Cold Matcha Udon with Sweet Sesame Spinach and Bonito Flakes
Yesterday was a lovely sunny day, a little on the chilly side but sunny nonetheless. But let me sidetrack: this is what England does to you. It leads you on, luring you with the advent of Spring with good days randomly bestowed upon us, deceiving you with the popping up of daisies and spring flowers. And whilst we, ignorant sub-lunary beings, soak ourselves in this induced state of temporal bliss, warm and shivery at the same time – as you are in a just-prepared scented bath – a change of day rips away the cloak of illusion from our eyes so we only see grey and pissy rain before us. Just for added luck, they bash us down with a full minute of hippie hail.
Yep. That is what happened today. Thinking it might be all lovely and a little warmer than usual, I planned a summery meal – bukkake udon for my Sunday lunch. A cold, refreshing udon meal with what humble (really, I just mean lacking) ingredients I have was the general plan. All that was thrown on the cold English cobblestone and then crushed to unrecognizable bits under the feet of faceless hurrying city inhabitants. Gutted. Nevertheless, stubborn as I am, I went ahead with the day’s meal plan and made it anyway. Placed it in tupperware boxes and left it to cool in the fridge. And instead of the fantasy I’d created in my head – eating a bowl of cold udon in a tank top, scruffy bottoms and flip flops, I regret to say I faced reality and sat next to the radiator, clothed in multiple layers, as I slurped up my noodles and felt my gum nerves and sensitive teeth cringe a little from the cold sauce.
Nevermind this sad image I’ve created, I was quite happy to whip this up with what leftover rotting ingredients I had available. And although this is quite a non-authentic Japanese dish (please forgive me, the purists out there), I adore my Mum’s Sweet Sesame Spinach which she makes as a side dish to accompany grilled fish and couldn’t see why I would deny myself the joy of combining two yummy dishes together.
If anyone is wondering about the type of udon I’ve used, let me just say that fear not, I didn’t confuse green fettuccini or soba with my udon. Udon come in different thickness and flatness/roundness depending on which region it originates from (correct me if I’m wrong) and these matcha udon I have are of the inaniwa kind from the Akita prefecture. Hence, it’s thin and flat appearance; it is often deemed one of the highest quality udon of the country. Also, as opposed to regular fat and round udon, this udon stayed firm and al dente all through. They are, I should say, quite elastic. When running and rubbing between my hands in cold water, it was very easy to handle and not overly starchy so there wasn’t much of a need to run under cold water for long (to get rid of excess starch, remain its bite and not let it go mushy). You find this type of udon dry in packets so it’s pretty easy in terms of storage. For more information on inaniwa udon, try here.
I was a little anxious about what I could pair matcha udon with. Initially, this was supposed to go into a pudding. I was thinking matcha udon in a custard cream dipping sauce topped with adzuki bean paste but I’m a little worried about that. What do you reckon? Any ideas? Once I’ve decided, I’ll get the ingredients and experiment asap as I once saw someone serve chocolate spaghetti as a pudding and that really intrigued me. I love this matcha udon, however, and it’s going to become a staple ingredient in my pantry cupboard. The taste was very similar to chasoba. And the perfume of matcha is just heavenly, upon opening the packet. I can still smell it on my hands, even now.
This recipe is good for 1. I highly recommend doubling the recipe and keeping the other serving in the fridge for dinner or a midnight snack. So easy to make, store and eat!
Cold Matcha Udon with Sweet Sesame Spinach and Bonito Flakes
Ingredients
- For the udon and sauce:
1 portion matcha udon
200ml water
1 tsp dashi concentrate
1 1/2 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tbs mirin
1 tbs sugar
bonito flakes
- For the Sweet Sesame Spinach:
3 cups spinach leaves
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbs black sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbs white sesame seeds, toasted
To make the cold sauce, boil 200ml of water. Remove from heat. Add the rest of the ingredients, and leave to cool. Once it is cool, keep in a container and leave in the fridge til needed.
To cook the udon, bring some water to boil in a saucepan. Then add the udon and cook for 4 minutes (or depending on what it says on your udon packet). Drain away the hot water once cooked, run under cold water. As you drain, use your hands to lift and rub the udon (kind of like how you would wash a little boy’s head of hair). I leave the udon in cold water to cool then drain, place in a tupperware container with a little water in the fridge til needed.
To prepare the spinach, first toast the sesame seeds in a non-oiled greaseproof frying pan. Place in a mortal and pestle and lightly crush them. Be careful not to over-crush which would result in the release of oils of the seeds turning it into a paste. Add half a tsp of sugar to the sesame seeds and mix.
In a frying pan, heat the sesame oil. Fry the spinach until they just began to wilt and are coated in the oil. Add the rest of the brown sugar and toss. Remove from heat and add the sesame seed sugar mixture to the spinach. Mix through, making sure that it is evenly coated with the sesame seeds.
When ready to serve, drain whatever excess water from the udon and place in a deep bowl. Bukkake udon usually means pouring the sauce over the topping and udon. However, I didn’t want the sesame seeds to run. I’ve poured the sauce over the udon instead then topped it with the sweet sesame spinach and a pinch of bonito flakes after.
