Instructions: Cook noodles in boiling water for seven minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water. Divide into four bowls.

Toast seaweed over low heat, and garnish noodles. Serve with thinly sliced green onions and wasabi, which can be mixed in sauce. Dip noodles in sauce. Enjoy.

Tsuke-jiru (Dipping Sauce): Combine ingredients, bring to a boil. Strain through fine sieve. Cool to room temperature.

This recipe yields 4 servings.

Comments: They do a great job of eating noodles in Italy, where the stuff is definitely everybodys idea of a real good time. But they get really crazy about noodles (menrui) in Japan, to the point that noodles are a way of life, almost as much of a semi-religious totem as golf. If you were among those who saw the wonderful film called Tampopo, you have some sort of idea of just how obsessed the Japanese are with their menrui.

In Tampopo, a cowboy/trucker/eccentric stops at a small noodle shop for a meal, and discovers that the woman running the place hasnt the foggiest notion as to what shes doing. Along with a team of odd fellows, he teaches her to make a proper bowl of noodles - a perfect bowl of noodles - transforming her into a master of soba and udon. The thing that amazes in the film is the attention to even the most miniscule of details; the winemakers at Chateau Margaux taste their product with no more discernment than these noodle aficionados. Their tastebuds are perfectly attuned to every nuance of texture and temperature.

In Japan, noodles are consumed winter or summer, hot in broth or cold in dipping sauce. There are four main branches in the Japanese noodle family. Soba, which translates as "nearness," is a thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, good hot or cold. Chubby udon, made from wheat flour, is usually served hot, with tempura. Hiyamugi is a medium-thickness wheat noodle, usually eat cold, served on a bed of ice, with fishcakes and chopped boiled eggs. Somen, a very thin wheat noodle is also served cold with a dipping sauce, often with green shiso leaves, ginger and toasted sesame seeds. Its considered to be very good form to loudly slurp your noodles. Its a way of telling your host you approve of the cooking.

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