Fine Noodle Salad with Daikon Sprouts

Great for a buffet, picnic, or barbecue, this dish plays both starch and salad roles. Rounded, cleft leaves (kaiware means “split shell” in Japanese) and a confetti of crisp red-pepper bits are tossed with a silky tangle of delicate Japanese noodles called somen. If you prefer your salad chilled, this can be assembled beforehand; but I find the velvety noodles most delicious at room temperature, freshly tossed with perky sprouts.