What is udon

There also exist several popular, low-cost udon restaurant chains with outlets in the large cities and along national routes.

The dining out section explains what to expect inside a sit-down restaurant in Japan. A regular udon dish at an average restaurant typically costs between yen and yen, but low-cost udon chains often sell meals for under yen. At more upmarket eateries or for more elaborate udon dishes, expect to pay from yen to yen per person.

At some busy train stations, standing udon restaurants can be found for a quick meal between train rides. Ordering at standing restaurants is as simple as buying your meal ticket from the vending machine, giving it to the staff and enjoying your noodles while standing at the counter. Some of the low-cost udon chains work similar to a cafeteria line. Upon entering the restaurant, customers pick up a tray, order the dish from the staff behind the counter and then choose eventual side dishes such as tempura , rice balls or oden simmered vegetables before moving to the cashier at the end of the counter.

Depending on how your udon are served, the way of eating differs. When udon are served with a dipping sauce , take a few strands of noodles and dip them into the sauce before eating them. Udon served in a soup or sauce are enjoyed by using your chopsticks to lead the noodles into your mouth while making a slurping sound. The slurping enhances the flavors and helps cool down the hot noodles as they enter your mouth.

If there is a broth, it is drunk directly from the bowl, eliminating the need for a spoon. It is not considered rude to leave some unfinished soup in the bowl at the end of the meal. Ask in our forum. Home Back. Food and Drink. Popular Udon Dishes Below is a list of udon dishes that tourists will commonly find at restaurants across Japan.

Zaru Udon cold Zaru Udon noodles are chilled and served on a bamboo mat. They are accompanied by a dipping sauce and are dipped into the dipping sauce before eating. It is very similar to Zaru Soba , with the only difference just being the type of noodles. Kake Udon hot Kake Udon is a basic udon dish, served in a hot broth that covers the noodles.

It has no toppings and is usually garnished with only green onions. Kake Udon is also known as Su Udon in the Osaka region. Kamaage Udon hot Kamaage Udon noodles are served in hot water, accompanied by a variety of seasonings and a dipping sauce. Some places have individual servings of Kamaage Udon in small wooden bowls while others serve family sized portions of Kamaage Udon in large shared wooden noodle tubs.

Tanuki Udon is not usually served in Osaka as tenkasu is often available for free at udon restaurants there. For example, Kishimen, which is a type of udon with a flatter shape compared to the original, or Inaniwa, which is much thinner.

Udon are said to be the noodles of a thousand and one recipes, and this is because they are a very versatile item with which you can play and create infinite versions. In its hot version, yakiudon is perhaps the best known dish outside Japan. It is prepared by frying noodles in soy sauce, just like yakisoba, and adding meat and vegetables.

In its cold version, it is often used in salads with ingredients such as boiled egg, radish or cucumber. No matter what season of the year it is, there is always an option to enjoy a good Udon dish. You can buy different types of Udon in our online shop or in our shops in Barcelona and Madrid.

There is no real consensus as to when the Udon first came to Japan. Most accounts agree that the noodles originated in the Shinji Kagawa region. Soba and udon can be easily found all across Japan and especially in the most celebrated culinary centers like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. However, each town, particularly in regions where the soil is suitable for growing buckwheat, takes pride in its unique specialty noodle dishes.

Yamagata Prefecture is known for Ita soba , a type of noodle that is made of unpolished soba flour giving the noodles a stronger texture. This type of soba is also cut slightly larger and served on a large board call ita. Izumo soba is popular in Izumo where the flour is made from the buckwheat seed's hull and has a stronger smell. Izumo soba is usually served in a three-story stackable dish with different toppings and dipping sauces served on the side to be added in.

Traditionally, after you finish the top dish of Izumo soba, you should pour the leftover sauce into the middle layer and then the last layer after that. This way, the sauce continues to develop a rich flavor. Cha soba is a kind of soba flavored with green tea powder and thus results in green noodles.

Cha soba can be easily found in Uji, a small city that boasts some of the best matcha in Japan. This dish can be served both hot and cold.

Nishin soba is a unique dish that includes a whole pacific herring as a topping. The fish is first simmered in soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar before it is dried then braised. Udon has more variation in its shape and thickness. Sanuki Udon is the most famous type of udon in Japan and is named after the previous name of Kagawa Prefecture.

Sanuki udon has a more firm and chewy texture due to the inclusion of a specific type of wheat. This dish can be served both cold with dipping sauce and hot with broth and toppings. Mizusawa Udon is another famous type of udon that is known for being made from locally grown wheat flour, spring water, and carefully selected salt.

These noodles have a firm and thick quality and are usually served cold with a soy-based dipping sauce or a sesame dipping sauce. Inaniwa Udon has a history of over years and was first made in the Inaniwa area of Akita. These noodles are thinner and have a smooth texture due to the way the traditional way noodles are prepared which takes about four days and includes kneading the dough, wrapping it around rods, flattening and stretching the noodles, and finally leaving them out to air dry.

Ise Udon is a thick and chewy noodle that served with a dark sauce which is often made from dried kelp or smoked fish. Common toppings on this dish include green onions and bonito fish flakes. Ise Udon is widely sold at traditional udon restaurants. Besides soba and udon, there are many different types of noodle in Japan. Some of the other popular noodles include ramen, yakisoba, and somen. Below, we detail the differences between soba and udon and each of the other three popular varieties.

Ramen is the best-known Japanese noodle outside Japan, though it is one of the newest culinary inventions in the country. The biggest difference between ramen and soba noodles is the flavor. While soba noodles are made mostly with buckwheat, ramen is usually made with wheat flour.

While udon and ramen are made with the same type of flour, ramen is cut into a much thinner and smaller noodle while udon is thick and chewy. Food served with ramen noodles varies, and often a more complicated process is used to make the noodles themselves than for soba or udon. Although the name yakisoba includes the word soba, yakisoba noodles are not made with buckwheat flour but instead with wheat flour, like udon and ramen.

Yakisoba noodles are round, but much smaller and thinner than udon. They are most commonly used in stir-fried noodle dishes, and are not usually eaten with broth. Somen noodles have a similar texture and flavor to udon noodles and are also made with wheat flour. However, somen noodles are thinner and normally eaten cold with sauce, instead of in hot broths.

Unlike soba or udon noodles, somen noodles are not made by cutting, but by stretching the dough. This gives somen noodles a smoother and more elastic texture. Learn how to make soba noodles at a noodle school where the chef will teach you how to use a stone mortar to grind the buckwheat into flour and then how to knead the flour with water and salt to create the soba dough.

You will then be able to try chopping the dough yourself with a traditional knife to make raw noodles. When you have finished cooking the noodles, sit down to enjoy your delicious freshly-made soba. Want to experience all the excitement and flavor that Japan has to offer, but don't know where to start? Our team at Asia Highlights has the experience and knowledge to help you plan the perfect trip to Japan.

We tailor-make our tours to ensure that every traveler can add or subtract whatever experience they wish to have or avoid. To get started, send us an email here. At Asia Highlights, we create your kind of journey — your dates, your destinations, at your pace. You can have any trip tailor made for your travel. Soba Udon Taste Nutty and rich flavor, from the buckwheat flour with which they are made. Light flavor, often picking up the flavor of the accompanying broth or sauce.

Shape and Size Small, thin, and long, like spaghetti. Large and thick, and can be round, square, or flat. Martial Arts in Japan. Asakusa and Senso-ji Temple Guide. Top 10 Things to Do in Japan.

Japanese Udon. Sapporo Travel Guide. Religion in Japan. Etiquette in Japan. Cherry Blossom in Hiroshima.