I think that hiyamugi is the best one I've ever had before.

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