Udon is a noodle dish that has been a part of Japanese home cooking since ancient times. White noodles kneaded with wheat can be eat in various ways, such as dashi, grilled, and eaten with curry.
A famous udon restaurant in Japan is Marugame Udon.
Officially, the udon noodle restaurant name is Marugame Seimen.
Their varieties range from basic udon noodles to those with toppings of your choice.
There are stores all over Japan, so if you ever come to Japan, you should definitely try it.
Three Famous Japanese Udon Noodles
Udon noodles are famous in general, and there are three of them that are particularly famous.
Sanuki udon from Kagawa Prefecture and Inaniwa udon from Akita Prefecture are very famous.
The other one, however, is… well, it’s not quite clear yet.
“Sanuki Udon” in Kagawa Prefecture
A representative of the udon noodle style! Strong and chewy udon. It is love by the people of Kagawa as a casual everyday food.
“Inaniwa Udon” in Akita Prefecture
Inaniwa udon has a history of about 350 years. The shape is flat dry noodles with a width of 2 to 3 mm. Boiling time is as short as 3 minutes. It is served in iced water and dipped in sauce.
5 Major Udon noodle
For this reason, the following three types of udon together are also call the five major udon.
It is either “Goto Udon” in Nagasaki Prefecture, “Mizusawa Udon” in Gunma Prefecture, or “Himi Udon” in Toyama Prefecture.
I have had Himi udon from Toyama Prefecture, and it is delicious and very resilient despite its thin noodles!
“Goto Udon” in Nagasaki Prefecture
Goto Udon noodles, made while applying edible camellia oil, are characterized by a simple yet profound flavor that blends the smooth, prune-like texture with the camellia oil.
“Mizusawa Udon” in Gunma Prefecture
Mizusawa udon is usually eat cold with zaru udon, but there are various dipping sauces such as soy sauce and sesame.
“Himi Udon” in Toyama Prefecture
Unique strong texture and stickiness. It has the feel of rice cakes and is very chewy. This texture is the reason for its popularity.
Typical types of udon
Now, let us introduce you to a menu of common udon dishes in Japan.
Kake udon かけうどん
Kake Udon is a basic udon dish. It is made with only udon broth and a minimum of toppings.
Please take your time to enjoy the delicious broth and the moderate hardness of the udon.
Yaki udon やきうどん
Yakiudon is made by pan-frying udon noodles like yakisoba. It is mixed with meat and vegetables and seasoned with sauce. In the case of yakisoba, sauce or salt is used, but in the case of yakiudon, soy sauce is sometimes used.
Nabeyaki udon 鍋焼きうどん
Nabeyaki Udon is an udon dish in which udon noodles are stewed in a pot. It is also called nikomi udon. Yaki” means to grill. However, it does not mean grilling udon. It is a dish in which udon noodles and plenty of vegetables are simmered in a warm broth.
Kitsune udon きつねうどん
Kitsune Udon is an udon dish consisting of udon noodles topped with sweet and spicy fried tofu. If the noodles are made into soba noodles, it becomes kitsune soba.
For example, if the noodles are soba noodles, they become kitsune soba.
Tanuki udon たぬきうどん
Tanuki udon is a dish of udon noodles topped with tenkasu or fried egg. However, tanuki udon differs slightly by region; in Osaka, it is called tenkasu udon.
Zaru udon ざるうどん
Cool the boiled udon noodles in cold water and place them in a colander. Dip it into the noodle soup and eat it as zaru udon. It is a simple dish but easy to eat and popular during the hot season.
Tempura udon 天ぷらうどん
Tempura udon is udon noodles top with tempura. In addition to shrimp tempura, tempura called Kakiage is sometimes used.
In other words, if there is tempura on top, it is call tempura udon.
Curry udon カレーうどん
Curry udon, as the name suggests, is a dish of udon topped with curry. However, it is not just regular curry poured over udon. Curry made from dashi broth is poured over the udon. It is one of the most popular noodle dishes due to its unique flavor.
Original and unique udon
Udon noodles can be matched with various ingredients better than soba noodles. Therefore, there is an arrangement like this.
Udon noodles with ume plum and grated radish
Cold udon noodles dipped in tsuyu (Japanese noodle soup) and topped with ume plum, grated daikon and chopped green onion. Easy to make and refreshing. You can substitute the ume paste with a tube of ume paste.
Salad Udon
Salad udon with lots of vegetables. It’s loaded with veggies! So it’s probably better to season it with a dressing!
Beef hormone udon
There is a menu item call “Niku udon,” which is udon with beef as a topping. This is udon with beef hormone, even though it is meat. I have never seen this in an udon restaurant. It has originality!
Udon Carbonara
Udon Carbonara made with white soup base. The richness of milk, cheese and eggs goes well with the white soup. The rich sauce is very tasty and well mixed with thick noodles.
