Shiroishi Umen

Umen is a famous product of Shiroishi city located in the southern part of Miyagi Prefecture. These hand-made dried noodles have a 400-year tradition and their first characteristic is that they are extremely short, as short as only 10 cm. Since no oil is used at all and they are made with only flour and salt water, they are easy to digest and can be eaten without difficulty by all ages from children to the elderly. It is said that the making of these “Umen (warm noodles)” with no oil was learned by the son of a man with a stomach illness from a traveling priest in the early days of the Edo period. The son worked hard to make the noodles for his father who said that he wanted to eat somen noodles. It is said that they were called “warm noodles” from his warm caring for his father. Umen is also safe food certified by a long tradition that uses no preservatives or additives. They are also slightly thicker than somen so that it is easier to feel the taste of the noodles.