Kake Udon (Japanese Udon Noodle Soup)

Step 1

Cut through your kombu using a pair of scissors. I like to fold mine in half and cut around five 1” (2.5 cm) cuts on each side. You can see the video below for a complete step-by-step.

Step 2

Also, do NOT wash your kombu. The white powdery layer on the kombu is naturally occurring and is what adds to the umami flavour when soaked.

Step 3

Place the kombu in a large container or jar. Add in the shiitake mushrooms. Pour in the water.

Step 4

Leave the kombu and mushrooms to soak in the water overnight. I keep mine refrigerated.

Step 5

The next day, remove the kombu and the mushrooms form the container. This will be your dashi. This will be around 3 cups since the mushrooms and kombu will have absorbed some of the water.

Step 6

Do not discard the kombu and mushrooms. You can also cut the rehyrdrrated mushrooms and enjoy it with your udon or other recipes.

Step 7

For the leftover rehydrated kombu, you can make this into Kombu Tsukudani or simmered kombu for a delicious dish with rice. You can see the recipe here.

Step 8

Cook/prepare your udon noodles according to package instructions. For my frozen udon, I heated a medium sized pot with water and left it to boil over medium heat. Once boiling, I added the udon and allowed it to cook for a few minutes until chewy to my liking.

Step 9

Remove the noodles from the water. You can opt to run this through some hot water to wash off any excess starch.

Step 10

Divide between 2 bowls or 1 large bowl.

Step 11

I cooked the noodles before cooking the broth so I could use only 1 pot for this recipe.

Step 12

Remove the water from the pot.

Step 13

Add in the dashi into the pot. Add in the sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and salt. Taste the broth and allow the dashi to come to a boil.

Step 14

Once it boils, turn off the heat. Pour in the soup into your bowl/s of noodles.

Step 15

Top with chopped onion leeks/scallions, Shichimi Togarashi, and any other toppings of choice. Enjoy your udon while it’s hot.