Kitsune Udon

Kitsune Udon literary means "Fox Udon". According to old folk-tales, the favourite food of foxes (kitsune) is 'aburaage': fried tofu, which is the topping of this recipe!




Many area's in Japan are famous for their servings of Kitsune Udon. For example, the area around Fushimi Inari shrine in Kyoto. Fushimi Inari is dedicated to Inari, the shinto god of rice and business. His messengers are foxes (kitsune) of which there are many statues all over the mountain. Most of the foxes are depicted with a granary key in their mouth, a symbolic key to success and prosperity. Though their boss is the god of rice, the foxes are more into tofu. We visited Fushimi Inari Shrine last June, and off course we tried some Kitsune Udon!

Fox next to the torii gates by Fushimi Inari

Because we really liked the kitsune udon, we wanted to make it ourselves too!

Ingredients (2p):

For the udon-soup:

•  2 packs of Udon (are normally sold in packs of 3)
• circa 700 ml water
• dashi powder (out brand required 2,5 tbsp of dashi powder for 700 ml water to make udon soup, but check the box to see the amount needed)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp sugar

 For the topping:

• Aburaage*
• Naruto-maki (fish cake, in long round shape), cut into thin slices

* You can (apparently) make the Aburaage yourselves. However, we have never tried that and just go for the easy way: store-bought Aburaage. You can just buy the same tofu as is used for inari-sushi.

How to make video...

.. or the instructions:

Mix the dashi-powder with 700 ml water. While bringing up the heat, add the soy sauce, mirin and sugar.
When it gets to simmer, add the udon noodles and let it cook for about 3-4 minutes.

In the meanwhile, get the aburaage out of the packing, and cut the naruto-maki into slices.

Slices of Naruto-maki

Divide the noodles and soup in two bowls, and top with the aburaage and naruto. Enjoy!