Recipe courtesy of
Young Sun Huh
for
Food Network Kitchen
Recipe courtesy of
Young Sun Huh
for
Food Network Kitchen
Watch how to make this recipe.
Niku Udon
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- Level: Easy
- Total: 25 min
- Active: 25 min
- Yield: 4 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 4 servings
- Calories
- 1024
- Total Fat
- 32 g
- Saturated Fat
- 11 g
- Carbohydrates
- 131 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Protein
- 49 g
- Cholesterol
- 243 mg
- Sodium
- 1229 mg
A Japanese comfort classic, niku udon is a warming bowl of chewy udon noodles in a savory-sweet broth topped with thinly sliced meat (niku in Japanese), usually beef. It’s a simple recipe ready in under half an hour with common Japanese pantry ingredients, some of which can be found in well-stocked supermarkets and the rest available in Asian groceries or online. The two-ingredient Japanese broth known as dashi forms the base of the soup. While this recipe uses instant dashi powder for convenience, feel free to make your own homemade dashi (you’ll need 6 cups). Although the soup is usually presented very simply with a minimum of toppings and garnishes, fish cakes (narutomaki) or a soft-poached egg are sometimes added to the bowl. But you could easily add vegetables or other ingredients to bulk it up such as baby bok choy, spinach, snow peas or tofu.
- Level: Easy
- Total: 25 min
- Active: 25 min
- Yield: 4 servings
-
- Nutritional Analysis
- Per Serving
- Serving Size
- 1 of 4 servings
- Calories
- 1024
- Total Fat
- 32 g
- Saturated Fat
- 11 g
- Carbohydrates
- 131 g
- Dietary Fiber
- 1 g
- Sugar
- 4 g
- Protein
- 49 g
- Cholesterol
- 243 mg
- Sodium
- 1229 mg
Ingredients
Soup Base:
Beef Topping:
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Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles.
- Meanwhile, for the soup base: Bring 6 cups of water, the instant dashi powder, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Simmer for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low (or turn completely off) and keep covered until ready to serve. Taste and add more salt if needed.
- For the beef topping: If the beef slices are long, cut them in half to make 2- to 3-inch-wide pieces. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt. Cook for 1 minute, then add the beef, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and another pinch of salt. Stir to combine and gently separate the slices. Cook until the beef is browned and just a little bit of liquid remains, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Boil the udon noodles according to the package directions. Drain well. Divide the noodles among 4 bowls. Bring the soup base back to a boil and ladle into the bowls. Top with the beef and scallions. Serve with shichimi togarashi on the side.
Cook’s Note
The type of thinly shaved well-marbled beef that’s best for niku udon is the same as what’s usually used in the dish shabu shabu. You can find it in many Asian groceries or slice it very thinly yourself.
