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Dish

Saimin

Noodle and Dumpling Dishes

Saimin is a noodle soup dish common in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii. It traditionally consists of soft wheat egg noodles served in a hot dashi broth, garnished with diced green onions and a thin slice of kamaboko. Modern versions add toppings such as char siu, sliced Spam, sliced egg, bok choy, mushrooms, or shredded nori, and when wontons are added the dish is served as wonton min. Each saimin establishment tends to keep its own recipe for the broth, most commonly built from kombu and dried shrimp.

Facts
Origin Period, From (Year)
from 1908 2
Origin Region
Hawaii 1
Classification
Course
Soup 1
FAQs

Is saimin a Chinese or a Japanese dish?

Its origin is disputed: each group tends to credit the other.

The sources do not settle it. What's Cooking America reports that Japanese immigrants consider saimin to be Chinese, and the Chinese consider it to be Japanese. It adds that because Hawaii is made up of a mix of cultures, including Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Thai, the soup could have originated from anywhere and then been combined into the popular dish.
Connections

In Cuisine

Hawaiian Cuisine, Cuisines
Source Wikipedia, Saimin

Uses Ingredient

Scallion, Ingredients
Source Wikipedia, Saimin
In the Other Atlases

Originated In

United States

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Sources
1. Wikipedia, Saimin
  • Infobox, region
    Hawaii
  • Introduction
    Saimin (from Cantonese Chinese: 細麵, sai³ min⁶, thin (wheat) noodles, or 細麵條湯 sai³ min⁶ tiu⁵ tong¹, vermicelli soup) is a noodle soup dish common in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii.
  • Uses Ingredient: Scallion, Infobox main_ingredient field:, egg and wheat noodles, green onions, and
  • In Cuisine: Hawaiian Cuisine, lead paragraph
    Saimin (from Cantonese Chinese: 細麵, sai³ min⁶, thin (wheat) noodles, or 細麵條湯 sai³ min⁶ tiu⁵ tong¹, vermicelli soup) is a noodle soup dish common in the contemporary cuisine of Hawaii.
View the Source
2. Saimin (Wikipedia)
Quote
The first recorded use of the romanized word in Hawaii dates as far back as 1908, but was most likely spoken in the local dialect much earlier.
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