Curry Udon (カレーうどん)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide pot
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Heatproof bowl or measuring jug
• •Saibashi (long cooking chopsticks), or tongs
• •Deep udon donburi bowls

Instructions

1. 1

   Steep the konbu

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in the cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat, about ten minutes. Pull the konbu when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides of the pot. Boil it and the dashi turns faintly bitter and slick, which is a poor trade for impatience.

   That pale powder on konbu is not dirt. It is flavor on the surface, and washing it away makes the stock thinner before you have even begun.
2. 2

   Add the bonito

   Bring the water to a gentle boil after the konbu is out. Add the katsuobushi all at once, take the pot off the heat, and leave it alone for two or three minutes until the flakes sink. Strain through a cloth-lined sieve into a heatproof bowl. Let it drip by itself. Don't squeeze, because squeezing presses strong, oily flavors into the clear stock.

   Measure out 2 1/4 cups dashi for the curry broth and keep any extra nearby. A splash of dashi is the cleanest way to loosen the bowl later.
3. 3

   Loosen the udon

   Bring fresh water to a boil in the same pot. Slip in the udon and cook only until the noodles loosen and turn supple, 1 to 2 minutes for frozen udon or about 30 seconds for fresh. Drain well. Cook the noodles outside the curry broth because raw noodle starch clouds the sauce and makes it heavy.

4. 4

   Cook the onion

   Wipe the pot dry, add the oil, and cook the onion over medium heat until the edges turn translucent, about three minutes. Add the sliced pork or beef, if using, and cook just until it loses its raw color. The onion needs this short head start; in a thick broth it will not soften properly later.

5. 5

   Build the broth

   Pour in 2 1/4 cups dashi, then stir in the leftover karē, soy sauce, and mirin. Simmer gently for three to five minutes, stirring until the curry loosens into the dashi. Taste it now. It should be a little stronger than you want the finished bowl, because udon will quiet the seasoning.

6. 6

   Bind the curry

   Stir the potato starch with the cold water until smooth. Drizzle in half the slurry while stirring the simmering broth, then wait a minute before adding more. Potato starch thickens only after heat wakes it, so give it time. The broth should coat the back of a spoon in a glossy layer and slide back into the pot, not sit there like pudding.

   This is the detail that decides curry udon. The broth must cling to the noodles, but it still has to be broth.
7. 7

   Warm the noodles

   Add the drained udon to the curry broth and fold gently with saibashi, long cooking chopsticks, or tongs. Warm for about one minute, just until the noodles are coated and fully hot. Don't boil hard now. Udon bloats if it sits too long in the thickened broth, and the bowl loses its clean shape.

8. 8

   Serve at once

   Ladle the curry udon into deep bowls. Tuck the noodles into a small mound, spoon broth around them, and finish with the sliced naga-negi and a pinch of shichimi tōgarashi if you like its heat. Serve immediately. If the broth tightens while it waits, loosen it with a spoonful of the reserved dashi.

Chef Tips

• •Frozen Sanuki-style udon is the reliable weeknight choice. It has the chew this thick broth needs. Dried udon works, but cook it fully in plain water and rinse off the surface starch before warming it in the curry.
• •Use second-day Japanese curry if you have it. The roux has settled, the vegetables have given up their sweetness, and the dashi can pull the whole thing into a noodle-shop broth. No leftover curry? Make a small batch from Japanese curry roux first, then use it here. Dropping roux blocks straight into dashi gives you salt and starch before it gives you curry.
• •For a meatless table, make the stock with 8g konbu and 2 dried shiitake soaked in 3 cups cold water overnight. Warm it gently, remove the konbu before boiling, simmer the shiitake a few minutes, and strain. That is temple-kitchen logic, honmono, not a compromise.
• •Naga-negi is sweetest in cold weather. If it is in shun, let it show: slice it cleanly on the diagonal and add some at the end so it stays bright against the brown broth.
• •Don't use instant dashi here. Curry is loud enough to tempt you, but the real depth comes from the stock underneath. Powder gives salt first and clarity last.

Advance Preparation

• •The dashi can be made up to two days ahead and kept refrigerated. Reheat it gently before using.
• •Japanese curry is ideal here on the second day. Make curry for rice one night, then turn the leftover into curry udon the next.
• •Store extra curry broth separately from the udon. Once noodles sit in the thickened broth, they swell and soften. Reheat the broth gently and add freshly warmed udon just before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 825g)