Harusame salad is a Japanese cold noodle salad made with Japanese vermicelli. This is also known as bansanu (バンサンスー）and is based off the Chinese glass noodle salad liangban sansi.
What is Harusame Salad
Harusame salad is a cold noodle salad made from Japanese vermicelli noodles, which are called harusame noodles. In Japan, this dish is considered a chuka (a.k.a. Chinese) style food, as it has Chinese origins. My harusame salad recipe is actually based off a recipe I got from my kids’ Japanese daycare, where they called it bansansu. I asked some of my Japanese friends, who all said they have never heard of bansansu; they would call this dish harusame salad. So maybe bansansu is a regional name? Or a name that previous generations used? In any case, it seems like bansansu comes from the name of the original Chinese dish: liangban sansi.
Ingredients in this noodle salad typically consist of the vermicelli along with thinly sliced cucumber and carrots. Ham is also a common ingredient, but I decided to keep mine vegetarian this time. However, you could definitely add whatever toppings you like, including imitation crab, shredded omelette, bean sprouts, and more!
Harusame Salad Dressing
Harusame noodle salad also typically has a soy sauce vinaigrette dressing. BUT for whatever reason, the recipe my kids’ daycare used didn’t include any soy sauce. I tasted their version of this salad, and I liked it so much, I decided to go with the soy sauce-less version as well.
Japanese Vermicelli Noodles
Harusame noodles are called Japanese vermicelli or glass noodles in English. Glass noodles are typically made with some sort of vegetable starch (like mung bean) and can come in a variety of lengths and thicknesses. Harusame noodles differ from other Asian glass noodles in that they are made with sweet potato starch, have a medium thickness, and appear white in the package, turning translucent when cooked. I buy my harusame noodles at my local Japanese market. If you can’t find any, you can definitely use another type of glass noodles as a substitute. You can find harusame noodles on Amazon, but they are very expensive, so I don’t recommend it unless you’re desperate.
More Noodle Recipes
Looking for more Asian noodle recipes? Check these out!
- Hawaiian Somen Salad
- Chinese Spicy Dry Noodles
- Vegan Chinese Rice Noodle Soup
- Thai Curry Udon
- Cantonese Wonton Noodle Soup
Harusame Salad (バンサンスー)
Ingredients
- 250 g harusame noodles
- 1 cucumber cut in matchsticks
- 1 cup julienned carrots
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup sesame oil
- toasted white sesame seeds for sprinkling
Instructions
- Sprinkle pinch of salt over cucumber matchsticks and set in a colander to extract some of the liquid. Set aside while preparing other ingredients.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Put in harusame noodles and cook according to package instructions.
- While noodles are boiling, mix sugar, rice vinegar, and sesame oil together to form the dressing. Set aside.
- In the last minute of boiling the noodles, add the julienned carrots. Drain everything in a large colander and immediately place in ice water to cool.
- Drain the noodles and carrots from the ice water and place in a large serving bowl. Add the cucumbers, pour the dressing, and mix. Finish the salad by sprinkling some toasted white sesame seeds on top. Harusame salad must be eaten the day it is made as the vermicelli dries out in the refrigerator.