Udon noodles
- Published: 4 Apr 24
- Updated: 12 Apr 24
Homemade udon noodles are bouncier, tastier and far superior to shop-bought. What’s more, you get to use your feet to knead the dough! Because they’re cut rather than pulled or extruded, they’re a fantastic noodle to prepare from scratch. Masaki Sugisaki, executive chef at Dinings SW3 in Chelsea, walks you through the process.
Use your noodles to make Masaki’s comforting, creamy susuru (udon soup with chicken and sesame).
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Serves 4 (makes about 300g) -
Hands-on time 1 hour, plus at least 24 hours resting. Simmering time 10 min
Before you start
You need to start making the noodles at least a day before you want to use them. They can be kept in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days before cooking.
Nutrition
- Calories
- 175kcals
- Fat
- 0.5g (no saturated)
- Protein
- 6g
- Carbohydrates
- 37g (no sugars)
- Fibre
- 0g
- Salt
- 0.4g
delicious. tips
Masaki’s tips for great udon
• The amount of water you need depends on how warm it is. I tend to aim for a ratio of 45% in winter (which is what this recipe calls for), but stick to 43% in summer. So
if it’s dry and warm, add around 10ml less.
• Ideally you should use soft water for your udon dough. Hard water can mean your noodles become soggy on the outside before they’re fully cooked. If you live in
a hard water area, use a soft bottled still water from the supermarket such as Tesco Ashbeck, Volvic or Waitrose Essential.
• A lot of salt goes into udon dough – it tightens up the gluten network to help give the noodles their bouncy texture – but most of it is drawn out into the water during cooking, so they won’t taste oversalted.
• The resting times are vital for giving udon their bouncy texture, so don’t skip them. And don’t let the dough dry out – always keep it covered with a clean damp tea towel.
• Dusting the noodles liberally with tapioca starch or potato starch stops them sticking. Shake to remove the excess – it’s better to over-dust, then shake off lots of excess, than under-dust and have sticky noodles.
• A dash of white distilled vinegar in the water when you boil the udon helps to give them a better texture.
• Shocking the noodles in iced water once they’re cooked washes off excess starch and firms them up. They’ll warm through again in hot broth.You need to start making the noodles at least a day before you want to use them. They can be kept in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days before cooking.
Buy tapioca flour (also sold as tapioca starch) from health food shops such as Holland & Barrett. Buy potato starch from Ocado or other online suppliers.