🍜 Tai Somen (Sea Bream with Somen Noodles)

"Tai Somen" is a dish where a sea bream is simmered whole and served on large plate with boiled somen noodles. The cooking liquid from the sea bream is used as a dipping sauce or poured over the dish. This dish is particularly popular along the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, and is served with shredded omelet, sliced shiitake mushrooms and herbal condiments in the Nanyo region. Somen noodles of five different colors are often used in the Matsuyama region, where.it is said that this dish became an offering to the gods. Furthermore, there is a tradition that associates eating the thread-like somen noodles with Tanabata. This custom of eating somen on Tanabata is said to have originated during the Muromachi period and became more widespread among common people during the Edo period. The combination of auspicious somen noodles and the king of fish, sea bream, makes "Tai Somen" the ultimate celebratory dish. Thanks to its extravagant appearance, with the sea bream presented on the noodles as if swimming through white waves, the dish is often served at celebrations like weddings, house-raising ceremonies, and sixtieth birthdays. At weddings, the pairing of thin and long somen noodles, which embody the hope that the couple's happiness will go on and on, and the auspicious sea bream signifies the joyous meeting of both families and carries a lucky meaning. In the Nanyo region, the dish is known as "Tai no Menkake," while in the vicinity of Matsuyama City, it's referred to as "Taimen." “Tai Somen” is indeed a familiar dish throughout Ehime Prefecture.