Breakfast Udon

Name: Breakfast Udon
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: Salt; 28 ounces precooked, vacuum-sealed udon or 12 ounces dried udon; 8 ounces fresh spinach, washed and trimmed; 4 large eggs; 2 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced; 4 teaspoons sesame seeds; 2 tablespoons sesame oil; 4 garlic cloves, grated; 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated; 4 cups dashi (see Tip) or vegetable stock; 1/4 cup shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) or soy sauce; 1 tablespoon mirin or sake; 2 teaspoons sea salt; 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

By Hetty Lui McKinnon

Total Time: 40 minutes
Rating: 4(517)
Notes: Read community notes

This bowl of udon is inspired by the delicate noodle dishes often served as the first meal of the day in Japan. A light, savory broth of dashi, soy sauce and mirin provides a gentle kickstart to your morning. Dashi, a simple seaweed-based stock, is foundational to many Japanese dishes, bolstering the umami flavors of the ingredients and providing balance to the overall dish. If you have 10 minutes and a piece of dried kombu in your pantry, make a quick kombu dashi (see Tip), but in a pinch, a lightly seasoned vegetable stock works, too. The jammy seven-minute egg and wilted spinach are enough to make this dish feel substantial, though you could also add slices of pan-fried tofu, tempura vegetable, seaweed or other hearty toppings to transform this into a complete weeknight dinner.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings

For the Noodles

Salt
28ounces precooked, vacuum-sealed udon or 12 ounces dried udon
8ounces fresh spinach, washed and trimmed
4large eggs
2scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
4teaspoons sesame seeds

For the Shoyu Broth

2tablespoons sesame oil
4garlic cloves, grated
1(2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4cups dashi (see Tip) or vegetable stock
¼cup shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) or soy sauce
1tablespoon mirin or sake
2teaspoons sea salt
2teaspoons granulated sugar

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Step 1
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add the noodles and cook according to package instructions until al dente. Place a colander in the sink and using a slotted spoon or tongs, transfer the noodles to the colander and run under cold water to stop the noodles from cooking further. Drain again.
Step 2
In the same pot of water, add the spinach. Cook for about 60 seconds, until the leaves are wilted but still bright green. Drain, emptying the water from pot, and run the spinach under cold water. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, then scrunch the spinach into a ball and slice.
Step 3
In the same pot, add enough water to submerge the eggs. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Add the eggs, reduce heat to medium to keep it on a gentle rolling simmer, and cook for 8 minutes. (This will give you a just-set yolk; for a runnier yolk, remove after 7 minutes.) Remove eggs from the water immediately and run under cold water until the egg is cold to the touch. Place the eggs in a bowl of cold water.
Step 4
Set out four large bowls. Divide the udon noodles among the bowls.
Step 5
Make the broth: Heat a large pot over medium. Add the sesame oil, garlic and ginger and cook for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add the remaining broth ingredients, along with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and gently simmer for 4 to 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.
Step 6
Slice each egg in half lengthwise. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles. Top each bowl with a mound of spinach, 2 egg halves, scallions and sesame seeds.

Tip

To make the kombu dashi, place ⅓ ounce dried kombu (about one 5-by-6-inch sheet) and 4 ¼ cups water in a pot and heat on medium-low until it reaches a very low simmer. Remove from heat and remove the kombu. (Reserve it for salads.) This will yield about 4 cups dashi.

Ratings

4 out of 5

517 user ratings

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Suri3 years ago

1. Yes you can use instant dashi powder (I don't, but it will taste just fine!) 2. More authentic broth would be just dashi, mirin, soy sauce and a pinch of salt. Way easier, too. 3. If you have a sensitive stomach DON'T cook the spinach in the noodle water! Sanuki udon (the precooked frozen ones) seem to be coated with something. Best to cook the spinach quickly in the water you'll use for the eggs, instead. 4. Aburaage (fried tofu pouches) are easy to buy in asian groceries and great in udon!

Tutter3 years ago

I really loved this, for a true quick breakfast, make the broth and eggs ahead of time and just boil noodles morning of.

Rob3 years ago

You need bonito flake along with the kombu to make dashi, the tip as written will give you a pretty bland result. If you're somewhere that you can buy kombu you should be able to get bonito flake there as well. Alternatively you can buy powdered dashi on Amazon.

Robin2 years ago

It's actually possible to buy powdered dashi (and just about everything else in the world) from places OTHER than Amazon. If we want to keep Amazon from further ruining the world, we need to make some effort to purchase things locally.

Leonora’s mum3 years ago

Japanese noodles such as udon, soba, hiyamugi, somen have salt in them so no need to add salt to cooking water.

Teresa2 years ago

No Sesame oil! That just ruins the clear flavor of the dashi. It's beyond be why American food writers insist on including sesame oil in nearly all Asian recipes.

Sher3 years ago

I thought dashi always included bonito (fish) flakes?

Brian3 years ago

This is a wonderful recipe. In my years of living in Japan, however, I never saw anyone offer noodles at breakfast.

etre Ted9 months ago

Added mushrooms to garlic and ginger while sautéing.. Use less water in broth. More spinach. Next time use less salt in broth.

Michael1 year ago

My only recommendation would perhaps be having some chili sauce of some kind on hand. Otherwise this was pretty dang good!

Sophie1 year ago

Made this for my boyfriend who's from Japan, he said I should open an udon shop haha. I recommend!

David WYNNE2 years ago

add an onsen egg...

Rachel2 years ago

Good idea...not the most exciting recipe but provides a good foundation!

WowieZowie2 years ago

Amazing - took much longer than I intended (my fault, not the recipe's) but it was delicious. Added some red pepper flakes at the end for some heat.

From Japan2 years ago

We never put garlic or sesame oil into Udon.

jules2 years ago

I would omit the sesame oil. It’s not ramen. For non-vegan broth you can use bonito flakes instead. I’ve never seen udon served as a breakfast dish in Japan, but why not? I think it’s a good left over idea. I have eaten oatmeals for lunch:)

Paul2 years ago

I use Bonito flakes or other dried fish to make the Dashi also.

Robin2 years ago

I used 2 C of dashi (made with 5 g kombu and 5 g bonito flakes) and did not dilute it with water. The broth flavor was good, maybe a little heavy on the ginger. This was enough for one large bowl.

Delise2 years ago

My riff on this recipe: I added re-hydrated dried mixed mushrooms, used some of the mushroom liquid to bolster the bland tasting dashi; seasoned broth to taste w/ soy, vermouth along w/ a little rice wine vinegar (to approximate mirin as I had none in pantry). Coarsely chopped the mushrooms, added to simmering broth. Garnished w/ scallions, cilantro, thinly sliced jalapeños and slivers of the kombu used to make the dashi. Served for evening meal. Excellent comfort food.

Gerri2 years ago

Really tasty! The broth is super salty, I’d omit the salt or at least cut it in half.

Alex2 years ago

I add burdock tempura to this and make a cold dashi broth a couple days ahead. One of my favorite meals currently.

Teresa2 years ago

No Sesame oil! That just ruins the clear flavor of the dashi. It's beyond be why American food writers insist on including sesame oil in nearly all Asian recipes.

Kate2 years ago

Got kombu from Amazon. I’d never made udon before. It was excellent. Made no changes. Even got the jammy eggs right. Wanted to reserve the cooked kombu for salad as suggested but it was way too tough. Just love the depth of gentle flavor in this dish. Portions were perfect for a nice big bowl.

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