Udon Noodles: What They Are, Types, Cooking Times, Fresh or Dried
Udon are thick, white noodles made from wheat flour, water and salt, and they come from Japan. They taste mild, feel soft and spring back when you chew them; you eat them hot in broth, cold with a dipping sauce or fried in a pan.
Fact sheet
- Also known as
- うどん, Udon-Nudeln, Sanuki-Udon, Inaniwa-Udon, Kishimen
- Origin
- Japan
- Taste
- mild nach Weizen, weich und elastisch im Biss
- Substitute
- dicke chinesische Weizennudeln, für gebratene Gerichte dicke Spaghetti, glutenfrei breite Reisnudeln
- Storage
- getrocknet im Schrank, vakuumiert nach Packungsangabe, geöffnet im Kühlschrank 1 bis 2 Tage, Tiefkühl-Udon gefroren bis zum Kochen
- Where to buy
- vakuumiert im Asia-Regal des Supermarkts, tiefgekühlt und getrocknet im Asialaden, online
What makes udon udon
Udon (うどん) are the thickest noodles in Japanese cooking. The round or square-cut strands usually measure two to four millimeters. The dough contains no egg and no kansui, the alkaline water that makes ramen yellow and springy. That is why udon stay white and taste neutral, like wheat.
In good udon, Japanese cooks value the bite they call koshi: the noodle gives way between the teeth and bounces back. Noodle makers get this bite from long kneading. In Kagawa Prefecture they used to wrap the dough in cloths and tread on it with their feet.
Udon contain wheat gluten. They are not suitable for a gluten-free kitchen.
Types and regions
- Sanuki udon: from Kagawa, thick, square-cut and firm to the bite. Most frozen udon in stores follow this style.
- Inaniwa udon: from Akita, thin and slightly flat, hand-stretched and dried. They feel smooth and silky and suit cold dishes.
- Kishimen: wide, flat ribbon noodles from Nagoya.
- Hōtō: a close relative from Yamanashi, wide and thick, cooked with pumpkin and miso in a stew.
Fresh, frozen or dried
You can buy udon in three forms. They differ in bite and cooking time:
| Form | Cooking time (guideline) | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Frozen, precooked | 1 to 2 minutes in boiling water, no thawing | firm, elastic bite, closest to fresh udon |
| Vacuum-packed, precooked | 2 to 3 minutes in boiling water, or straight into broth or the pan | softer; some packs taste slightly sour, a quick rinse helps |
| Dried | 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness, as on the package | smoother and a little less elastic, keeps for a long time |
For soups with a strong bite, reach for frozen udon. Dried udon are worth having as a pantry staple and for cold dishes.
How to cook udon
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. You don't need to salt the water for dried udon, since the dough already contains salt.
- Add the noodles and loosen them with chopsticks. Frozen udon go into the water as a block and fall apart into strands after a minute.
- Cook as the package says. For dried udon, taste a strand two minutes before the end: they are done when the cut surface shows no white core.
- Drain and rinse under cold water, rubbing the noodles with your hands. This washes the starch off the surface, so the noodles don't stick and keep their bite.
- For hot dishes, dip them briefly in hot water or put them straight into the hot broth. For cold dishes, let them drain well.
Cook udon directly in the broth only if the recipe asks for it. The starch clouds and thickens the soup.
Uses: hot, cold, fried
The basic form is called kake udon: noodles in a hot broth of dashi, soy sauce and mirin, with scallions on top. For Kitsune udon you add sweet-simmered fried tofu, for Tempura udon battered shrimp or vegetables. Kare udon pairs the noodles with Japanese curry sauce. In Nabeyaki udon, noodles, egg and toppings cook together in a small clay pot.
Served cold, udon become zaru udon on a bamboo rack with a dipping sauce of dashi, soy sauce and mirin, just like Zaru soba. For Yaki udon you stir-fry cooked noodles with vegetables and meat in a pan or wok. The page Dashi and dashi powder explains the basis of the broth.
Want to knead the noodles yourself? With flour, water and salt it works even without a machine: Homemade udon noodles.
Udon, soba and ramen: the difference
Soba are made entirely or partly from buckwheat; they are thin, gray-brown and nutty in flavor. You can read more under Soba noodles. Ramen get their yellowish color and springy bite from kansui and belong in strong broths. Udon are the thickest and mildest of the three and take on the flavor of the broth and sauce. The page Mie noodles sorts out Chinese egg noodles.
Substitutes, buying and storage
You will hardly find an equal substitute in a regular supermarket. Thick Chinese wheat noodles from an Asian grocery store come closest. Thick spaghetti or bucatini work in fried dishes but stay firmer. If you cook gluten-free, use wide rice noodles.
Vacuum-packed udon sit in the Asian aisle of many supermarkets. Frozen udon are in the freezer of an Asian grocery store, often in packs of five portions. Dried udon are sold by Asian grocery stores and online retailers.
Store dried udon in a closed container in a dry cupboard. Keep vacuum packs as the package says; once opened, put them in the refrigerator and use them within one to two days. Frozen udon stay frozen until you cook them. Cooked leftovers turn firm in the refrigerator and taste best fried in a pan as yaki udon.