Shiitake, Shrimp and Watercress Udon

I was 100% inspired by laziness - I only wanted to visit one grocery store and decided on the Asian grocery! Usuaully I add Kale to udon to get some green in there (... and I LOVE kale ...), but since it is unavailable in the Asian grocery, I went with the green, peppery thing that IS available - watercress. I had noticed the shiitake mushrooms there when I was last in and had been thinking about them ever since. To be honest, the shrimp were added for color and for protein, but they tasted fantastic in this mix. I really enjoyed this and will make it again. It also proved to me that I CAN be creative with my udon and that I have gained a lot of confidence with both cooking techniques and flavors in Japanese cuisine.

• Udon soup base
• 10 shrimp - cleaned and boiled (I boil them in the udon water before I cook the udon)
• 1/4 to 1/2 a bunch of watercress - trimmed of thicker stems
• 2 scallions - greens sliced thin, whites trimmed but left whole (put the whites in the soup base while heating up - yum!)
• 1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms - remove stems and slice - then brown them in a tiny amount of butter on the stove
• Udon noodles

I take care of all of the chopping first, then set up a pot to boil water for the shrimp and the udon while I start heating the soup base over low/medium heat (just for timings sake - I don't know of a reason you can't bring it to temp quicker!) The shrimp take only a minute or two to cook - when they are opaque and pink, they are done! Cook noodles according to package instructions - I use prepaclaged fresh noodles and they only take a minute - really I am just reheating them. The mushrooms smelled wonderful while I was browning them on the stove - about 5 minutes. To assemble, noodles go into the serving bowl, top with watercress, scallions, mushrooms and shrimp, pour broth over it all and enjoy!

Note - I do make subtle changes to the soup base depending on the ingredients I am adding - I add a bit extra soy sauce and skimp on the sugar when I want it salty and savoury, I make it exactly as written when I want it on the sweeter side.

Udon with Shrimp, Renkon, Wakame, Scallion and Naruto

This is an Udon inspired by what I happened to have in the house. I followed the Udon Soup Base that I always use, but to each bowl after popping in a generous serving of noodles (follow package directions) added in about 5 pieces of prepared Renkon, 3 pieces of sliced naruto, a handful of boiled shrimp (I was going to boil them in the soup base, but the soup base was slow to heat and the water for heating the udon was at a raging boil, so I used that water!), a heaping tsp of dried Wakame and roughly cut scallion greens (the whites were tossed into the soup base while it heated for extra flavor. As always, the Udon is assembled with the noodles at the bottom of the bowl, all of the additions resting on top and then the soup is poured over everything. It tastes as good as it looks and I am not just being an egomaniac. I could eat this every day, but Scott and I have decided that Wednesdays will be Udon night from here on out! And the decent pictures? Scott took them! No more crappy phone pics!

Udon Soup Base

This is more or less the soup I used whenever I make Udon - it is the perfect backdrop to whatever you can dream of adding to your Udon! This is enough soup to feed two people well (and possibly leave lunch for one of them the next day!)

• 4 C dashi
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T mirin
• 2 t sugar
• salt to taste

Put the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar into a pot and heat to a simmer - taste and add salt if needed.

Kitsune Udon

• 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.