Why just have cold noodles when you can have ice noodles?

Japan loves celebrating the seasons, and while classically cultured individuals might do so with flower viewing or composing haiku with words evocative of a certain time of year, for most people the most enjoyable way to mark the change from one season to another is by eating seasonal foods. One of the tastiest treats for midsummer, for example, is kakigori, or shaved ice. It’s a great way to cool off when the temperature and humidity soar in unison, and available in a variety of flavors such as melon and strawberry. Now, though, one restaurant is combining the concept of shaved ice with bukkake udon.

Popular noodle chain Hanamaru Udon’s latest creation is the Frigid Silver Bukkake, or Gokkan Shirogane Bukkake, if you’re ordering in Japanese. The word bukkake means “splash,” referring to how the broth is supposed to be splashed onto the separately cooked noodles, and so the udon and dashi (broth stock) are served separately. Accompanying the noodles and toppings, though, is a helping of shaved ice.

You’re supposed to pour the broth over the ice, then break off a chunk to enjoy with a mouthful of noodles. Don’t worry about the ice washing away all the broth’s flavor, either. Ordinarily, the dashi that goes into your bowl of Japanese noodles is diluted, but the Frigid Silver Bukkake Hanamaru gives you the straight stuff, so that after you mix it with the ice it’ll taste just right.

Taking a taste rewarded us with a savory sensation and a cooling presence. We were just a little disappointed that rather than being a single mound of finely shaved ice, the Frigid Silver Bukkake actually gives you a few pseudo-blocks instead. However, this decreased surface area meant that their cores stayed cold and crunchy throughout the meal, avoiding the unpleasant lukewarm sludge that you sometimes end up with if you don’t eat regular shaved ice quickly enough.

Hanamaru is offering three different kinds of Frigid Silver Bukkake: salted pork with lemon, steamed chicken with okra, and kimchi. We opted for the 590-yen (US$5,40) lemon pork, following the Japanese folk wisdom that eating salty foods in the summer will help ward off heat exhaustion from excessive sweating.

The salted pork also just sounded really good, and we quickly confirmed its deliciousness. Combined with some black pepper and a refreshing squeeze of citrus, these chilled noodles had us thinking we could happily eat them all summer long.

Unfortunately, we’re not going to be able to carry out that meal plan, since the Frigid Silver Bukkake is only available until early August. For the time being, though, it’ll keep us cool and full, and we’ll just have to find another way to deal with the heat come next month.

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