What is udon?

These thick udon noodles from scratch are made of all-purpose wheat flour, hot water, salt, and tapioca starch. As a kid, I ate lots of store-bought refrigerated udon packs with my parents and we added our own toppings to them. Udon is so versatile because you can eat it in many different ways: in a soup, with a dipping sauce, as a hot dish, or even cold. Some popular udon dishes are tempura udon (udon in a simple broth with vegetable and/or shrimp tempura), nikutama udon (udon in a sweet broth with beef and a soft boiled egg), and yaki udon (a soy sauce-based, stir-fried udon with vegetables and meat). Lucky for us, there are many different Japanese restaurants in Southern California that feature fresh udon noodles, like Marugame Udon or Meiji Seiman. Japanese grocery stores like Mitsuwa also sell frozen and fresh udon noodles that you can make at home and combine with other toppings you prefer. Not to be restricted to only having udon when I go to a restaurant or remembering to buy fresh or frozen packs in the grocery store, I learned how to make fresh udon noodles at home. What’s great about this recipe is that you can easily make multiple servings and freeze the noodles for future recipes.    

How to make udon (step by step)

What’s interesting about this recipe is that it brings to mind my homemade wonton wrappers from my pork and shrimp shumai and xiao long bao recipes where I made a plain dough using all-purpose flour, hot water, and salt. The hot water used in this recipe helps denature the proteins in the flour and give it its soft and chewy texture. Traditionally, hot water isn’t used in the dough, but I find that it helps a lot by making the dough softer and easier to work with.

  1. To make fresh udon noodles, boil water in a kettle and measure out the water in a cup. Add the salt and stir until it dissolves. Add flour and tapioca starch to a large mixing bowl and carefully add in the hot water and salt liquid. Mix this until it’s a shaggy dough–I like to use chopsticks.
  2. At this point, you can use your hands to form a ball of dough in the bowl and then transfer the ball into a clean surface. Knead the dough for about five minutes or until the dough has a smooth texture. Place the dough in a large ziplock bag (two servings work for a one-gallon freezer bag, but if you double the recipe you need a five-gallon bag) and remove all the air. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes on the counter.
  3. Traditionally, homemade udon noodles involve an uncommon step in making noodles: foot-stomping. Since the udon dough has a tendency to be tougher to knead and roll out, it’s easier to roll out the dough using pressure from walking on the dough. Don’t worry, you won’t be stepping on the dough directly with your feet, and this is where the plastic bag comes into play. Cover the plastic bag with a towel in case it rips and start stepping on the dough, ‘kneading’ it with your feet! Carefully step over the dough and flatten it out to spread the dough throughout the bag. I do about 30 steps before I open the bag and form it into the shape of a ball and repeat two more times (the total would be about 90 steps).
  4. You can test the doneness of the dough by slightly pinching it with your pointer finger and thumb. When the dough has a similar softness to an earlobe, then it’s finished. Shape it into a ball once more and let it rest in the bag for at least two hours at room temperature.
  5. Once the dough is rested, you can use a rolling pin or a pasta machine to roll out the dough until it’s about 3 ½-4 millimeters (on my pasta machine it is setting 2). You can use extra cornstarch or tapioca starch if your dough is sticking to your rolling pin or pasta machine.
  6. Sprinkle some cornstarch on the dough and carefully fold ¼ of the left side of the dough towards the right side of the dough. Continue to fold until you end up with a small rectangle.
  7. Use a very sharp knife to make vertical slices of noodles with about three millimeters in thickness. Keep in mind the noodles will expand a bit when cooking, so cut the noodles smaller than you’d like the final size to be.
  8. After you’ve cut all your fresh udon noodles, use your fingers to unfold all the noodles and sprinkle extra cornstarch to prevent sticking. You can either make them into small nests to freeze in plastic bags for future use. Frozen udon noodles should last at least a month in your freezer. 

How to cook the udon

  1. Fill a large pot with eight to ten cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add the salt into the pot and stir to dissolve. When the water is boiling, add about one serving of udon noodles to the water and swirl to prevent sticking. Cooking the fresh noodles takes about 12 to 15 minutes depending on their thickness and 20 to 25 minutes if they are frozen. Test your noodles by taking a sample noodle. It should be cooked throughout the noodle with a soft, but chewy texture.
  2. Once the noodles are finished, transfer the noodles to an ice water bath to stop the noodles from cooking. You only need to keep them in this bath for about a minute before removing them. Then they’re ready to use in a recipe, like yaki udon. 

What is udon made of?

Udon noodles have a wheat flour base and typically mixed with water and salt for flavor. I like to add tapioca starch to add extra chewy texture in my noodles. 

Does udon have egg?

Udon noodles do not have egg in the dough, although it is wheat-based. This is a nice vegan option for people who have dietary restrictions. 

What can I add to udon noodles?

Udon noodles are very versatile in that you can add them to different types of soups from basic soups of soy sauce, dashi, and mirin, to curry based soups. You can also make yaki udon, which is a stir fry dish that you can add multiple types of vegetables and your choice of meat. 

What is the difference between ramen and udon?

While both ramen and udon noodles are wheat-based noodles, ramen also has alkaline salt called kansui that gives the noodles a glossy texture and different flavor. Udon noodles, on the other hand, have a basic base of all-purpose flour, salt, water, and tapioca starch.