bukkake udon

First, let's get the vocab out of the way.

Yes, you saw it right, Bukkake. It is not what you think it is - I didn't make a mistake! Bukkake udon is a type of cold Japanese noodle dish which involves pouring a chilled broth over wheat noodles and is typically eaten in Summer or whenever it's hot.

If you live in Sydney and love Japanese food, you would have probably heard about the noodles at Menya Mappen. Each time I'm there, I always order the same thing - Ontama Bukkake Cold/Hot Udon. There's just something that's super comforting about such a simple and filling noodle dish.

What keeps me from having these noodles more often is the long trek to the city. After doing a little research and tweaking some of the recipes I found online, there's no stopping me! The dish is actually extremely easy to replicate because most of these ingredients can be found in your local Asian grocery store.

I usually like to keep the toppings for my udon nice and simple - green onion, a runny egg, toasted sesame seeds and tempura flakes. I don't feel right using store bought pre-made tempura flakes (tenkasu) and I don't really know the secret to the making the perfect termpura batter so I like to use this easy recipe here.

This came from a batch of 63 degree eggs I had attempted to make earlier in the day. It wasn't perfect but it'll do! You can also use soft boiled eggs or just normal poached eggs.

Recipe: Ontama Bukkake Udon (Serves 2)

Ingredients

• 2 packets of udon noodles or soba
• 2 poached eggs
• 2 very thinly sliced wedge of lemon
• a pinch of thinly chopped green onion
• a pinch of toasted white sesame seeds
• dashi sauce (see below)
• tempura flakes (optional) 
• fish cakes (optional)
• nori seaweed (optional)

For the Dashi sauce (from here):

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp mirin (Japanese rice wine)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp granulated dashi 
• pinch of salt
• 100 mL water

What to do:

1. To prepare the dashi sauce, combine water, soy sauce, mirin, granulated dashi, sugar, salt in a pot and bring it to a boil. You can add more or less of each ingredient to suit your taste.
2. Stir the mixture, making sure the ingredients are dissolved or well combined.
3. Remove the pot from the heat and place it in the fridge to chill. 
4. Cook udon noodles according to the instructions on the packet or to your own liking by boiling the udon in a pot of water until soft. 
5. Divide the udon neatly in two bowls, pour the cool sauce over the udon and top with tempura flakes, a crack of pepper, green onions, a wedge of lemon and toasted white sesame seeds. You can add things like fish cakes, pickled ginger, wasabi or even nori. 

If you prefer having your udon hot, there's no need to chill the dashi sauce. Just simply pour the mixture while hot over the udon noodles and enjoy.

It's so simple, addictive and healthy - you just can't help coming back for more!