Zaru Udon (Cold Udon with Homemade Dipping Sauce)
https://sudachirecipes.comThere's nothing more refreshing than Zaru Udon served with a delicious chilled Mentsuyu sauce to cool you down on a hot summer's day. This recipe is quick and easy to make, not to mention highly customizable! It also goes great with Tempura!
Ingredients
- 100 ml dashi stock or make it plant-based with my shiitake and kombu dashi recipe
- 20 ml soy sauce
- 20 ml mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 portions udon noodles
- 1 tbsp shredded sushi nori seaweed "kizami nori" kizami nori, optional
Additions
- 1 tsp wasabi paste
- 1 tsp ginger root grated
- 2 tbsp tempura flakes (tenkasu) tenkasu
- 2 tbsp green onion finely chopped
Instructions
- Take a small pan and add 100 ml dashi stock, 20 ml soy sauce and 20 ml mirin. Boil for 1 minute to burn off the alcohol in the mirin and add 1 tsp sugar. Mix until the sugar has dissolved.
- Take the pan off the heat, pour the dipping sauce into a heatproof jug and leave to cool. Once cool to the touch, you can transfer it to the refrigerator. Tip: Mixing will help it cool faster.
- Cook 2 portions udon noodles according the the instructions on the packaging. Once cooked, pour the udon into a strainer to drain and rinse with cold running water. Drain once more and place the sieve over a bowl, add a few ice cubes to make the udon extra cold.
- Take two small plates and to each one, add 1/2 tsp wasabi, 1/2 tsp grated ginger, 1 tbsp tempura flakes and 1 tbsp chopped green onion (all extras are optional).
- Place each serving of udon on a "zaru" and sprinkle with kizami nori. (You can use a bamboo sushi mat on a plate if you don't have a zaru.)
- Serve each portion of udon with a cup of cold mentsuyu dipping sauce and the small plate of ingredients to flavor the sauce.
Notes
You can use this recipe to make zaru soba, just replace the udon noodles with soba noodles.
If you're doubling or tripling the recipe, keep in mind that the mentsuyu will take longer to cool.
You can keep left over mentsuyu in the fridge for about 2 weeks (or the freezer for up to 1 month) so I recommend making extra if you plan to make zaru udon or zaru soba often during the summer! (The noodles are best cooked fresh.)