Chikara Udon (力うどん, power udon)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Medium pot for dashi
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Separate pot for udon
• •Japanese fish grill or yakiamī grilling net, or a toaster oven
• •Two deep udon bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Steep the konbu

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. The pale powder on the surface is flavor, not dirt. Put the konbu and cold water in a pot and bring it up slowly over low heat, about ten minutes. Pull the konbu out when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides, before it reaches a full boil.

   Konbu gives best when it is steeped gently. Boil it hard and the stock can turn bitter and a little slick, which is exactly what a clear udon broth does not need.
2. 2

   Add the flakes

   Bring the konbu water just to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, and take the pot off the heat. Leave it alone for two or three minutes, until the flakes sink. Don't stir. The flakes know their work, which is more than can be said for most spoons.

3. 3

   Strain the dashi

   Strain the dashi through a cloth-lined strainer into a clean pot and let it drip on its own. Don't squeeze the flakes. Squeezing presses out strong, oily flavors and muddies the clean gold stock you have been guarding.

4. 4

   Season the broth

   Add the usukuchi shōyu, mirin, and salt to 4 cups of the dashi. Warm it gently and taste. It should be savory and clear, a little stronger than plain soup because the udon will soften it. If it tastes thin, add a spoonful more dashi or a few drops of shōyu before you reach for more salt.

5. 5

   Cook the udon

   Bring a separate pot of water to a boil and cook the udon until loosened and hot, about one minute for frozen udon or according to the package for fresh noodles. Drain well. Cook the noodles separately because their surface starch would cloud the broth, and this bowl depends on clear dashi.

6. 6

   Grill the mochi

   Toast the kiri-mochi in a Japanese fish grill, on a yakiamī grilling net, or in a toaster oven until puffed, blistered, and lightly browned, 4 to 7 minutes depending on the heat. Watch it closely. Mochi swells in its own time, then suddenly behaves like it owns the room.

   Toasting gives the rice cake a browned aroma and a firm skin, so it softens slowly in the broth instead of turning the soup cloudy at once.
7. 7

   Assemble the bowls

   Warm two deep bowls with hot water, then empty and dry them. Divide the drained udon between the bowls, ladle the seasoned dashi over the noodles, and set one grilled mochi on each bowl half above the broth. Add the greens, kamaboko if using, scallion, and mitsuba or yuzu. Serve at once, with shichimi tōgarashi on the side.

Chef Tips

• •Use plain kiri-mochi, the firm cut rice cakes sold for grilling and soup. Sweet filled mochi belongs somewhere else. Here the mochi should taste of rice, browning, and the broth it slowly drinks.
• •Frozen udon is often better than shelf-stable udon for this bowl. It has a springy chew and warms quickly, so the noodles stay alive under the dashi instead of going soft and tired.
• •Do not cook the udon in the soup broth. It looks efficient, but the starch clouds the dashi and dulls the seasoning. A second pot is not ceremony. It is clarity.
• •For a meatless table, make the stock from konbu and dried shiitake, the temple-kitchen way. It will be earthier than katsuobushi dashi, and it is honmono, not an apology.

Advance Preparation

• •The konbu can soak in the cold water overnight in the refrigerator for a rounder stock. Warm it gently the next day and pull it before the boil.
• •Finished dashi keeps two days refrigerated. Season it only when you make the udon, so you can adjust it to the noodles and toppings in front of you.
• •The greens can be blanched, squeezed dry, and cut earlier in the day. Keep them covered in the refrigerator.
• •Toast the mochi just before serving. Once it sits in the broth, its job is to soften, so the bowl does not wait politely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 850g)