Udon noodles - general cooking principles
In the east, noodles are the second most common dish after rice. It appeared in China, but it entered Japan in the 19th century along with the wandering Buddhist monk Kukao, and in the 20th century it spread throughout the world.
What is the secret to such popularity of noodles? This is a specially selected flour that gives the product a pleasant aroma and a neutral bread flavor. It’s a mistake to call udon any “Chinese” noodles, although this is exactly what happens most often. Let's figure it out. Noodles are classified depending on what kind of flour it is made from. If you see a gray thin thin cobweb - this is soba from buckwheat flour. It is best used cold. Thin and flat noodles are udon made from wheat flour. And the yellowish noodles are ramen, egg noodles with a little flour. The most popular among the Chinese is precisely udon noodles.
The peculiarity of udon noodles is that it is quick and easy to cook, and the resulting dish is just enough to sprinkle with soy sauce and vegetable oil, and it is already delicious. Meanwhile, in its pure form, udon is rarely consumed, much more often with a variety of additives from vegetables, fish and seafood. In European cuisine, udon is also favored, but it is served such noodles more often with pork and minced meat.
How to cook udon? There is nothing complicated about it, noodles are cooked in about the same way as any pasta. The product is placed in boiling water and boiled for about 8-10 minutes (depending on the amount of noodles), then put on a colander and sprayed with oil so that it does not stick together.
If you will stew or fry the noodles after cooking, it is better not to cook it. Boil the noodles for 5 minutes, and then continue the heat treatment in a different way.
Udon noodles - preparation of products and utensils
Prepare the ingredients with which you plan to cook udon. It can be mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, tomatoes, seafood, all kinds of meat. Boil udon in an enameled saucepan. Serve the noodles in deep bowls.
Udon noodle recipes:
Recipe 1: udon noodles with shiitake mushrooms
A light and hearty dish is served both cold and hot, immediately after cooking. Suitable for vegetarian cuisine.
Ingredients Required:
- Udon noodles - 300 grams
- Shitaki mushrooms - 100 grams
- Leek - 150 grams
- Soy sauce
Cooking method:
- Cut the onion into thin rings. Mushrooms - in thin plates.
- Boil the noodles in boiling water for five minutes, then drain the water and sprinkle the noodles with oil so that it does not stick together.
- Heat pan and grease it with oil. First put the onion, fry it for one minute on each side, add the mushrooms, and after a couple of minutes - boiled noodles. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes. Then sprinkle with soy sauce. The dish is ready to serve.
Recipe 2: King Prawn Udon Noodles
Most often, udon is cooked with seafood. Below is the recipe for king prawn noodles, but you can use regular ones as well, they just do not look so advantageous in a dish.
Ingredients Required:
- Udon noodles - 300 grams
- Shrimp - 220 grams
- Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon
- Soy sauce for frying - 2 tbsp.
- White sesame seeds
Cooking method:
- Defrost shrimp (if you use frozen). Remove the shells from them.
- Heat the pan, grease it with a small amount of oil. Put the fried shrimp on a hot surface. Stir the shrimps, frying them until crisp for 5-8 minutes. In the third minute, sprinkle shrimp with a little soy sauce.
- Put the boiled noodles. When it is ready, drain the water and sprinkle the noodles with a mixture of vegetable oil and lemon juice.
- Mix the noodles with shrimp, sprinkle the dish with sesame seeds and can serve.
Recipe 3: Pork Udon Noodles
In the East, they practically do not eat meat, eating seafood instead. If you want to try udon in a more classic version for us, then try this recipe. You will need pork meat - best ham or neck.
It should be noted that, since there is a mixture of cultures, recently in Chinese restaurants and cafes you can order yaki udon - udon with pork and vegetables.
Ingredients Required:
- Udon noodles - 320 grams
- A piece of pork - 200 grams
- Tomato - 1 piece
- Onions - ½ pieces
- Butter
Cooking method:
- Dice the tomato, chop the onion finely.
- Rinse the pork from the blood and cut into small pieces.
- Heat a frying pan, grease with oil. Paste onion until golden, add tomatoes. After 3-4 minutes, add meat to vegetables. Fry the mixture for about 10 minutes, then cover.
- Boil udon noodles. After it is cooked, rinse it under cold water and put it in a pan for meat and vegetables. Stir it with the ingredients and leave it for 5 minutes under a closed lid.
Recipe 4: udon noodles with scrambled eggs and carrots
The Chinese almost do not eat omelettes in their pure form, but they willingly add it to many dishes. Noodles are no exception. We suggest you try one of the recipes of Chinese cuisine - udon noodles with carrots and omelettes.
Ingredients Required:
- Udon noodles - 320 grams
- 1 carrot
- Egg - 1 pc.
- Milk - 60 ml
- Flour - 1 tablespoon
- Soya sauce
- Sugar - 1 tsp
- Black sesame seeds
Cooking method:
- First, fry the omelette - it should have cooled by the time we add it to the noodles. Combine the egg, flour and milk (best with a mixer), and pour the mixture onto a hot oil in a skillet. Omelet must be fried on both sides. It should turn out quite thin. When the omelet is cooled, it must be cut into thin strips.
- Grate carrots on a fine grater. Mix soy sauce, sugar, add one tablespoon of water. Marinate carrots for ten minutes in this sauce.
- Boil udon noodles. After pouring water, add carrot and scrambled eggs to the noodles.
Recipe 5: Chicken Udon Noodles
You can cook noodles with anything. This recipe describes how to cook a delicious dish with chicken fillet and mushrooms.
Ingredients Required:
- Udon - 280 gr.
- Chicken fillet - 1 piece
- Mushrooms - 200 grams
- Butter - 1 slice
- Bow 1 piece
- Sour cream - 100 grams
Cooking method:
- Peel and finely chop the onion.
- Wash the mushrooms and cut them as small as possible.
- Heat the stew pan. Put the onion on the butter, sauté until golden brown. Add mushrooms in a couple of minutes. Sauté the vegetables for 10 minutes.
- While the mushrooms are fried, the chicken needs to be washed and cut into small slices.
- Add chicken to the mushrooms, reduce heat and simmer under a closed lid for about seven minutes over low heat. After salt, add sour cream, mix, and simmer another 7 minutes.
- Boil the noodles. When pouring water, add it to the stewpan. Stir all the ingredients and serve.
Recipe 6: Udon Noodles with Cheese Sauce
Udon noodles are tasty not only with meat ingredients and seafood, but also with sauce, without hearty ingredients. You can serve such a dish as a side dish or just eat it without additives.
Ingredients Required:
- Udon - 260 grams
- Leek - 160 grams
- Butter - 55 grams
- Cream - 50 grams
- Processed cheese piece
- 1 carrot
- Salt
Cooking method:
- Onions need to be chopped into thin rings, and grate the carrots.
- Put a piece of butter in a hot stew, when it melts - put vegetables there, fry them for about five minutes. Then add cream and cream cheese to the stewpan. Stir the ingredients until the cheese has completely melted.
- Boil udon noodles at this time by placing it in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain the boiling water.
- Place the noodles in a saucepan, mix with the sauce, turn off the heat and leave it under a closed lid for 10 minutes.
Udon noodles - secrets and tips from the best culinary experts
- The noodles will turn out tastier if you boil it in chicken broth. So you can cook udon if you serve it with meat, poultry or vegetables.
- It is better not to digest the udon than to digest it, otherwise the udon will stick together and will resemble porridge rather than pasta.
- If you have ever been to restaurants in Chinese or Japanese cuisine, you may have noticed that the dishes are decorated with various seeds. If you want to embellish your dishes in an oriental style, you can use sesame seeds (white and black), flax seed, chopped pumpkin seeds.
- The original taste will be fried udon noodles. How to cook it? First boil - for 5 minutes in boiling water, drain the water, and put in a saucepan in a small amount of oil. Fry the noodles until they have a golden hue, but no more than 7 minutes. It is best to eat such noodles with fresh cucumber, chopped into thin strips, and squeezing garlic onto it through a press.
- If you don’t want complicated recipes, you can prepare the simplest noodle sauce that is still used in China. To do this, you need garlic (2 prongs), one onion and pickled ginger. Fry chopped onions, add chopped garlic and ginger to it. Mix the boiled noodles with the sauce, add a spoonful of soy sauce and enjoy an unusual taste.
- Udon noodles can also be added to soups. Put it in a saucepan 4 minutes before the dish is ready, otherwise the noodles will boil, and the soup will have a thick, unappetizing look.
