Curry Udon

Step 1

Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and season on all sides with 1/4 teaspoon of salt.

Step 2

Set a large pot of water on the stove over high heat to boil the udon. If you are using pre-cooked frozen udon, you can skip this step.

Step 3

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add the oil and then the chicken, skin-side down. Let the chicken fry undisturbed until the skin-side is browned (about 2-3 minutes).

Step 4

While the chicken is browning, grate the onion, carrot, garlic, and ginger. Then mix in the baking soda.

Step 5

When the chicken has browned on the skin-side (it's okay if the chicken isn't fully cooked), transfer it to a bowl while leaving as much of the oil behind in the pan as possible. Set the chicken aside.

Step 6

Add the grated vegetables to the pan you fried the chicken in. It will spatter, so be careful. Sauté this mixture until it has formed a paste and is caramelized (about 3 minutes).

Step 7

Boil the udon for 3 minutes less than what the package directions say. Udon tends to boil over, so be sure to keep an eye on it.

Step 8

Add the curry powder to the pan with the caramelized veggie paste and continue sautéing until the mixture is uniform in color and very fragrant.

Step 9

Add the dashi, mirin, soy sauce, chuno sauce, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the pan with the curry paste. Return the chicken to the pan, and add the onions. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes, or until your udon is cooked.

Step 10

When the udon is done (3 minutes less than what the package directions say), drain the noodles and wash any extra starch off the noodles with cold water. Add the udon to the curry and simmer until the chicken and udon are cooked through.

Step 11

To finish the curry udon, turn down the heat to low. Ladle some of the hot soup into a bowl with the sour cream and whisk this together. Keep adding soup and whisking until the sour cream is warm. Pour this into the pan with the curry udon and stir-to incorporate.

Step 12

Serve the curry udon immediately, garnished with scallions.