Japan Navigator

As udon is one of my favorite Japanese dishes and I just happenened to notice that today, July 2, is “Udon Day,” I feel enticed to write a few words about this great dish.

For starters: udon is a wheat-flour noodle, transmitted from China sometime in the 8th c. The dough is cut into strips, which are then boiled and served in a hot broth consisting of soy sauce, mirin, sugar and stock made with flaked bonito.

Various ingredients can be added on top, such as tempura or deep-fried bean curd.

The type of soup varies according to the region (darker and stronger in eastern Japan), and so do the noodles.

Kishimen, for example, are wide, flat noodles from Nagoya, while Sanuki Udon denotes the thick and rather stiff type from Kagawa prefecture on Shikoku. In the Kansai, the noodles are soft and of medium thickness.

Interesting is hoto, a flat and wide type cooked with vegetables, particularly Japanese “kabocha,” from Yamanashi Prefecture.

[Tsurugi Soba, in Sakamoto at the foot of Mt Hiei is a traditional restaurant serving both udon and soba. Photo © Ad Blankestijn]

You can eat udon noodles both hot and cold (zaru udon, the noodles are then served on a plate and dipped in a cold sauce).

Udon is also often added to nabe, one pot dishes.

July 2 has become Udon Day because in the Sanuki area they used to plant the wheat around this day.

Udon restaurants can be found all over Japan, usually offering also a menu of soba, buckwheat noodles (which in Eastern Japan are more popular than udon). There are countless restaurants even in the smaller towns so you will never have to miss this cheap and healthy dish.