Hearty Soup for Thick White Noodles

Name: Hearty Soup for Thick White Noodles (Udon No Kaké-jiru )
Yield: Yields a generous quart of soup.
Cuisine: Japan
Ingredients: ½ teaspoon saké (rice wine); 15–18 niboshi (dried sardines for stock making); 1½ tablespoons sugar; 2½–3 tablespoons soy sauce; 1½ quarts cold water; ⅔ cup broken pieces dried shiitaké or 4–5 large whole dried shiitaké (black Oriental mushrooms); 5–6 inches konbu (kelp for stock making)

Udon No Kaké-jiru

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

At Home with Japanese Cooking

By Elizabeth Andoh

Published 1986

About

This is a deeply colored and flavored broth that is particularly suited to thick white noodles. Unlike the more delicate stock made from bonito shavings, this soup freezes well.

Ingredients

⅔ cup broken pieces dried shiitaké or 4–5 large whole dried shiitaké (black Oriental mushrooms)
5–6 in

Asia
Japan
Main course
Pescatarian

Method

Place the dried mushrooms and kelp in a large pot of cold water. Bring the water to a boil rapidly, discard the kelp, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook the stock uncovered for 15 minutes.

Break off and discard the heads of the dried sardines (they tend to be bitter), add the bodies to the pot, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes.

Strain the stock through a cloth-line