We are finally getting around to utilizing the Japanese Food and Cooking cookbook that we picked up used at one of the Adams Avenue stores in San Diego last spring. Our discovery of Nikka, a Japanese market, in Goleta was the kick we needed to dive into Japanese cuisine. What better recipe to start than udon?!Cook the noodles separately from the soup (~8 minutes in boiling water or whatever the packet says), rinse thoroughly under cold water, and add to the rest of the soup. Meanwhile, bring to a simmer the soup base and gradually add the vegetables: radish, mushrooms, ginger, and tofu early on, spring onions and seaweed toward the end, so as not to overcook them. (Traditionalists will insist on making their own dashi, of course, but then this entry is probably irrelevant for them.)
- 100g/3oz dried udon noodles per person
- 5cm/3" daikon radish, peeled and sliced
- one bunch of enoki mushrooms
- 2cm/1" ginger root, sliced
- 350g/12oz (half-a-brick) of firm tofu
- 10cm/6" negi (spring onions), sliced diagonally
- 3-4 sheets of dry dashi konbu seaweed, rehydrated, thoroughly rinsed, cut into strips or squares
Soup base:
- 2 cups water
- 3 Tbsp shiro miso paste
- 2 Tbsp shiro dashi sauce
- 1 Tbsp mirin cooking wine
- 1 Tbsp shoyu (regular soy sauce)