We Japanese eat almost everyday Udon, Soba and Gohan(boiled rice).
Hi everyone I’d like to introduce Udon (Japanese wheat noodle) today.
What’s Udon ?
Udon and Soba are Japanese noodles which are a substitute food for a staple food-rice for Japanese people.
It is a type of thick wheat flour noodle of Japanese cuisine. It is similar to Italian pasta, but much thicker.
It is often served hot as a noodle soup in its simplest form, as kake udon-a simple dish of noodles in soup which is shown below .
The soup is a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru, which is made of dashi (Japanese soup stock made from fish and kelp), soy sauce, and mirin（a type of sake with low alcohol and high sugar content used for seasoning.
A lot of people like the fragrant kakejiru, which is made with dried baby sardines-a local speciality.
It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions. Other common toppings include tempura, often prawn or kakiage (a type of mixed tempura fritter), or aburaage (a type of deep-fried tofu pockets seasoned with sugar), mirin, and soy sauce.
Tempura udon
A thin slice of kamaboko (a halfmoon-shaped fish cake), is often added. ShichimiーTogarashi（a Japanese seasoning called seven flavored spices）can be added to taste.
The flavor of broth and topping vary from region to region. Usually, dark brown broth, made from dark soy sauce (koikuchi shōyu), is used in eastern Japan (e.g.Tokyo), and light brown broth, made from light soy sauce (usukuchi shōyu), is used in western Japan(e.g.Osaka).
This is even noticeable in packaged instant noodles, which are often sold in two different versions for east and west.
Dishes
Like many Japanese noodles, Japanese noodle is usually served chilled in the summer and hot in the winter.
Hiyashi(cold) Udon
Attaka(hot) Udon
Sanuki Udon
We have various kinds of Japanese noodle throughout the country, from which I’d like to introduce “Sanuki Udon”, that is considred as one of most popular one in Japan.
Among all the prefectures in Japan, Kagawa Prefecture where it’s about 2 hours fly from Tokyo, boasts the greatest consumption of wheat noodles.
It’s a small prefecture with a population of only one million, yet it has around 900 udon restaurants nevertheless.
In the old days, Kagawa Prefecture was called Sanuki Province, and that’s why it is referred to as “Sanuki Udon”.
With its dry climate suitable for growing wheat, it was an ideal location for wheat noodle’s production. It’s been going on here for over 300 years.
Let’s see some of the most common ways of eating Sanuki Udon. This is kama-age udon, freshly boiled noodles are dipped in a warm sauce before eating.
When boiled noodles are washed in cold water, they become firm and satisfyingly chewy.
Niku(meat) Udon
The hallmark of Sanuki udon is its firm, pleasantly chewy texture. People visit Kagawa from all over the country to experience the authentic taste.
Why are Sanuki udon noodles so special?
It has a lot to do with how they’re made. The ingredients are simply wheat flour, salt, and water.
So I’d like to explain how to make Sanuki udon (but generally speaking, there isn’t so much difference with other areas in Japan)
Please follow the number of process how to make Udon on photo herewith.
No.1 The amount of salt is adjusted carefully in accordance with the day’s temperature and humidity. Then the salt water is mixed with the flour to make the dough.
The kneading must be done thoroughly by hand to squeeze out any excess air from the dough.
No.2 The dough is then trampled on. By applying pressure on it like this, the protein in the dough forms a sticky substance called gluten.
The parts highlighted are the gluten. The gluten forms a mesh-like structure and holds starch molecules together. That’s why Sanuki noodles are nice and firm.
No.3 After the dough has been allowed to rest overnight, it’s rolled out with a rolling pin. It requires skill and experience to roll the dough quickly to an even thickness.
No.4 Then the dough is cut into noodles of equal size. They’re boiled for a few minutes-long enough for the heat to penetrate all the way through.
Finally, the boiled noodles are rinsed in cold water. And that is how Sanuki udon is made.
Sanuki udon is a simple food. It’s just a combination of noodles and soup or dipping sauce. You can get a bowl of Sanuki noodle for only a few hundred yen. this is Japanese food that anyone can enjoy.
Sounding like mouth-watering food, is that right? Let’s go to the Udon shop to enjoy its taste, shall we?
At the end, “Soba” and “Ramen“, both of which are indispensable foods in Japan are recommendable to visit, thanks
