Niku Udon (Japanese Beef Noodle Soup)

Niku Udon (Japanese Beef Noodle Soup)

JapaneseServes 2-4Medium
Source: YouTube — NYT Cooking (Kenji López-Alt)

Ingredients

Dashi (or substitute powdered dashi)
- Kombu (dried sea kelp)
- Katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
- Water

Beef and Onion Topping
- Thinly shaved ribeye (from Asian market shabu shabu section, or Philly cheesesteak beef)
- 1 onion, sliced pole to pole
- ~1 cup dashi
- Sugar
- Sake

Broth Seasoning
- Remaining dashi
- Japanese soy sauce (shoyu) to taste
- Mirin to taste

To Serve
- Fresh or frozen Japanese udon noodles
- Scallion whites, sliced
- Shichimi togarashi (seven-spice chili flakes)

Instructions

Step 1 — Make the Dashi

  1. Place kombu in a pot of cold water. Bring up slowly toward a boil — do not let it reach a rolling boil or the kombu will turn bitter (same principle as overbrewing tea).
  2. Just before boiling, turn off the heat completely. Add katsuobushi and push it under to submerge.
  3. Steep for 5-10 minutes, like making tea. Do not boil — it will turn the dashi cloudy and bitter.
  4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer, pressing gently to extract liquid. Set aside. (Optional: re-use solids with more water for a second, lighter dashi for cooking.)

Step 2 — Cook the Beef and Onion

  1. Add about 1 cup of dashi to a wide pan.
  2. Add onion (sliced pole to pole, not in rings) and thinly shaved beef. Break up beef with chopsticks or a fork — it will naturally shred apart as it cooks.
  3. Season with sugar, sake, and a little soy sauce.
  4. Simmer until beef is cooked through and onion has softened and melted into the broth. The beef should have a rustic, shredded texture — do not try to keep pieces intact.

Step 3 — Season the Broth

  1. Pour remaining dashi back into its pot. Bring to a gentle simmer.
  2. Season with soy sauce and mirin to taste — the balance should be savory, slightly sweet, and well-rounded.

Step 4 — Cook the Noodles

  1. Bring a separate pot of water to a boil. Udon dough is already salted so no need to add much salt to the water.
  2. Cook fresh udon noodles until tender. Drain.

Step 5 — Assemble

  1. Place cooked udon in a deep bowl.
  2. Ladle hot seasoned dashi broth over the noodles.
  3. Spoon beef and onion topping over the top.
  4. Garnish with sliced scallion whites and shichimi togarashi to taste.

My Notes

Powdered dashi is a perfectly acceptable shortcut and cuts the total time to about 15 minutes.
The beef-onion topping is also excellent served over steamed rice instead of udon — just ladle it over a rice bowl.
This recipe also appears on NYT Cooking (paywalled written version at nytcooking.com).