Udon Soup

For this I'm using red and white scallions, bok choy and dandelion greens all from our C.S.A. share but you can use other vegetables to suit your taste.  My husband opted to put a sliced hard boiled egg in his!

The Dashi:

1 4in x 6in piece of Kombu (Seaweed)
4 cups Filtered Water
1/2 cup Bonito (shaved flakes of dry fish often used to make stock)
Soy Sauce and/or Sea Salt to taste
Cheesecloth

Let me start by saying dashi is broth, the basis for this dashi and the direction I followed is from Masaharu Morimoto's book The New Art of Japanese Cooking.  It is a beautiful book and I absolutely recommend buying this book if you are interested in eating, looking at and/or cooking Japanese food.  His recipe recommends using the highest quality ingredients including filtered spring water and does not include the soy and salt.  I have also seen a lot of Dashi recipes that use Mirin but this one does not have any.

The night before, place the kombu into the water and let sit covered overnight.  The next day, remove the kombu and discard.  Bring the liquid to a simmer over medium heat.  Remove from the heat and add the Bonito flake.  Allow this to sit for 15 minutes.  Line a strainer with moistened (squeezed dry) cheesecloth and strain the dashi, discard the solids.  I seasoned mine with soy sauce and sea salt.  Use the dashi within a couple hours.

The Noodles & Vegetables:

1 package dry Udon Noodles (or two packages Fresh Udon) to serve 2
Bok Choy
4-5 Red and White Scallions, cut on a bias
Dandelion Greens, cut into strips


Bring a quart of salted water to a boil.  Blanch the bok choy leaves for 1-2 minutes and shock in cold water to stop cooking.  Return the pot of water to a boil and add your udon (as much or little noodles as you prefer), cook according to the directions on the package.  Divide cooked udon between bowls, arrange blanched bok choy on one side.  Top with scallions and dandelion greens and then ladle hot dashi over top.  Serve hot!

Many of the ingredients in this recipe are not common in a "regular" grocery store but can probably be found at specialty food or an Asian Food grocery.

You may also enjoy Nanami Togarashi, a medium spicy powder you can sprinkle over your soup, it is super yummy and common in Japanese restaurants.