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    Home » Recipes » Japanese (Traditional)

    Updated: Sep 26, 2023 by Marc · 31 Comments

    Buta Udon (Udon with braised pork)

    A perfect marriage of tender, flavorful braised pork belly and soft, silky udon noodles, Buta Udon is a soul-satisfying bowl of goodness.
    Recipe Pin

    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 stone's-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).

    📖 Recipe

    Buta Udon (Udon with braised pork)

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    Yield 1 serving

    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.
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    Notes

    Dashi
    Buta kakuni 

    Nutrition

    Calories 161kcalCarbohydrates 7gProtein 16gFat 7gSaturated Fat 2gPolyunsaturated Fat 2gMonounsaturated Fat 3gCholesterol 6mgSodium 2056mgPotassium 912mgFiber 0.4gSugar 2gVitamin A 140IUVitamin C 2mgCalcium 175mgIron 2mg

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Yogicfoodie says

      May 16, 2014 at 8:26 pm

      This got big thumbs up from 6 and 4 yr olds. They finished everything, to the very last drop of the soup!

      Reply
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    Hi, I'm Marc Matsumoto, a retired chef living in Tokyo, and I founded No Recipes to empower home cooks of all levels by sharing essential techniques and my kitchen secrets.

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