Saimin (Hawaiian Noodle Soup)

A bowl of saimin garnished with ham, scallions, fish cakes, and a halved boiled egg.

5 from 1 vote

Saimin is a popular noodle soup hailing from Hawaii. Although at first glance you might compare it to ramen, it’s really quite unique. This recipe uses simple shortcuts to create a flavorful and uncomplicated broth that really hits the spot!

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Main Course, Soup

Cuisine: Hawaiian

Servings: servings

Calories: 448kcal

Author: Victoria

Ingredients

Saimin Broth:

6 cups chicken broth
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
4 cloves garlic peeled and crushed with the side of a knife
1 inch piece of fresh ginger sliced and crushed to release flavor
¼ cup (25 grams) dried shrimp (optional)
2 tablespoons soy sauce (preferably low-sodium) or more as needed
2 teaspoons instant dashi powder (such as HonDashi)

Noodles:

1 pound fresh or frozen saimin, ramen, or chow mein noodles (or 4 portions if individually packaged)

Toppings (Choose Your Favorites):

2 to 4 eggs (soft-boiled or medium-boiled, peeled and halved OR cooked into an omelet and sliced)
3 ½ ounces (100 grams) ham or Spam cut into matchsticks
3 ½ ounces (100 grams) char siu (Chinese roast pork) sliced or cut into matchsticks
2 ounces (60 grams) kamaboko (fishcake) sliced
¼ cup sliced scallions (about 2 scallions)

Instructions

To make the broth, combine all of the ingredients in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes to develop the flavors. Strain the broth, pressing firmly on the solids to release all the liquid, and keep hot until ready to serve.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to the package directions. Drain.
Divide the noodles between four large, wide soup bowls. Ladle the broth over the noodles, dividing evenly between the four bowls (about 1 ¼ cups per bowl). Garnish with your favorite toppings and serve immediately.

Notes

Noodles: Ideally use noodles specifically labeled saimin noodles, which are made with wheat and egg (I ordered mine online). If you can’t find those, other wheat noodles such as ramen or fresh chow mein noodles will work too.
Instant Dashi Powder: I use Shimaya Awase dashi powder but Ajinomoto HonDashi is a popular option you can try as well.
Dried Shrimp: This ingredient is optional, but adds more shrimp flavor (common in saimin) and generally more umami and salty flavors to the broth.
Pork: Matchsticks of ham or spam are perfect for garnishing saimin. You can also use Chinese roast pork (char siu) sliced or cut into matchsticks, or a combination of ham or spam and char siu.
Eggs: Either top each bowl with one or two halves of a peeled boiled egg (depending on preference), or with slices of egg omelet. If making an omelet, use two eggs to serve four people (half an egg per serving).
Kamaboko: Kamaboko, or steamed fish cakes, are sliced and used for topping noodle soups such as saimin and ramen. You may not be able to find the kind used in Hawaii (uzumaki) depending on where you live, so you can swap for the other kind most often used in ramen (narutomaki) if you need to. Note that I ordered mine online as it was not locally available to me.

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