Japanese cuisine · Soups & Stews

Nabeyaki Udon

Udon in a small iron pot with shrimp tempura, a poached egg, shiitake and pink kamaboko.

Ingredients · for 4 servings

• 600 g udon noodles
• 4 large shrimp
• 80 g wheat flour
• 1 egg
• 150 ml ice-cold water
• 500 ml oil for frying
• 1.2 l dashi
• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp mirin
• 4 eggs
• 200 g shiitake mushrooms
• 100 g kamaboko

Instructions

1. Peel the shrimp, leaving the tails on, remove the vein along the back and cut three shallow slits across the belly so they stay straight while frying.
2. For the tempura batter, whisk 1 egg with the ice-cold water, then only roughly stir in the flour — the batter should stay lumpy, which makes it especially light later.
3. Heat the oil to 175 °C, dip the shrimp through the batter and fry for 2–3 min. until golden and crisp, then drain on paper towels.
4. Bring the dashi to a boil with soy sauce and mirin, slice the shiitake and the kamaboko and let both simmer in the broth for 4 min.
5. Parboil the udon noodles, divide among four small iron pots, top up with the hot broth and vegetables and carefully slide in one raw egg each.
6. Cover the pots and simmer over medium heat for 4–5 min. until the egg white has set and the yolk is still soft, place the shrimp tempura on top and serve at once on trivets.