JOYEATSRAMEN – Simple Asian Food Recipes

This is an easy guide to create a bowl of udon noodle soup from the comfort of your home.

Have you ever had a bowl of udon noodle soup that felt like a warm hug, especially during the colder season?

The secret lies in the soup (broth), one of Japan’s wonderful creations.

This broth is super versatile. It can be paired with other carbohydrate foods, such as soba, somen and rice.

In this recipe, you will learn how to make the soup from scratch and eat it with the iconic combination – udon.

Udon noodle soup cooking guidelines:

Step 1: Set aside the required ingredients

Soup (or Broth, Dashi)

• 0.7L or 700ml of water
• 4 shiitake mushrooms
• 1 slice of kelp
• 2 spoonful of soba sauce (add more/less depends on own preference)
• A dash of salt (add more/less depends on own preference)

Noodle and Side Dishes

• 2 stalks of preferred vegetables (this recipe uses bak choy)
• 1/2 pack of shimeji mushrooms
• 2 packs of udon noodles
• 2 onsen eggs

Step 2: Create soup base

Fill a pot with 700ml of water, include 4 shiitake mushrooms and 1 piece of kelp.

Start to boil the soup for 20 minutes.

Prepare the vegetable next. Chop the bok choy and save the root ends for soup. Bok choy roots enhances soup flavour but also provides additional health benefits.

If you are using other vegetables, feel free to do the same way too. This is the wonder of making your own broth from scratch!

After 20 minutes of boiling the soup, add other ingredients to complete the dish.

Step 3: Boil side dishes

Bringing the boil to low heat, flavour the soup with 2 spoonful of soba sauce. Why soba sauce? It is a quick/convenient/cheat way to create a deep umami flavour, thanks to the sauce’s ingredients: soy sauce, bonito flakes and dashi.

Tip: If you don’t have soba sauce, don’t worry. To achieve a stronger tasting soup, add more shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce and mirin and enjoy similar taste. The exact measurement is available under the recipe card.

Next, depends on your personal preference, have a taste of the soup and decide whether to add a dash of salt like I did. I grew up drinking mostly savoury soup in an Asian household and like to strike a balance between sweet and salty flavour.

Now your soup base is ready, bring shimeiji mushrooms and bok choy to boil.

It is recommended to boil the mushrooms for 3 minutes and bok choy for 2 minutes.

You can boil them together by throwing in the vegetable once the mushrooms have hit the 1 minute boiling mark, or boil them separately like I did.

Step 4: Boil udon noodle separately

As the soup boils, prepare a second pot of hot water to boil udon noodles.

Boil each pack of noodle for 30 seconds and transfer it to serving bowl. Repeat the process for the second serving.

It is strongly recommended to boil the noodle separately from the soup to retain the original soup flavour. By boiling them together, the noodle’s starch would change the soup flavour and texture.

Final step: Plate and enjoy your creation

I hope you enjoy making this bowl of hearty, yummy and healthy udon noodle soup!