This refreshing dish provides an easy way out of the kitchen on a sweltering day. Keep cool by cooking the noodles in tea the night before you serve the dish. Next day, assemble the short list of ingredients and dinner is on the table. Shichimi togarashi is a Japanese recipe mixture, available at Asian markets.

Ingredients

2 quarts / 1 liters of water

1 tablespoon / 14 grams Japanese Genmaicha green tea leaves

1 pound / 500 grams Chinese water noodles or Japanese udon noodles

1 package (12 ounces / 340 grams) firm tofu, well drained

1 package enoki mushrooms

1 package rodish sprouts, washed and dried

1 bunch scallions, sliced into very thin rounds

1 small bunch cilantro leaves

Light soy sauce

Japanese sesame oil

shichimi togarashi or freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

Bring 2 quarts / 2 liters of water to 180*F/82*C and add tea. Steep for 3 minutes and pour through a sieve. Reserve liquid for cooking the noodles.

Heat the reserved tea to a boil and add noodles. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until noodles are still somewhat al dente. Remove from heat and allow the noodles to remain in the liquid until cooled. Remove noodles from the liquid and place in a bowl, covered, overnight in the refrigerator.

Next day, cover the tofu with several layers of paper toweling and place it on a plate. Press any excess moisture from the tofu by setting a 2-pound / 1 kilogram weight (approximately) upon it. Remove weight and paper toweling after 15 minutes. Discard any liquid that has accumulated on the plate. Carefully slice the tofu to 1-inch / 3-centimeter cubes and set aside.

Place equal amounts of noodles on each of 4 plates. Scatter tofu and remaining ingredients evenly over all. Serve with soy sauce, sesame oil and seasoning as desired. Serves 4.