- 4 squares of prepared abura-age (cut into thin strips and/or quarters - halves are delicious, but can be overwhelming. Qty and cut are to your liking, they are not crucial to the recipe!)
- 4 C dashi
- 2 T soy sauce
- 1 T mirin
- 2 t sugar
- salt to taste
- 2 scallions cut on the bias
- 4 slices of naruto or kamaboko (fish cakes), cut on the bias (or more - I love the naruto for the taste and because it is adorable.)
- Blanched Kale - about a handful per serving - removed desired amount from stalk, cook in boiling water for about 3-4 minutes, remove and drain.)
- Enoki Mushrooms about 3.5 oz for 2 large servings - trim the ends, cut the stalks into thirds. The top third with the cap waits in the serving bowl to have broth poured over it, the bottom 2/3 are part of the stock!
Boil a large pot of water and cook the udon as instructed on package - they should be al dente so they don't get soggy in the soup. Run them under cold water to stop the cooking! Put the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar into a pot and heat to a simmer - taste and add salt if needed. Add the noodles to heat through, then divide into 2 bowls. Top the noodles with the scallions, fish cakes, kale, Enoki and abura-age and then pour the broth over everything.
I added soy sauce to my broth when I ate it (fresh) last night - I really felt it needed salt and I usually don't cook with salt or add it to my plate. It was a bit too sweet for me. Scott ate his as is and thoroughly enjoyed it - told me I had really nailed the recipe! (Though, he did admit that salt would not have gone awry.) I brought in the leftovers for my lunch today and forgot the soy sauce - I still found it sweet, but that is not to say it wasn't enjoyable! In fact, if I had really wanted to I am sure I could have found some soy sauce around here somewhere!
ReplyDeleteI have edited the recipe to reflect the addition of 3 new elements: blanched kale, Enoki mushrooms and cutting the aburaage into squares and thin strips instead of halves.
ReplyDeleteI have succeeded in making Kitsune Udon something I can just whip together in an instant! I keep dashi frozen in qt containers, frozen prepared aburaage, there is usually kamoboko or naruto in the freezer, dried wakame on the cart and Udon noodles in the fridge. When I made Kitsune Udon (or at least this version of it!) last night, the only ingredient I needed to purchase fresh was the scallions!!!
ReplyDelete