Somen Factory Tour

Somen noodles are an extremely thin, delicious noodle - Colleen's favorite - that is usually served cold as a summer dish (and occassionally hot in winter, but that's not nearly as popular). Our little area is known across the country for it's high quality somen because of the ideal climate and constant supply of fresh water from the river. Quite a few people around here own somen factories - some "factories" even run out of homes - and we are lucky enough to know one of them through English Conversation Class. Last week, Naaruo let Pippa and I swing by and check out his factory. I'd always thought him as a sit-behind-a-desk kind of guy, so I was really surprised to see that not only was he working the floor with his employees, he'd been working for 12 straight hours when we came by at 3pm - after hosting a house-warming party the night before. He's hardcore.

It was really cool to see the noodle-manufacturing process in which the ingredients are mixed together & then stretched into strands about seven feet long before being chopped down to 7" noodles and packaged up. Naaruo told me how much flour they go through in a day, but I forget now. It was a very large number though. Very, very large. For some reason this little factory visit seems like the most unique thing I've done here. I am really glad I got to see behind the scenes.