Beef Udon Noodle Soup (Niku Udon)

This beef udon noodle soup, or niku udon, is very easy to make, and it’ll make you are feeling such as you went out to a Japanese restaurant—in your personal dwelling! 

BUilding on Our Common Gyudon!

Our Gyudon recipe (a beef rice bowl with tender fatty beef, onions, mirin, and soy sauce) is without doubt one of the most-cooked, most-saved recipes on our weblog. It’s quick, simple, and satisfying, and this recipe we’re sharing in the present day is mainly a noodle soup model of that dish. 

The savory beef and onion combination is served over udon noodles in a tasty dashi inventory (we use immediate dashi granules to make issues tremendous simple), with a lot of scallions. It’s the proper warming and satisfying bowl of noodles for a chilly day, and simply as simple to make because the rice dish.

Kaitlin is a giant fan of udon noodle soups, so when the craving strikes, this recipe is in regards to the best one to tug off!

The Sort of Beef to Purchase 

You will discover thinly sliced beef at many Asian markets, together with Chinese language, Japanese, and Korean grocery shops. Now we have even seen it at our native Costco (each recent and frozen), the place we purchased the meat we used in the present day. 

Individuals normally purchase this kind of beef (or lamb, or pork) to make use of in sizzling pot and shabu shabu, however you can even use it for dishes like Gyudon, Pho, and even our Spicy Beef Salad. 

On the label, you might even see the phrases, “for Scorching Pot.” It’s additionally slightly much like the thinly shaved beef utilized in one thing like a Philly cheesesteak, so if that’s what you could find, be happy to make use of it right here. 

For those who can’t discover this kind of thinly shaved beef, you can also make some your self by freezing a chunk of ribeye or chuck till agency however not completely stable, after which utilizing a pointy knife to thinly shave items towards the grain. 

Selecting Udon Noodles

Recent or frozen udon noodles are greatest right here, with a desire for frozen udon if you could find it. It has the perfect texture and in addition fewer preservatives. 

Recent udon noodles have acidic elements added to them to delay shelf life, elements like malic acid, lactic acid, and acetic acid. 

We’ve discovered that these can provide the noodles a bitter style, interfering with the flavour of the dish, which is why if we are able to solely discover recent udon noodles, we boil them in a separate pot of water to neutralize that bitter taste a bit. If utilizing frozen udon, you possibly can really boil it immediately within the soup. 

For those who can’t discover both recent or frozen udon, you need to use dried noodles. They don’t have fairly the identical thickness and bounciness of the recent/frozen type, however will do in a pinch or if you happen to don’t have an Asian market close to you and have to order noodles on-line. If utilizing dried noodles, additionally, you will have to boil them in a separate pot of water, or your soup will change into starchy. 

On to the recipe! 

Beef Udon Recipe Directions

Put together your dashi inventory by bringing 4 cups of water to a simmer in a medium pot and including the dashi powder. Preserve lined at a low simmer. If utilizing ready dashi inventory, you could want so as to add salt to style. Deliver a separate pot of water to a boil for the noodles.

Warmth the impartial oil in a big skillet over medium excessive warmth, and prepare dinner the sliced onions for about 8 minutes, stirring usually. Add the meat and sugar, and prepare dinner till the meat is barely browned. Add 1 tablespoon mirin, ½ tablespoon soy sauce, the oyster sauce, and ½ cup of the dashi inventory. Deliver to a simmer, and prepare dinner for about 10 minutes to scale back the inventory to a skinny sauce. 

In the meantime, to the remaining dashi inventory within the pot, add the remaining 1 tablespoon mirin and ½ tablespoon soy sauce.

Add the noodles to the boiling water, and prepare dinner based on package deal directions. Divide the noodles and dashi inventory amongst 2 bowls. High every bowl with half of the meat combination and scallions. Serve instantly. 

One other Serving Tip! 

Strive poaching an egg to serve alongside your udon. Open it as much as let the egg yolk run, and dip your beef into the egg yolk. It’s scrumptious!