Please note cooking is not my strong suit, so for a truly authentic Japanese recipe please look elsewhere!

Being half Japanese, I grew up with Udon being my favorite noodle dish. I prefer it even over ramen, as I just love the thick noodles. Cold Udon is easy enough to make by cooking the noodles, cooling, and putting the dipping sauce in a bowl, but I recently decided to be adventurous and try making a hot Udon dinner all by myself. This may not seem so advanced to the majority of the population, but as a takeout queen, this seemed like a big feat of the day.

I had some ingredients on hand, and ordered the rest from Marukai on Instacart (Marukai or Mitsuwa should have all of them):

• Shirakiku Sanukiya Udon Japanese Style Noodles

• Pocino Foods Sliced Pork Chashu

• Organic Green Onion (Scallions)

• House Foods Tofu, Soft, Premium

• Kikkoman Rice Seasoning, Sweet Cooking, Manjo Aji-Mirin

• Kikkoman Soy Sauce

• Ajinomoto Hon Dashi Soup Stock

• Japanese Chili Pepper (Amazon)

• Sugar

• 1 Egg

• Optional add-ins: veggies (I added spinach), wakame seaweed, tempura

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil, add 1 tsp of dashi, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1/2 tsp of sugar (low sugar version). Add in frozen chashi (2 pieces), egg, green onions, tofu, and any other add-ins. Cook for 3 minutes. Pour broth over udon noodles and top with chili pepper. Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this blog post, I would greatly appreciate you taking a moment to browse my other blog posts (I write on lifestyle, beauty, travel, restaurants, working in tech, and cocktails + wine), subscribe, and/or make a donation. Donation proceeds go toward monthly Squarespace fees, PO box fees, website enhancements, ad campaigns, SEO tools, and time investment in addition to my full-time job. Thank you for your readership from the bottom of my heart! xx Nicole