Udon (White noodles, うどん)

One of the famous noodles in Japan. There are a lot of Udon restaurants near train stations in Japan. It is very easy to cook and the soup has thick flavor. I normally cook it for lunch.

Ingredients (2 bowls):

• 200g (a half pound) chicken thigh
• 2 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 1 green onion
• 1 cup of *Hontsuyu
• 2 bags of Udon with soup powders
• 3 cups of water

*Hontsuyu is a soup base for noodles. It is basically fish extract, bonito extract, kelp extract, sugar, salt and mixed with soy sauce.

Here is how to make it at home. Cooking time is about 10 - 15 minutes.

1. Put the dried shiitake into a cup of hot water for 3-5 minutes to soften. Slice the soft shiitake into about 2cm (0.8 inches) pieces. Then cut chicken thighs into bite size chunks and the green onions into small pieces.
2. Put 3 cups of water, *Hontsuyu and soup powder into a pot with medium heat. In the meantime, fill another pot with water and heat on medium heat as well.
3. After the water and *Hontsuyu start to boil, put chicken thighs and shiitake into the pot and simmer about 15 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove from heat.
4. Once the water starts boiling, add the udon noodles. If necessary,  loosen the noodles with long chopsticks.  Simmer about 2 minutes, and then pour the boiled water out, put noodles in bowls.
5. Pour the udon soup with chicken and shiitake on top of the noodles, and sprinkle the green onions on top.