Udon is a wonderful Japanese noodle soup. In Japan the broth is made from fish and kelp stock. I buy the udon noodles frozen in an Asian store. You can also find them in the refrigerator section of most Asian stores. Some of the noodles in the refrigerator section have a broth packet in them, but other than being salty, there isn’t much flavor to them.

To make your own authentic broth, you’re going to need Japanese ingredients–skipjack tuna and kelp. I have a recipe for this broth coming out in April, but you may have trouble finding the ingredients.

What I generally do is start with a chicken or beef broth. To make either:

Beef:

Obtain beef soup bones from your grocery–you may have to ask for them specifically at the meat counter. If you can’t find them, you can get a decent bone by purchasing a small chuck roast or other roast with a bone and carving out the bone to use in the stock. You don’t need a lot of meat on the bones.

Marinate beef and beef bones with two tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1 cup water. Bake in oven at 350 until the beef is well-done. Cool. In a stock pot, combine about 6 to 8 cups of water, 3 large stalks of celery, carrots, one whole onion chopped in half, mushrooms and Chinese cabbage. If you have bonito, you can add the flakes at this time (one packet contains about two tablespoons and since the broth is a combination, this should be enough.If you are making broth with only bonito, you’ll need to follow the directions on the package to figure out the water/bonito ratio.)

Simmer all ingredients for two hours and again, let it cool.

You then need to strain the broth–discard all the bones, bonito flakes and vegetables. You can sort/leave in the pieces of beef or not, as you prefer. If you wish your soup to have vegetables in it, add fresh chopped veggies to the stock and boil until the vegetables are soft.

Chicken:

Marinate 5 chicken thighs with two tablespoons honey, 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1 cup water. Bake in oven at 350 until the chicken is well-done. Cool. In a stock pot, combine about 6 to 8 cups of water, 3 large stalks of celery, carrots, mushrooms and Chinese cabbage. If you have bonito, you can add the flakes at this time (one packet contains about two tablespoons and since the broth is a combination, this should be enough. If you are making broth with only bonito, you’ll need to follow the directions on the package to figure out the water/bonito ratio.)

Simmer for two hours and again, let it cool.

You then need to strain the broth–discard all the bones, bonito flakes and vegetables. For udon, I do not leave in the chicken meat–I use it in another dish. If you wish your soup to have vegetables in it, add fresh chopped veggies to the stock and boil until the vegetables are soft.

Once you have a flavorful broth, you simply heat the broth and add the udon noodles. Cook until the noodles are tender.

Udon is often served with vegetable and/or shrimp tempura. The tempura rests on the top of the noodles so that it doesn’t become soggy. Tempura of any kind should be added after the udon noodles are warmed–add tempura to individual bowls just before serving.