While this this dish has its roots firmly planted in my New York apartment, I could totally picture it being served in an Okinawan noodle bar. Okinawa is the southern-most island of Japan, just a stones-throw from Taiwan and their food takes cues from their neighbors, using a lot of pork and fish.
Rather than using a traditional dashi based soup stock for udon, I’ve combined some braising liquid from the pork belly kakuni I made the other night with dashi to create a tasty, though unconventional broth for the noodles. If you’re a ramen maniac or an udon fanatic (or better yet, both), this may be your perfect bowl of noodle soup as it falls somewhere in between the two while tasting entirely different from either
I used Sanuki Udon noodles which have a pleasantly firm texture when cooked al dente. The soup has a deep almost indescribable savory flavor met right in the middle by a subtle sweetness and a mellow zing coming from the long-cooked ginger. It’s inexplicably light, yet rich at the same time. The slices of pork on top start melting like butter on contact with the hot soup. Putting a slice in your mouth gives it just the nudge it needs to sublimate into a pool of rich meaty goodness.
I know it’s not every day you have Japanese braised pork laying around, but to be honest, I actually made the pork last night with the intent to make this udon today (yes, it’s THAT good).
Units
Ingredients
- 2 cups dashi
- 1 cup braising liquid from buta kakuni
- salt (to taste)
- 2 bundles udon noodles
- 8 slices buta kakuni
- 1 scallion (finely chopped)
Instructions
- Put the dashi and braising liquid in a pot and simmer. Taste the soup and adjust the seasoning with salt.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Following the package instructions, boil the udon until about 1 minute before they are done. For example, if the directions say to cook for 6 minutes, boil them for 5. This is because the noodles continue to cook once you add them to the soup.
- Drain the udon and give it a quick rinse to get rid of any extra starch. Put the noodles in 2 bowls, top with 4 slices of pork belly each, scatter some scallions on top then ladle the hot soup over everything.
Notes
Cindy says
The pork fat is driving me crazy,
I want it badly!
Kevin (Closet Cooking) says
That looks good! Great way to use the buta kakuni braising liquid!
Marc Matsumoto says
Diva, try telling them about the benefits of collagen for their skin. If that doesn’t work I usually comfort myself with the thought that my body couldn’t possibly metabolize all that fat.
Amy, I totally get your frustration.
Thanks Chuck!
Good luck EAT! Let us know how it goes.
Laura, I’m with you on that one.
Big Bear, if I could afford it I’d probably eat 4 lbs of bacon a week too.
Cindy, porkbelly is a tough habit to kick;-P
Thanks Kevin!
noobcook says
This is beautiful and looks absolutely delicious!
noobcook says
This is beautiful and looks absolutely delicious!
Jessica says
Where can I find that cut of pork?
Jessica says
Where can I find that cut of pork?
Japan Mummy says
Hmmm, you talk about authentic, but as someone who lived in Japan for 10 years I feel I must tell you those are definitely not udon noodles. In Japan, those are sold as “chinese noodles”. Udon noodles are much thicker and a little chewier. Not to say your recipe wasnt delicious, mind, just thought you ought to know 😉
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks for comment:-) I’m not sure what part of Japan you were in, but these
are Inaniwa udon noodles from the Akita prefecture. Depending on the area of
Japan, the thickness and texture varies widely, but generally udon noodles
are made from wheat flour, water and salt. Soba is typically made with a
mixture of buckwheat and wheat flour and water. Ramen noodles (a.k.a. chuka
soba) is made from wheat flour, kansui, or sometimes egg. I hope that helps.
Tamybuu says
Your photos are beautiful, what camera do u use?
Marc Matsumoto says
Check out the FAQs https://norecipes.com/about/faqs/
Hong says
Dear Mark,
Would you be able to offer some udon (noodle soup) for vegetarian? I almost eat udon at least once a week using only dashi soup base for the soup and added lots of veggies. But I would love to have another recipe that is more tasty and unique than the basic dashi soup that I make. Thanks in advance!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Hong, most dashi stocks are not vegetarian (they include fish such as bonito), but if you make a dashi with ingredients like kombu (kelp) and shiitake, you can make a vegetarian base. Then you can add whatever you like on top like vegetables, tofu, fried tempura batter (tanuki udon), tempura vegetables, or fried tofu simmered in sweet soy sauce (kitsune udon). I hope that helps!
Luke LeClair says
Hey Mark, I did try this recipe and it was really good. It got me thinking about what other types of udon I could make. What would you recommend for a seafood udon dish?
Marc Matsumoto says
You could just use a regular udon dashi (katsuo and kombu dashi), and add seafood to it. Or if you want to do something different how about a wonton noodle style stock like this https://norecipes.com/blog/wonton-soup-recipe/