October 6, 2025

Tallarin Saltado

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Tallarin Saltado

October 6: National Noodle Day

We were part of a nine-member U.S. delegation on a goodwill trip to Peru one year to support a friend’s family foundation whose mission is to provide charitable relief to underserved and impoverished villagers. We assisted in building pre-fab homes/wooden shelters for those living in dangerous makeshift conditions, cleaned and stocked the free clinic shelves with medicine and painted the slides and swing sets at an inner city playground to make it safe for the poor children. It felt great to help those less fortunate than us!

Foundation organizers arranged our modest lodgings and made sure us volunteers could also taste authentic Peruvian food, some cooked and donated by their grateful relatives who appreciated our help and hard work. There were so many delicious dishes but one that we really liked is tallarin saltado, a beef noodle stir fry. We like it so much that we often make this for our birthday meals because the noodles symbolize long life. Tallarin saltado was influenced by the Chinese laborers who immigrated to Peru during the late 19th-early 20th centuries; this Peruvian-Chinese culinary style is called chifa. 

For a flavorful fusion food on National Noodle Day, try tallarin saltado. 

Recipe

(Adapted from Guillermo L.)

Ingredients

  • ½ pound pasta noodles (spaghetti), cooked
  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 pound beef/steak, cut into thin strips
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 red onion, sliced into wedges then slivers
  • 2 stalks green onion/scallions, green parts only, sliced into 2-inch pieces (reserve some to garnish)
  • 1 tablespoon ginger, grated
  • 1 teaspooon aji amarillo paste
  • 2 roma tomatoes, sliced into wedges
  • 1 orange or red bell pepper, de-seeded and sliced into slivers
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Chopped cilantro to garnish

Directions

Cook noodles al dente, drain and set aside. Mince the garlic, grate the ginger and slice the red and green onions, tomatoes and bell pepper.

Heat a little oil in a large skillet and sauté the beef until browned. Transfer to a plate and keep warm. In the same skillet, stir-fry the garlic, red and green onions and ginger till fragrant (about a minute). Stir in the aji Amarillo paste. Add the tomatoes and bell pepper and saute gently for another minute.

Gently stir in the noodles. Mix in the soy sauce, oyster sauce, red wine vinegar and sesame oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dish out and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves. Serve hot.

Notes

  • We used beef steak strips, but chicken (pollo) pieces could be used in this recipe as well. Adjust the cooking time for the latter.
  • Search for more noodle recipes under the Theme Menus for Oodles of Noodles.

 

October 6, 2021

Chapchae

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Chapchae 

(Korean Stir Fry Noodles)

October 6: National Noodle Day

Islander’s most memorable summer school class in Hawaii years ago was very culturally di-verse from Asia and the Pacific. Her students were from Micronesia (specifically Pohnpei and Chuuk), Samoa (including a village high chief’s daughter and another future chief) and Asia (Chinese, Japanese and Koreans). At the end of the summer session, one of the Koreans (a fu-ture Catholic priest) suggested holding the class aloha (farewell) party at the Brothers’ Hall, a larger gathering space across from our classroom building. The students got excited and were very generous in sharing their dances, music and food. Some dressed up in their colorful cultur-al clothing. The Koreans got together and made a huge container of chapchae (stir fry noodles) to feed the entire class—plus the host brothers. It was such a joyous day celebrating the stu-dents’ accomplishments and talents.

Islander thinks of that class whenever she makes chapchae at home. No wonder her students got together to make it—many hands make lighter work. Preparation of this recipe takes a lot of chop chop chapchae-ing, slicing and sautéing. But it is worth the effort because this noodle dish is delicious!

On National Noodle Day, make chapchae! Masissge deuseyo!

Recipe
(Adapted from Korean Kitchen by Soyearn Yoo and Junghwa Yoo)

For the noodle sauce

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk green onion, chopped (green parts only)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions
In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, garlic and green onions .

Stir in the sugar and sesame seeds and oil. Set aside.

For the noodle mix

• 2 eggs, beaten, fried into an omelet and sliced thinly
• ¼ cup carrots, sliced into “match sticks”
• ½ cup onions, cut into slivers
• 8 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and sliced thinly
• 3 ounces beef sirloin, sliced thinly
• 6 ounces sweet potato starch noodles
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 teaspoon sesame
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Sesame seeds

Directions
Beat the eggs and fry into an omelet in a lightly greased skillet. Cool, cut in half and slice thinly into slivers. Set aside.

Cut the carrots into “match sticks”. Slice the onions thinly. Rehydrate the dried shiitake mush-rooms in hot water for 10 minutes or until softened. Squeeze out excess water from the mush-rooms and slice thinly.

In a lightly greased skillet, over medium high heat, fry the beef pieces with the noodle sauce for about 2-3 minutes. Add the carrots and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Stir in the mush-rooms. Let the noodle sauce evaporate. Remove from the stovetop.

In a large pot, boil enough water to cover the noodles. Cook the spinach for a minute and re-move immediately. Drain the spinach. To the same pot, add the noodles in the spinach water. Boil for about 10 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through. Rinse and drain. Place the noodles in a large bowl and add the sesame and olive oil. Mix well so the noodles do not stick to each other.

Add the spinach and beef mixture. Top with fried eggs slivers. Mix well. Serve on a plate and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Notes

• Thanks to another Korean student who went on to get her Ph.D. in multicultural education for giving Islander the cookbook as a gift after tutoring her in ESL.
• Whether Filipino pancit, Japanese somen or ramen, Hawaiian chicken long rice or even Italian pasta, eat oodles of noodles on National Noodle Day!

 

October 6, 2020

Somen Salad

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Somen Salad

October 6: National Noodle Day

One of the most colorful, attractive and popular potluck dishes in Hawaii is somen salad, a cold wheat noodle dish topped with slivers of fried egg (tamago), meat (char siu, ham or Spam), fish cake (kamaboko) and vegetables. The dressing is a sweet soy-vinegar sauce that complements this salad well. As a side dish, it is light enough to eat with an entrée. As the main meal, it is hearty and satisfying enough but not heavy. Somen salad can be prepared ahead of time and people can assemble the ingredients they prefer for themselves. But it is the presentation of all the toppings that make this a pretty and picture-perfect food.

Hawaii adapted somen salad from a similar Japanese recipe called “hiyashi chuka”, a cold ramen noodle dish translated as “chilled Chinese” food. The Vietnamese also have their tasty noodle bowls. They are all yummy in their own way. So celebrate National Noodle Day with oodles of noodles, colorful toppings and a delicious dressing—and serve up somen salad!

Recipe

(From Mary Ann P. and Phyllis S.)

For the dressing

  • 1 cup chicken broth/stock
  • ¼ cup rice vinegar
  • ¼ cup shoyu (soy sauce)
  • ¼ cup sugar, granulated white
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. Add the sesame oil. Bring mixture to a boil and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool. Save for later (we bottle and refrigerate the rest).

For the salad

  • 1-2 eggs, beaten and fried, cut into strips
  • Lettuce, chopped/shredded
  • Cucumber, chopped into strips
  • Carrots, cut into “match sticks”
  • ½ block kamaboko (fish cake), chopped into strips
  • Char siu, ham or Spam, cut into slivers
  • Cilantro leaves and chopped green onion to garnish (optional)
  • 1 package (9 ounces) somen noodles, cooked and drained

Directions

Beat the eggs, fry in a pan and slice into strips.

Shred the lettuce. Chop the cucumbers and carrots into strips. Cut the fish cake into strips.

Cut the char siu/ham/Spam into slivers. Chop some green onions and/or cilantro for the garnish (optional).

Cook the noodles according to the package, about 2-3 minutes in boiling water. Drain. Rinse with cold water. Arrange the noodles in a tray. Garnish the top with the egg, vegetables and meat. Garnish with green onions and cilantro (optional). Serve with the salad dressing on the side.

Notes

  • Mahalo to our friends Mary Ann B. and Phyllis S. for sharing their somen salad recipes.
  • Substitute the kamaboko fish cake for kanikama crab meat.
  • Search our blog for more noodle recipes, like pancit and pasta.

 

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