Gari Somen with Roasted Tempeh Chips

First the tang of the lime, then the refreshing mint – perfect with a little chilli oil to the dish.  The surprise bites of gari (pickled ginger) provide a lovely balance to the zestiness. A great snack rather than a main, or a nice cleansing entrée to a Japanese meal.

"I have no way of officially checking but would probably get the 'heart tick'! Preparation time ~25minutes with experience. Lou's favourite meal"– Jason Patton.

Pictured: Gari somen with roasted tempeh chips

125g tempeh (about a third of one of those packets) - finely sliced into chips about 2-3mm thick
1 - 2 bushels of Somen, depending on hunger
Lots of fresh mint, chopped
Juice from about 4 limes
½ tbsp gari (Japanese sweet pickled ginger), thinly sliced - easy to make your own, see gari recipe in Side Dishes section if you are interested.
Roughly a quarter tsp brown sugar to taste - you may not need it since the gari is already sweet
A few drops of sesame oil.

Pictured: Sliced tempeh ready for roasting

Set tempeh dry roasting in medium heat oven, 180C, until darkish brown (keep an eye on 'em!).
Boil somen.

Pictured: Packet somen noodles

Rinse somen in hot water.
Put in a bowl, toss in mint and gari and pour in lime juice.
Serve into individual bowls; sprinkle with tempeh chips after roughly sharding them up a bit.
Add a few drops of sesame oil and toss the noodles round a bit.

Serve with Asian greens in a simple salty sauce (e.g. tamari)!

Serves 2

Pictured: lime squeezer - a favourite gadget