I have been wanting to try making my own pasta for a long time now. This week is the 1 year anniversary of the Presto Pasta Nights roundups at Once Upon a Feast and I thought what better time to try? I do not have a pasta maker so I would have to make a pretty simple pasta and luckily I had come across one. Japanese udon noodles which are thick wheat based noodles, fit the bill perfectly. The udon noodles are nice and thick so you do not need a pasta maker to get them thin enough.
The ingredient list for udon noodles is pretty simple, just flour, water and a bit of salt. The recipe is pretty easy to follow though it required a bit of muscle and effort to knead and roll the dough. I used Harumi Kurihara’s suggestion from Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking to step on the dough. It made making the dough a bit more fun and it was definitely easier to let my weight and gravity do the work of rolling the dough out for me. The dough came together pretty easily. It requires a few hours of resting so it might be best to do this on a weekend. The dough ended up being nice and smooth and chewy.
I decided to use the udon noodles in a soup with a really simple dashi and mentsuyu broth. The udon noodles took a while to cook as they were so thick but they turned out pretty good. The udon noodles had a really great chewy texture. I garnished the udon soup simply with green onions and togarashi. Togarashi is a chili powder condiment commonly used in Japan with a few extras like sesame seeds.
Overall I was pretty pleased with the home made udon noodles. I will be keeping an eye out for a good price on a pasta maker so that I can try making more kinds of pasta at home.
Udon Noodles
ingredients
- 1 tsp salt
- 2/3 cup water
- 2 1/2 cups flour
directions
- Dissolve the salt into the water.
- Mix the water into the flour in a large bowl.
- Knead the dough for 10 minutes.
- Place the dough into a freezer bag and step on it to flatten it with shoes off.
- Remove the dough from the plastic bag and roll it out.
- Fold the dough in half.
- Repeat steps 4-6 a few times.
- Let the dough rest for a few hours.
- Roll the dough out until it is about 1/8 inch thick.
- Fold the dough 2 or three times and slice into thin strips.
- Cook the noodles in boiling water for about 10 minutes.
Helene says
February 28, 2008 at 11:54 pmGreat work! They look really good.
Elly says
February 29, 2008 at 1:42 amThis looks so delicious, Kevin. Making my own pasta is on my list of things to do this year, but I also don’t have a pasta maker/roller. I might have to give these a try!
Beth G. says
February 29, 2008 at 2:49 amWOW!!! That looks amazing 🙂
LisaRene says
February 29, 2008 at 3:10 amNice job! I bet you will never go back to dried pasta 🙂
Diana Evans says
February 29, 2008 at 3:54 amoh my fav…udon noodles..
jesse says
February 29, 2008 at 3:55 amHoly moley, that’s a whole new level of cooking right there! I grew up making egg noodles with my mom… there’s nothing quite like rolling fresh dough over and over is there? =)
Allen says
February 29, 2008 at 3:56 amI played around with making an egg pasta last weekend and it turned out great. I’ve wanted to try udon and these look so thick and good. I’ll have to try it out this weekend. Thanks for sharing!
Jaime says
February 29, 2008 at 4:07 amwow, i’m so impressed! i would have never thought about making homemade udon noodles! great photo!
cakebrain says
February 29, 2008 at 4:33 ammy girls love udon! Those look really good; I’ll have to make some soon!
maybahay says
February 29, 2008 at 4:38 amKevin, this looks fantastic. I love Udon but have never really thought about making it myself. My favourite is tempura udon. You have inspired me as this looks so delish and sounds easy to make.
StickyGooeyCreamyChewy says
February 29, 2008 at 5:09 amThey look great, Kevin! I’m impressed!
Manggy says
February 29, 2008 at 5:36 amGood job! It looks totally authentic! I hope you get a pasta machine soon, it’s lots of fun 🙂
Wandering Chopsticks says
February 29, 2008 at 5:39 amGood job Kevin! I can’t believe you made your own udon noodles! The stepping on the plastic bag technique is a nice touch. 🙂
tigerfish says
February 29, 2008 at 6:41 amYou made your own udon noodles?WHOA!
I would have gotten store-bought ones but homemade is always the best. 🙂
Used to like udon when I was younger but now (when I’m older) I prefer soba. :p
Toni says
February 29, 2008 at 7:28 amMore power to you, Kevin! I love udon noodles, but never even thought about making them — just eating them! This sounds simple enough for a newbie like me. And I love the thought of dancing on my noodles! (That’s what I picture when you said “stepping on (the) dough”.
I was going to make the chestnut stracci to go with my oxtail stew, but couldn’t find any chestnut flour. So pasta making is still in my future.
Peter M says
February 29, 2008 at 10:28 amKevin, I am very impressed…bravo, bravo, bravo!
giz says
February 29, 2008 at 12:12 pmPretty impressive – although the ingredient list is short, it’s hard work. WTG
Dhanggit says
February 29, 2008 at 12:14 pmwow after katsudon now udon, you are really spoiling us 🙂 yummmy my favorite is tanuki udon 🙂
Ruth Daniels says
February 29, 2008 at 2:22 pmSpectacular!!!! Thanks so much for sharing this dish (and so many others) with Presto Pasta Night.
I always think of Udon noodles in a package…the thing I go to when I only have 5 minutes. This one is very impressive indeed.
Greg says
February 29, 2008 at 3:06 pmI’ve made lots of pasta before but never Udon. I don’t know why. It looks easy and delicious. Maybe tomorrow night I will.
JennDZ - The Leftover Queen says
February 29, 2008 at 3:58 pmUdon Noodles always make me laugh because Roberto works for an illusration group called Udon in Canada…Your noodles look so yummy!
michelle @ Us vs. Food says
February 29, 2008 at 6:09 pmooh, that looks so simple and yummy and chewy and perfect. making my onw udon is something i’ve been wanting to do for a while, but it’s to easy to order passable takeout versions.
KC says
February 29, 2008 at 8:14 pmUdon from scratch, that’s really adventurous! I want to try it out. Thanks for your recipe.
Lisa says
February 29, 2008 at 8:58 pmI’ve never made my own pasta before, but your successful efforts encourage me to try. I don’t have any room left in my kitchen for a pasta maker, so this is just perfect for me. Thanks Kevin!
Nilmandra says
March 1, 2008 at 12:43 pmThat udon looks beautiful. And it’s perfect with a simple broth and garnish. I hope you get your pasta maker soon!
Greg says
March 2, 2008 at 2:38 amKEVIN! You rock. Your udon recipe was great tonight with my Asian hot pot. Thanks for the inspiration!
http://gregcooks.blogspot.com/2008/03/asian-hot-pot.html
Neen says
March 5, 2008 at 7:32 pmHow freakin’ cool that you made it yourself! Where on earth did you get the idea?
The Mood Food Blog says
March 10, 2008 at 6:16 pmwow these look really great, I’m defo gonna try these! Love the photo’s also!
Marcus says
April 2, 2009 at 2:30 amWhat type of salt did you use? Different types will have different concentrations per volume. I personally use kosher salt for most of my cooking, but wanted to ask.
Kevin says
April 2, 2009 at 9:56 pmMarcus: I use kosher salt for cooking as well (including these udon noodles).
Marcus says
April 2, 2009 at 10:27 pmThanks for the clarification. Can’t wait to try these. A friend got me hooked on udon at the local themed place. Stumbled across the blog here while looking info up on them.
Lizzie says
May 13, 2009 at 12:38 pmNice one Kevin! I have been wanting to ask about home made udon for quite a while now. I also use Harumi’s book very often (am planning to try Dengaku-style aubergine). I’ll definitely try it!
Anonymous says
October 13, 2010 at 12:25 amHmm– maybe I'm just bad, but I followed this recipe pretty well, and the texture of my noodles were… not so good.
I had a lot of difficulty cutting the noodles– they kept ripping and falling apart.
Did I overwork the dough?
I think I'm going to stick to pre-made noodles in the future xD
Kevin says
October 16, 2010 at 11:23 amgreen-tea-river: By the time that you are cutting the noodles they should not be very sticky and if it was then you can add a bit more flour. You fold them before cutting them to ensure that you can cut them with a single push of the knife in a downwards direction without sliding so the knife should go down and them come out cleanly.