Yaki udon with sesame dressing

Sesame dressing adds a great taste to any salad, but recently we have been trying it in different recipes. Inspired by Japanese cooking programs on television (very entertaining!), we have discovered some great new uses for sesame dressing. It can really give a simple meal an interesting flavour. This time we want to share our absolute favourite sesame dressing recipe: yaki udon with sesame.


Ingredients (2p):

• udon (2 portions for medium eaters, 3 if you are really hungry)
• sesame dressing
  
• Vegetables (pick anything you like or have left over in your fridge), we used:
• 1 back of bean sprouts
• 1 (small) broccoli (boil before you start the rest of the cooking)
• 100 gr mushrooms

Our ingredients: bean sprouts, udon, (already boiled) broccoli, mushrooms

Video instructions....

or written instructions.:

First, the udon needs the be boiled according to instructions on the label. Normally a couple of minutes in boiling water.
 

boiling the udon

In the meantime you can heat some oil in a fry-pan, and stir-fry the bean sprouts and mushrooms for a couple minutes

Then, add the broccoli and mix together.

Add in the udon, mix together, and then add sesame dressing to taste.

And, you are already finished! Easy, and delicious!

Enjoy!

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!

Cold soba with dipping sauce

 Now that is has become July, the weather is getting warmer and warmer in Toyko. We have therefore come to love to eating cold meals, to cool down a little bit from the heat outside. With the more warmer periods yet to come, we expect to grow even more fond of these Japanese cold meals.
This time we want to share a favorite meal of us: cold soba. Soba noodles are buckwheat noodles, and can be eaten both cold and warm. Because we enjoy eating cold soba so much, we searched on the internet to find the recipe for the Japanese cold dipping sauce (Kaeshi) that is normally served with cold soba. Turned out: it is very easy to make and very tasty!
 
Making the dipping sauce (Kaeshi)

Ingredients (makes several portions, can be stored in refrigerator)

• 2 cups soja
• 1/3 cup mirin
• 1/4 cup sugar

 Put the 1/3 cup mirin in a pan, and bring to boil. Lower the temperature, so it can simmer for a little bit. Then add the 1/4 cup sugar (if you prefer a more sweeter sauce, you can try adding more sugar), and stir until all the sugar is melted. Finally, add the 2 cups of soya sauce and let the sauce warm up. When it starts boiling, take is off the heat.
Let is cool down, and then store it in the refrigerator. It will make several portions, but put in a airtight container it can be stored for quite some time.
Put the sauce in a small cup, so you can dip the noodles in.

Making the soba

Ingredients (2p:)

• 200 gr. soba (will normally be packed in 1-persons portions of 100 gram so very easy!)

Making cold soba noodles is really easy (maybe that's why we like this meal so much?). Put water in a pan and bring to boil. Then, carefully add the soba noodles to the pan, and divide them in the water. Let the noodles boil for the amount of time as indicated on the label (probably around 5 or 6 minutes).
Now comes the most important part of cooking soba noodles. After it's done cooking, you need to wash the noodles thoroughly in cold water. After that it's ready to serve.

 
Traditionally we see cold soba served on beautiful bamboo plates/mats, but since we don't have those we just use our basic plates. Still tastes good!