Funny how 12 days in Japan can change your entire culinary outlook, which you’ve probably noticed from the shift in recipes I’ve been posting lately. What can I say, I get inspired by my culinary travels. For example, before this trip, my ultimate comfort food was pasta with butter and parmesan. Now? Well, you’re looking at it. Cold udon noodles served with Mentsuyu, a flavorful soup base used as a dipping sauce for noodles. It’s made from soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and steeped with bonito (dried fish flakes) and kombu (dried kelp), which give it an incredible richness and umami. You can buy pre-made mentsuyu concentrate, or make your own with a few specialty ingredients that you can easily find at an Asian market or online.
After enjoying some amazing fresh udon noodles in Japan, like, seriously mind blowing, we set out to make our own udon noodles at home. Turns out, it’s really quite easy!
Udon noodles are distinctive in their thickness, their bounce and their chew. Traditional Japanese udon is actually kneaded by foot. That’s right, not by hand, by foot. Trust me on this one: I made multiple batches using just the stand mixer and by hand, and none turned out as well as the one I kneaded with my feet. There’s a reason the Japanese have been doing it this way for centuries. Simply put the dough in a plastic bag, wrap it in a clean kitchen towel and smush it with your feet until it’s flat. Open up the bag, fold it up into a ball again, and repeat 3-4 times until you have a dough that’s as smooth as your earlobe.
If you want to make homemade udon noodles, you just need flour, salt, water, and a little tapioca starch for good measure (though I’ve seen plenty of recipes without this last ingredient, but I found noodles made with it to be smoother and bouncier overall). I also used 00 pizza flour for my noodles, which is slightly higher in gluten and more finely ground than standard AP flour and better approximates the flour that Japanese cooks would use. If you can’t find 00 flour, you can use a mix of bread and AP flour instead, though your dough won’t be quite as smooth.
While udon noodles are traditionally hand rolled, we sped up the process a bit using the KitchenAid® Pasta Roller & Cutter attachment. For thicker noodles, you can roll them out to thickness 1 and then cut by hand. Or, if you prefer thinner noodles, roll to thickness 2 or 3 and then use the fettuccine or spaghetti cutters to quickly cut them into perfectly even noodles. They do swell quite a bit when they cook, so even the spaghetti size noodles are delightfully thick and chewy once cooked. This recipe was created in partnership with KitchenAid®. All opinions are my own. Be sure to share your take on this recipes on Instagram using #MadeWithKitchenAid for a chance to be featured on the @KitchenAidUSA account!
