Curry Udon and Soba noodles are popular lunch dishes in Japan, served at Udon & Soba noodle restaurants, family restaurants, and curry udon noodle specialty restaurants throughout the country.
Are they just the dush that curry roux pored over Udon or Soba noodles?
Nop, there is the soup recipe to make curry Udon or Soba.
However, we want to make it easy, quick, and delicious curry Udon or Saba without pointless knowledge.
So, today, I am going to tell you the easy, quick, savory curry noodles while using up Japanese curry leftover.
The Soup For Curry Udon And Soba Bowl
Well, it is still delicious just pouring the Japanese curry over the noodles.
But, let’s upgrade the flavor to the restaurant-grade combining it with dashi broth.
Since the curry roux will be combined with the dashi broth, Curry udon or soba is the perfect leftover savor when it’s not enough to serve as curry rice.
Thick soup or thin soup, you can choose whatever you like.
Japanese Curry Roux
You can make the curry udon or soba soup easily with Japanese curry roux mix.
Make dashi broth, cook vegetables, and add the curry mix cubes.
I often enjoy curry udon or soba noodles with Japanese curry leftovers.
Here is the Japanese curry mix guide and my easy quick seafood curry recipe.
DASHI BROTH
It’ll be not enough soup for curry udon or soba just to combine the Japanese curry roux and water.
Adding the dashi broth, the Japanese basic soup base, to the curry roux and water, the soup will be savory.
You can make Dashi broth from the scratch, or use instant dashi powder.
There is no rule on which types of dashi broth to use for curry udon or soba in casual home cooking.
- Dried Bonito dashi (Hondashi)
- Dried fish dashi
- Kombu dashi
- Awase dashi
- Vegetable dashi
- Mushroom dashi
To enhance the flavor of dashi broth and the combination of the soup, add 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce to the soup if needed.
Noodles
To be precise, “curry udon” and “curry soba (often called “Nanban soba”) are different dishes, but, I don’t want to dive in on this post.
In Japanese home cooking, you can use UDON or SOBA noodles.
For the best curry udon or soba noodles, avoid cooking noodles in the soup.
Cook dried noodles separately.
When using fresh Udon noodles as I explain below, I recommend rinsing them first.
Although using frozen noodles, cook them in a different pot quickly until they are entwined.
UDON NOODLES
You can use any type of Udon noodles- dried, fresh, frozen, or homemade.
If you’re curious which type of Udon is the best for curry udon, fresh, frozen, or homemade thick Udon noodles go well with rich thick curry soup and dried thin Udon noodles go well with light curry soup.
Fresh and frozen thick noodles can provide a chewy texture and hold the thick curry soup well.
Also, it doesn’t require a long cooking process, so fresh or frozen types of Udon noodles are perfect for those who want to save cooking time.
Where To Get Fresh Or Frozen Noodles
You can get fresh or frozen noodles at the oriental grocery store easily.
Or you can buy the fresh type of Udon noodle package with the soup in the International (or Asian) section, at US grocery stores, then make curry udon with its soup.
Besides, thanks to Amazon, you can get fresh types of Udon noodles today.
Tips To Use Udon Noodles
As I said, keep in mind these tips to avoid mushy noodles and not tasty soup.
Always prepare the noodles separately.
Cook dried Udon noodles separately. Never cook them in the soup since it contains salt and starch.
Although you’ll use fresh or frozen udon noodles, cook them as the package instruction says. Drain the noodles well.
SOBA NOODLES
SOBA NOODLES are made of buckwheat, which is also the Japanese favorite traditional noodles.
Soba noodles are one of the healthy options out there for cutting carbohydrates.
Unlike other noodles, which often contain oils, fat, salt, and eggs, soba noodles are low in fat and cholesterol, provide healthy carbs and give you protein.
I like SOBA NOODLES in my life, I always have them in my pantry., especially, they can be cooked quickly.
However, Soba noodles easily go mushy when it is overcooked or sitting in the soup for a long time.
When you’re not planning to serve the noodles soon, rinse the cooked noodles thoughtfully while changing the water until the water gets clear, drain the noodles well, and toss them with the cooking oil.
As I said, cook soba noodles separately. Avoid cooking the Soba noodles in the curry soup.
Japanese Curry Udon (& SOBA) Noodles
Ingredients
- 7 oz cooked udon noodles *Please check out the post for the important tips. Prepare the noodles, not cook them in the soup.
- 1 cup Dashi Broth *Or 1 cup of water + 1 TSP of dashi powder
- 1 tbsp Japanese sake or white wine
- 1 cup lefttover Japanese curry *Or 1 cube of Japanese curry mix
- ¼ cup carrot, sliced
- ¼ cup onion, sliced
- ¼ cup mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup Your choice of protein *optionally
- 1 TSP potato/ corn starch
- 1 TSP water
- ½ cup water when using the curry mix cube
- ½-1 tbsp dark soy sauce *optionally
- 1 boiled egg
- chopped scallion or chives as garnish
Instructions
- Gather ingredients. How to make Japanese seafood curryHow to make the perfect soft-boiled eggS&B Golden curry roux mix
- In a small pot, add water and dashi powder, carrot, onion, Japanese sake, or white wine, and bring the water and dashi powder (or dashi broth) to a boil.
- Add your choice of protein, and mushrooms once the dashi broth is boiled.
- Add leftover curry or curry mix (and ½ water).
- Combine the starch and water well just before adding to the soup, and add the mixture to the soul. Immediately, stir the soup to thicken.
- Place the cooked noodles in a bowl. Pour the curry soup over the noodles.
- Garnish with chopped scallion or chives, and enjoy.
