This is the finest spicy Asian soup this side of momofuku, urban belly, or whichever place combines delicious broth, noodles, meat, herbs and veggies where you live. The udon was bought at Target (just bear with me)—and you should run (not walk) to buy a few packages before they sever their relationship with Myojo (as Bridget believes they eventually will).
Some folk don’t appreciate udon: too thick? too chewy? too…???? I don’t understand those folk. Udon, for me, is like “Well, I really like spaghetti and egg noodles and…but do you have anything more noodley”. So yeah, I don’t understand those folk.
Anyway, on with the recipe. Shit, it’s a real hodgepodge pot of things now that I think of it. Do you have mirin? Lemon grass? Sesame oil? Sriracha? Some trusty sambal oelek (garlic chile sauce)? Well, they’re not necessarily vital to this soup, but if you answered “no” you ought to seriously consider having them on hand if you like things that taste good or spicy or genuinely Asian.
Ingredients (you can add some or leave some out—it’s really just about what flavors and the rating on the spice index you wish to achieve). Here is what we used and loved:
2 packets udon noodle soup mix
½ cup Cilantro
½ large Carrot
4 cloves Garlic
1 Tblsp sliced Lemon Grass
1 lime
1 small onion
~1 cup meat (shrimp, chicken, pork or beef work well)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Soy Sauce
Mirin
Garlic Chili sauce (or Sriracha)
For this particular round, which is decidedly the best we’ve ever made, we combined one package of “spicy” and one of the “oriental”-flavored udon noodles “from the Target”. Get the requisite amount of water going, add some lemon grass. Meanwhile, chop ½ cup cilantro, crudely knife up a protein if you like, dice about 4 cloves garlic, shred ½ a large carrot, and thinly slice 1 small onion. Sautee onion and optional meat (in our case some previously prepared and thinly sliced pork tenderloin) in sesame oil over medium-low heat. Once the onions are softening and fragrant, you should add the garlic, toss in about half the cilantro, a splash of soy sauce, mirin, and the juice of ½ a lime into the pan. Let this mixture simmer for a few minutes, adding the shredded carrot last for about 1 minute. Then, transfer entire sauté pan into broth and add udon noodles and flavor packets.
Serve in bowls with either chopsticks or a spoon-fork combo (Bridget’s Thai habit), depending on both your level of stick mastery and desire to slurp. Garnish with the rest of the chopped cilantro and, according to your tolerance for heat, some Garlic Chili sauce or Sriracha and then get your bibs on.
