Traditional Udon Noodle Soup (Kake Udon or Su Udon) is all about simplicity: thick, chewy noodles and a fragile do-it-yourself broth ship a sizzling bowl of consolation. Take pleasure in this vegan-adaptable soup as is, or add tempura, fish cake, and greens for a extra substantial meal.
Of all of the Japanese noodles, I usually flip to udon once I want consolation. To me, these chewy, slippery noodles appear to have a particular energy to appease any troubles and fulfill one’s starvation. We eat them anytime, for a fast lunch or a satisfying dinner. And they’re good whether or not sizzling, chilly, or wherever in between.
I really like every kind of udon dishes, however nothing beats the basic, easy sizzling udon noodle known as Kake Udon (かけうどん). In the present day, let’s be taught extra about it and make an genuine bowl at dwelling.
What’s Kake Udon?
Kake Udon (かけうどん) is probably the most primary type of sizzling udon noodle soup, consisting of udon noodles in a flavorful dashi-based broth. It’s inspiring as a result of it celebrates simplicity.
Within the Kansai area (Osaka, Kobe, and Kyoto space), this udon noodle soup is known as Su Udon (素うどん). The key distinction between the Kansai and Kanto (Tokyo) areas lies within the coloration of the soup broth.
Su Udon’s broth is far lighter in coloration in comparison with Kake Udon’s. Individuals within the Kansai area use a light-colored soy sauce known as Usukuchi Shoyu (薄口醤油) as an alternative of standard soy sauce.
This straightforward udon noodle soup could be reworked into one thing extra by altering the seasonings or toppings. For instance, you may make Kitsune Udon with inari age (seasoned fried tofu), Nabeyaki Udon with shrimp tempura and varied toppings, and Chikara Udon with toated rice cake.
🗾 Do you know? A number of areas in Japan are recognized for udon noodles. Probably the most well-known prefecture is Kagawa within the Shikoku area, adopted by Fukuoka within the Kyushu area and Saitama within the Kanto area. Kagawa is understood for Sanuki Udon (讃岐うどん), which is characterised by its chewy and elastic noodles and sardine soup inventory.
Components for Fundamental Udon Noodle Soup
- Udon noodles – Frozen and dried udon noodles are simply accessible exterior Japan. You may also make do-it-yourself udon noodles from scratch with three elements—flour, salt, and water!
- Noodle soup base (mentsuyu or tsuyu) – I’ll focus on this intimately within the following part.
- Toppings of your selection – You may preserve it easy with sliced inexperienced onions and shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice). See extra selections under.
The best way to Make Udon Soup Broth
I’ll share two strategies so you may have the choices relying on the elements which might be accessible to you.
📝 It’s good to recollect every udon bowl requires roughly 300 ml (1¼ cup) of soup broth.
Technique 1: Make it from scratch
To make udon soup broth, make dashi (Japanese soup inventory) and season it with soy sauce, mirin, (generally sake), sugar, and salt. It’s quite simple and straightforward!
You may make dashi from scratch with kombu and katsuobushi, which takes about half-hour or much less. If you wish to velocity issues up, use a dashi packet or dashi powder. For vegetarians/vegans, you may make Vegan Dashi.
Technique 2: Make it with noodle soup base (mentsuyu)
If you should buy a bottle of noodle soup base (mentsuyu or tsuyu) at a Japanese or Asian grocery retailer or from Amazon, you possibly can immediately make udon soup broth by mixing it with sizzling water. Learn the bottle’s directions rigorously, as every model has a unique mentsuyu-to-water ratio.
For individuals who take pleasure in soba and udon noodles, I like to recommend holding a bottle of mentsuyu within the fridge. You may make noodle soup immediately! You may also make Do-it-yourself Mentsuyu.
The best way to Prepare dinner Udon Noodles
To prepare dinner udon noodles, put together a big pot of water. They already include salt, so we don’t have to salt the water (the identical goes for soba noodles). Prepare dinner the noodles based on the bundle directions. For contemporary noodles, see the cooking directions in my Do-it-yourself Udon Noodles recipe.
Why don’t we put the udon noodles straight into the soup broth? Udon noodles launch starch and we need to ensure the soup broth is obvious and never cloudy on account of starch.
Topping Selections
Kake Udon is all about simplicity, so we often garnish the noodle soup with thinly sliced inexperienced onion and Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese seven spice). For selection, you possibly can experiment with totally different toppings, and these elements are available at Japanese markets.
As you possibly can see, the chances are infinite. Irrespective of the way you put together it, udon is certain to fulfill.
Toppings that don’t require any prep:
Toppings that require further prep:
Kake Udon vs. Kamaage Udon
Lastly, I need to briefly focus on Kamaage Udon (釜揚げうどん), one other kind of udon noodle dish that resembles Kake Udon.
Many individuals get confused with each sorts of udon as they’re served with minimal garnishes, regardless of being ready in a different way.
Kamaage actually interprets to “pull out of the pot,” and it has a singular serving model. In contrast to most udon noodles, that are rapidly rinsed beneath chilly working water after cooking, Kamaage Udon is served straight from the pot right into a bowl, usually with the new cooking liquid. As a result of the cooked noodles are by no means rinsed with chilly water, Kamaage Udon has a definite softer, velvety texture and starchy taste. You’d then dip the noodles right into a dipping broth known as ‘tsuyu (つゆ)’ served alongside.
So it’s slightly totally different from Kake Udon, the place the noodles are chewy with a supple chunk, and a dashi broth is poured into the bowl of noodles.
Extra Scrumptious Udon Recipes
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Udon Noodle Soup (Kake Udon)
Traditional Udon Noodle Soup (Kake Udon or Su Udon) is all about simplicity. Thick, chewy noodles and a fragile do-it-yourself broth ship a sizzling bowl of consolation. Take pleasure in this vegan-adaptable soup as is or add tempura, fish cake, and greens for a extra substantial meal.
Components
For the Fast Broth (optionally available)
Forestall your display screen from going darkish
Directions
To Put together the Do-it-yourself Broth
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In a medium saucepan, add 2⅓ cups dashi (Japanese soup inventory), 1 Tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar, 1½ Tbsp soy sauce, and ⅛–¼ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt.
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Deliver the broth to a delicate simmer. As soon as the broth is simmering, take away it from the warmth. Cowl with a lid and put aside.
To Put together the Fast Broth (with mentsuyu; optionally available)
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Comply with the directions in your concentrated mentsuyu bottle for the proper mentsuyu-to-water dilution ratio for noodle soup broth (proven right here as めんのかけつゆ).
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In a medium saucepan, mix the water, mentsuyu and mirin. For the model of mentsuyu that I take advantage of, I add 2⅓ cups water, ⅓ cup mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base), and 1 Tbsp mirin. Deliver it to a simmer over medium warmth. As soon as simmering, take away the pot from the warmth. Cowl with a lid and put aside.
To Prepare dinner the Udon Noodles
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Deliver a big pot of water to a boil. When the water involves a full rolling boil, add 2 servings udon noodles and prepare dinner based on the bundle directions. This model of frozen udon noodles requires reheating them for 1 minute. Utilizing chopsticks, stir the noodles to loosen them up. For contemporary noodles, see the cooking directions in my Do-it-yourself Udon Noodles recipe.
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When the noodles are accomplished cooking, drain them in a colander or choose them up with a fine-mesh strainer. Serve the new udon noodles in particular person bowls.
Diet
Diet Info
Udon Noodle Soup (Kake Udon)
Quantity per Serving
% Every day Worth*
* % Every day Values are based mostly on a 2000 calorie weight loss program.
Editor’s Be aware: This put up was initially printed on October 8, 2021. It was republished on Could 3, 2024, with extra useful content material, new pictures, and a brand new video.
