Price per person:
¥300 ~ ¥1000
Udon is a type of thick Japanese noodles made from wheat flour and usually served in a thin soup. It’s one of the cheapest meals you can eat, perfect for budget travellers. The udon noodles are boiled to prepare them, then served either hot or cold depending on the dish (and season). There are several types of udon.
“Kakeudon” (poured udon) is the most common way of serving udon where the soup is poured on top. It looks like a fat-noodle ramen, but in a thinner soup and with less ingredients.
“Kitsune-udon” (fox udon) is one of my favorites, where a juicy sheet of fried tofu is put on the kake-udon or su-udon. It’s sweet and delicious, so-named because foxes apparently enjoy sweet food. (see the main udon image) “Tsukimi-udon” has half a boiled egg in it, “tempura-udon” has deep-fried tempura in it, and “curry-udon” is exactly what it sounds like - udon in Japanese curry sauce instead of soup.
In “bukkake-udon” (much-pouring udon) the noodles are served without soup, but instead with sauce poured on top. The soup is separate, and the diner then pours that, soy, and any other ingredients they wish, like “wasabi” (Japanese horseradish), “negi” (spring onions) or others. In short, your pour lots of things on top of the udon hence the name, “bukkake” - which you might have heard used in another context, but won't admit to in public. ;)
- Where can I eat it? -
Udon is an extremely common food, cheap, quick and easy to prepare. So you can often find udon stalls around train stations and busy parts of town. But Japanese people take their noodles seriously, so don't think of it as just junk food! There are specialist udon restaurants around that pride themselves on gourmet noodles, the freshest ingredients and beautiful traditional Japanese stylings. A good example of this is “Dotonbori Imai” in our restaurant guide. Click the link below for more information..
