Good Taste: Hiyashi chuka ramen

The steaming-hot pork-bone broth that serves as the base of Nom Nom Ramen's tonkotsu-style soups might not sound appealing in the midst of 90-plus temperatures, but its cold cousin provides all the flavor and none of the perspiration.

Hiyashi chuka - literally "chilled Chinese noodles," as Japan adopted ramen from the People's Republic - features Nom Nom's custom-made noodles flash-chilled and scattered over a savory dressing of soy, vinegar, sesame oil, and katsuobushi, the fermented tuna flakes used to make dashi.

On top is a selection of accompaniments - tender chashu pork, scallions, cucumbers, bean sprouts, kikurage mushrooms, pickled ginger, shredded egg - for something of a Japanese take on a sans-tortilla burrito bowl.

The most interesting note: house-mixed spicy mustard squiggled in one corner. "To be considered hiyashi, the mustard should be there," says Nom Nom owner Alan Su; to omit it would "be like serving a hamburger without ketchup."

The hiyashi, also available vegetarian, will be on the menu till mid-September.

- Drew Lazor
Hiyashi chuka, $10.19 (cash only), Nom Nom Ramen, 20 S. 18th St., 215-988-0898, www.nomnomramen.com