Udon are Japanese wheat noodles. They are made from all purpose flour, water and salt. Very simple affair, so it seems. Japanese Udon artisans make Udon that look like the ones made by machines. You can see those artisans making Udon noodles through the window at the front of good Udon restaurants. It is actually pretty amazing to watch. Udon is sometimes eaten hot in seasoned broth, but other times, it is eaten cold and dipped in sauce. It is an extremely popular lunch food in Japan and also in the US. A lot of Japanese restaurants in the US serve Udon and stores sell the noodles for home cooking, but you can make it at home. And not just the dish, I mean you can really make the Udon noodles themselves.
Because you can buy Udon noodles in many forms such as frozen or dried at many supermarkets, you might think it’s not necessary to make home-made Udon noodles. However, there are 3 reasons to make Udon at home:
1. You may like making fresh noodles at home. That’s me. I like making things from scratch. It is safe, preservative and other unwanted chemicals free. That’s can be a big deal for some people with a health conscious mind.
2. It tastes better made at home. This is just so true for any food. Home-made Udon has a different texture from store-bought, especially the dried kind. It is thicker, firmer, and heartier. Home-made Udon doesn’t get soft and soggy while you are eating it.
3. It is fun to make Udon. You knead the dough with your feet! Stepping on the dough may sound strange, but that’s the traditional way of making Udon in Japan. Get your family and friends involved in this process, and they’ll like doing it.
It’s not hard to make, but it will take some time letting the dough rest, and to roll it out, etc. The cost of ingredients is close to nothing, but you can put some labor in it. No one is an Udon artisan here, so it may not look perfect. Some noodles might be thicker than the others … but that’s OK. They still taste great. Hope you enjoy both making and eating home-made Udon!
Mix warm water and salt well until the salt is dissolved.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add salt water and flour. Mix with a dough hook at medium speed about 5 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest at least 3 hours in the refrigerator (preferably overnight).
Take the cold dough from the refrigerator and let it return to room temperature. ((Remove from plastic and knead by hand for a couple of minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic. Cover and let it rest for 20 minutes.)) Put the dough in a strong 1 gallon plastic bag (such as a zip freezer bag), leaving it at least partly open to allow air to escape. Then put the bag of dough on the floor. Step on the bag of dough and knead with your feet until the dough spreads out, taking up the whole bag. Take the dough out and fold in half twice, into a smaller square. Repeat this kneading and folding 2 more times. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rest 20 minutes.
Roll out the dough to 3 mm (1/8″) thick about the size of 50cm x 35cm (20″ x14″) sheet, dusting well with a lot of flour so that it doesn’t stick, and fold the dough into 3 layers. Cut the dough to 3 mm width noodles.
Boil water in a big pot, and boil the noodles for 10-15 minutes. Strain and wash. Use as directed in recipes.
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AboutJapaneseCooking101
Noriko and Yuko, the authors of this site, are both from Japan but now live in California. They love cooking and eating great food, and share a similar passion for home cooking using fresh ingredients.Noriko and Yuko plan and develop recipes together for Japanese Cooking 101. They cook and shoot photos/videos at their home kitchen(s.)
To cook udon noodles, add noodles to a pot of boiling water and bring back to the boil. Stir noodles, add more cold water to the pot and bring back to boil again. Turn down the heat and cook noodles until tender. Drain noodles and run under cold water.
Once the water is boiling, add the udon noodles to the pot. If you're using fresh udon noodles, they will only need to cook for 2-3 minutes. Dried udon noodles will take around 8-10 minutes. Stir the noodles occasionally to prevent them from sticking together.
Udon noodles are thick and made with wheat flour. This means that they have gluten in them and can be prone to getting sticky, or even mushy when not cooked properly. If you want slurpable noodles with a nice bite and smooth texture, then you have to be careful not to overcook them.
Udon is made with flour and some salt. It is then kneaded and shaped like noodles. Soba, on the other hand, is made from powdered buckwheat, though in some areas, flour is also used. It is also kneaded and shaped like noodles.
If you're using dried udon noodles, be sure to soak them in warm water for at least 20 minutes before cooking. Udon noodles can be cooked in a variety of ways - boiling, stir-frying, or even deep-frying. Be sure to add some sort of flavouring to your udon noodles, whether it's a sauce, broth, or seasonings.
If cooking semi-dried (slightly flexible, shelf stable) udon, boil for 6-7 minutes before testing for tenderness; if cooking dried (brittle, shelf stable) udon, boil for 9-10 minutes.
Commonly, hakurikiko (soft flour) is used for sweets and tempura batter, churikiko (medium flour) is for udon noodles, jun-kyorikiko (semi-hard flour) is for ramen noodles, and kyorikiko (hard flour) is used for bread.
Cook fresh pasta noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water. (Use about 6 quarts of water for 1 pound of pasta.) Fresh pasta takes considerably less time to cook than dried, usually 1 to 3 minutes, so watch it carefully. To test, remove a noodle with tongs or a long-handled fork and take a bite.
Unlike some other types of dried noodles, udon noodles do not need to be soaked before cooking. Simply add them directly to boiling water and cook according to the package instructions. Soaking the noodles may cause them to become too soft and lose their desired texture.
Let boil for 5-6 minutes (take a thick piece and taste for doneness first), remove from heat and drain the noodles in a colander. Rinse with cold water until they're cool to the touch. Now the noodles are ready to be used in recipes.
Udon noodles are white flour-based noodles that are thick, chewy and silky. What gives udon noodles their characteristic chew is a low water-to-flour ratio. This means the dough is tough to knead by hand—but not impossible—and is often traditionally kneaded with the feet!
The most common way to serve udon, hot udon soup is any dish where udon noodles are served in a hot savoury broth called kakejiru, which is made from a mixture of soy sauce, dashi stock, and mirin rice wine.
Generally, it is best to follow the instructions on the packaging. However, as a general guideline, most udon noodles require boiling for about 8 to 10 minutes until they are cooked through and tender. It's always a good idea to taste the noodles for doneness before draining them.
Boil some water in a large saucepan.Add 250ml cold water and the udon noodles. (As they are so thick, adding cold water helps them to cook a little bit slower so the middle cooks through). If using frozen or fresh noodles, cook for 2 mins or until al dente; dried will take longer, about 5-6 mins.
The beauty of the sanuki udon blocks—in addition to their unmatched texture, of course—is that they're ready in a flash. They're pre-cooked, so all they need is a gentle zhush-ing in hot water, straight from frozen, to release them from their caked state.
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