Chef Takumi
Ankake Udon (あんかけうどん)
Winter udon with staying power: clear dashi, a little soy and mirin, and just enough starch to make the broth cling without turning heavy.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Kamatama Udon (釜玉うどん)
Created by
Three ingredients, one bowl, and no ceremony worth fearing. Hot udon half-cooks the egg into a glossy sauce, and the whole dish rests on timing.
Soups & Stews
Japanese
Quick Meal
Weeknight
Budget Friendly
5 min
Active Time
5 min cook•10 min total
Yield2 servings
Kamatama udon looks almost too plain to trust. Hot noodles, a raw egg, a splash of soy. That is the dish, and if the udon is good, it needs very little help.
The one detail that decides it is heat. The noodles must go from boiling water to the bowl while they are still fierce enough to thicken the egg. Wait too long and you have egg on noodles. Move quickly and you get a pale golden sauce clinging to every strand, glossy and soft, like the simplest custard that never saw a steamer.
Use fresh or frozen Sanuki udon if you can. The chew is part of the dish, not decoration. This is quick food, yes, but not careless food. We season it with shōyu, sometimes a little dashi soy if the bowl wants depth, then finish with scallion or grated ginger. Nothing hidden. Three ingredients will tell on you, which is kind of them, if you listen.
Kamatama udon is tied to Sanuki udon, the thick wheat noodle tradition of Kagawa Prefecture, formerly Sanuki Province. The style is widely associated with Yamagoe Udon in Ayagawa, Kagawa, where hot noodles mixed with raw egg were popularized in the late twentieth century. The name joins kama, the cooking pot, and tama, short for tamago, because the noodles are taken straight from the pot into the egg.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
fresh or frozen Sanuki udon
Quantity
2 portions (about 400g total)
large eggs
Quantity
2
very fresh, preferably pasteurized if needed
shōyu (Japanese soy sauce)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
plus more to taste
dashi (optional)
Quantity
2 tablespoons
scallions
Quantity
2
thinly sliced
ginger (optional)
Quantity
1 teaspoon
grated
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| fresh or frozen Sanuki udon | 2 portions (about 400g total) |
| large eggsvery fresh, preferably pasteurized if needed | 2 |
| shōyu (Japanese soy sauce)plus more to taste | 2 tablespoons |
| dashi (optional) | 2 tablespoons |
| scallionsthinly sliced | 2 |
| ginger (optional)grated | 1 teaspoon |
Equipment Needed
- •Large pot
- •Udon tongs or chopsticks
- •Warmed serving bowls
Instructions
- 1
Warm the bowls
Fill two serving bowls with hot water and let them stand while the udon cooks. A cold bowl steals heat from the noodles, and here heat is the cook. Empty and dry the bowls just before serving.
- 2
Cook the udon
Boil the udon according to the package directions, usually two to three minutes for frozen noodles or a little less for fresh. Stir gently to loosen the strands without breaking them. The noodles should be hot through and springy under the teeth, because their heat will thicken the egg.
- 3
Set the egg
Crack one egg into each warmed bowl. If you want a deeper seasoning, add one tablespoon dashi and one tablespoon shōyu to each bowl. Beat lightly with chopsticks, just enough to loosen the yolk and white, not to make foam.
Foam cools the mixture and makes the sauce look dull. A quiet stir gives you gloss. - 4
Mix while hot
Lift the udon straight from the boiling water, drain for only a few seconds, and drop it into the egg. Toss at once with chopsticks until the egg turns pale gold and coats the noodles. Move quickly. The udon should half-cook the egg into sauce, not sit politely beside it.
- 5
Finish and serve
Top with sliced scallion and a little grated ginger if using. Taste, then add another small splash of shōyu only if the bowl asks for it. Serve immediately, while the sauce is glossy and the noodles still carry their heat.
Chef Tips
- •Use frozen Sanuki udon over thin dried udon for this dish. The thick, elastic chew is the point, and dried noodles rarely give you the same body.
- •If raw egg is a concern, use pasteurized eggs. The hot noodles thicken the egg, but they don't cook it to the firmness of a boiled egg.
- •Dashi soy is common here, but plain shōyu is enough when the udon and egg are good. Add dashi only when you want a rounder bowl, not to hide a tired ingredient.
Advance Preparation
- •Slice the scallions and grate the ginger before boiling the udon. Once the noodles are cooked, the dish should not wait.
- •If using dashi, make it up to two days ahead and keep it refrigerated. Warm it slightly before mixing so it doesn't cool the egg.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
345 calories
Total Fat
6 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
185 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
60 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
14 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Udon & Soba in Broth
Browse the full collection
Chef Takumi
Bukkake Udon (ぶっかけうどん, udon with poured sauce)
Cold Sanuki udon, rinsed clean and drained hard, meets a small pour of concentrated tsuyu, grated daikon, scallion, and lemon. Less broth than kake, more flavor per drop.
Chef Takumi
Chikara Udon (力うどん, power udon)
A square of grilled mochi turns a clean bowl of udon into winter food with weight, softening slowly in the dashi while the broth stays clear.
Chef Takumi
Curry Udon (カレーうどん)
Curry udon is yesterday's karē made bright again with dashi, soy, and thick wheat noodles. The trick is the gloss: loose enough to drink, thick enough to cling.