harusame a Japanese term meaning ‘spring rain’, referring to the appearance of a vermicelli-like product made from various kinds of starch: mung bean (this kind, the best, is imported from China), soya bean, sweet potato, cornflour (Japanese style). Although they may be found under names such as ‘cellophane noodles’ or ‘bean thread noodles’ or ‘bean vermicelli’, the Japanese do not count these as real noodles and never eat them on their own (as they do proper noodles). Harusame are commonly chopped and used as an alternative to batter for coating tempura.
