Cold Udon Noodles | Zaru Udon
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 450 g | 1 pound udon noodles frozen or freshly made
Sauce
- 240 ml | 1 cup dashi made from instant powder or homemade
- 3 tablespoons Japanese or Korean soy sauce
- 3 to 4 tablespoons mirin
Garnishes (choose at least 2)
- 1 scallion green and green part, soaked in water to cover for 5 minutes and drained well
- 80 ml | ¼ cup dried bonito flakes katsuo bushi
- 1 teaspoon wasabi or freshly grated ginger
- 120 ml | ½ cup grated daikon radish use the same grater that you’d use for ginger
Instructions
- Cook the udon noodles and then drain them, flushing them with cold water and draining well. Set them aside. (If you used the instructions for freshly made noodles, you probably already did this!)
- Combine the dashi, soy sauce and mirin in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then remove from the heat. Set aside to cool. The flavors will intensify.
- To serve, divide the noodles among 2 or 4 plates or shallow bowls, depending on if your guests want to share not. Divide the sauce among 4 shallow bowls; choose large rice or soup bowls that you can pick up and hold for easy slurping and shoveling the noodles into your mouth. Put the garnishes on individual or communal plates.
- Set all of these components at the table and invite guests to dive in. It’s easiest if they mix the wasabi, ginger or daikon into the sauce first before adding the noodles. The scallion and bonito flakes can be added to the top of the noodles as pictured in the photo at the top.
- The sauce is intensely flavored and usually not sipped on. It's meant to merely coate the noodles with flavor.
