Steps

1. Rehydrate 5g of dried cut wakame seaweed in water. (Key Tip!) Soaking for a while will make it expand quickly.
   🕒 01:22
2. Finely chop 2-3 stalks of green onions. (Key Tip!) You can substitute with bunching onions or regular long green onions.
   🕒 01:48
3. Squeeze out excess water from the rehydrated wakame seaweed thoroughly. (Key Tip!) If there's still water remaining, it can cause splattering when sautéing later, so be thorough in squeezing.
   🕒 02:10
4. Heat 1 tbsp of sesame oil in a pot and sauté the squeezed wakame seaweed. (Key Tip!) Sautéing the wakame brings out its umami, making for a delicious soup.
   🕒 02:38
5. Add 1 clove of grated garlic to the wakame and sauté until fragrant. Then, add 1/4 cup of cooking sake (rice wine) and 500ml of water.
   🕒 03:05
6. Add 80ml of mentsuyu (double strength noodle soup base) to the soup and bring to a simmer. (Key Tip!) Use a slightly more diluted mentsuyu ratio than for dipping. Adjusting with salt later will enhance the wakame flavor.
   🕒 03:51
7. Once simmering, reduce heat and simmer until the wakame's umami is extracted.
   🕒 04:30
8. Boil water in a separate pot and quickly boil 2 bundles of somen noodles for a shorter time than indicated on the package (about 30 seconds). (Key Tip!) They will be cooked al dente as they will simmer further in the soup.
   🕒 04:57
9. Rinse the boiled somen noodles thoroughly under running water, rubbing to remove sliminess and salt. Then, squeeze out the water thoroughly. (Key Tip!) To prevent the soup from becoming watery, thoroughly squeeze out the water from the somen.
   🕒 05:13
10. Taste the simmered soup and adjust to your preference with 1/3 tsp or more of salt.
    🕒 06:00
11. Add the squeezed somen noodles to the seasoned soup and simmer briefly.
    🕒 06:30
12. Serve in a bowl, generously top with white sesame seeds (toasted) (as needed) and the finely chopped green onions (as needed). Finally, sprinkle with coarsely ground black pepper (to taste). Mix and enjoy. (Key Tip!) You can also add ichimi, shichimi, or kimchi to your liking.
    🕒 07:13