Tempura Udon (天ぷらうどん)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Donburi bowls
• •Fine-mesh strainer lined with a clean cloth
• •Tempura nabe, or a deep heavy pot
• •Frying thermometer
• •Saibashi (long cooking chopsticks), or tongs
• •Wire rack set over a tray
• •Zaru (bamboo draining basket), or a colander

Instructions

1. 1

   Steep the konbu

   Wipe the konbu with a damp cloth, but don't wash it. Put it in 5 cups cold water and bring it up slowly over low heat, about 10 to 12 minutes. Pull the konbu when the water trembles and small bubbles climb the sides of the pot, just before a full boil.

   That pale bloom on the konbu is not dirt. It is flavor. Boiling the kelp hard pulls bitterness and slickness into the stock, so the gentle heat protects the clear taste you want.
2. 2

   Add the flakes

   Bring the water to a gentle boil, add the katsuobushi all at once, and take the pot off the heat. Let the flakes sink on their own for 2 to 3 minutes. Strain through a cloth-lined sieve and let it drip without pressing.

   Don't squeeze the flakes. Pressing brings out rough, oily flavors, and this bowl depends on clean dashi more than on force.
3. 3

   Season the broth

   Measure 4 cups dashi into a saucepan. Add the usukuchi shōyu, mirin, and salt, then bring it just to a quiet simmer for 2 minutes. Taste it. It should be a little more seasoned than soup you would sip alone, because the udon will soften it in the bowl.

   Mirin needs a brief simmer to lose its raw edge. Don't boil the broth hard after that, or the dashi loses the clarity you just made.
4. 4

   Prepare the shrimp

   Pat the shrimp dry. Scrape the water from the tails with the back of a knife, trim the sharp tail tips if needed, then make 3 or 4 shallow cuts across the underside of each shrimp. Press them gently straight on the board.

   Water trapped in the tail spits in hot oil and loosens the batter. The shallow cuts stop the shrimp from curling, so it sits neatly across the bowl.
5. 5

   Heat the oil

   Pour the frying oil into a deep, heavy pot, filling it no more than halfway. Add the sesame oil if using. Heat to 170 to 175 C / 340 to 350 F. A drop of batter should sink slightly, then rise with small lively bubbles.

   Tempura wants oil hot enough to set the crust quickly, but not so fierce that the outside browns before the shrimp cooks through.
6. 6

   Mix the batter

   Beat the cold egg yolk lightly with the ice-cold water. Add 1/2 cup chilled cake flour and stir only a few times with chopsticks, leaving lumps. Dust the shrimp lightly with the remaining flour, shaking off the excess.

   A smooth batter is the wrong ambition here. Overmixing builds gluten and makes the crust tough. Lumpy, cold batter fries lighter.
7. 7

   Fry the tempura

   Dip each shrimp in the batter and lay it into the oil away from you. Fry 2 to 3 minutes, turning once, until the crust is pale gold and crisp and the shrimp is opaque through the center. Lift to a wire rack, not a flat paper towel, so the underside stays dry.

   Fry the shrimp last, after the broth is hot and the bowls are ready. The broth can wait. Tempura cannot.
8. 8

   Cook the udon

   Bring a separate pot of water to a boil. Warm frozen or fresh udon just until the strands loosen and turn supple, usually 1 to 2 minutes for frozen noodles. Drain well.

   Cook the noodles in plain water, not in the seasoned broth. Udon gives off starch, and starch clouds the clear soup you worked to protect.
9. 9

   Assemble the bowls

   Warm two donburi bowls with hot water, then empty and dry them. Divide the udon between the bowls, ladle the hot broth over the noodles, and set one shrimp tempura across the top or slightly on the rim. Scatter scallion, add the yuzu peel if using, and finish with a small pinch of shichimi tōgarashi if you like. Serve at once, and eat the prawn first while the crust still speaks.

Chef Tips

• •Don't reach for instant powder when the dashi is the point. This bowl is mostly broth, so the first secret is not a secret at all: konbu, katsuobushi, water, and a little patience.
• •Choose shrimp that smell clean and faintly sweet, never strong or sour. If the shrimp are tired, change the dish and fry a vegetable at its 旬 (shun, at its prime) instead. Nothing hidden under batter.
• •Frozen Sanuki-style udon is often the best sensible stand-in for fresh noodles at home. Dried udon works, but rinse it well after boiling and rewarm it briefly, or the starch will cloud the broth.
• •Have the bowls warmed, scallion sliced, and broth ready before you mix the batter. Tempura udon is not difficult, only unforgiving of dawdling.

Advance Preparation

• •The konbu can soak in the cold water overnight in the refrigerator for a gentler, rounder dashi.
• •Dashi can be made two days ahead and kept refrigerated. Season it as broth up to one day ahead, then reheat gently before serving.
• •The shrimp can be peeled, deveined, scored, and patted dry up to 4 hours ahead. Keep them covered in the refrigerator. Mix the batter only at the last moment.
• •Slice the scallion and cut the yuzu peel ahead, but cook the udon and fry the tempura just before serving. Those two do not improve by waiting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 740g)