By Tess Stomski and Sachiko Kageyama from Niseko Gourmet
OVER winter you may have found yourself eating a hot dish of udon noodles, however moving into spring and summer, it is more popular in Japan to eat cold noodle dishes. Salada Udon is a popular modern Japanese dish eaten mainly in the summer months.
Traditionally Udon noodles are made from kneading flour, salt and water which results in a thick white noodle. As you may know, Kutchan is famous for its potatoes with its mascot being the skiing potato boy, Jagata Kun. To make use of its famous potatoes, Kutchan produces an udon noodle made from potato starch instead of the traditional flour noodles. Pictured below, these are a delicious alternative to the traditional flour noodles and are available in supermarkets throughout Kutchan.
Ingredients:
400g udon noodles
2 small cans canned tuna (or crab meat, ham, chicken etc), drained
¼ lettuce
1 cucumber
2 medium sized tomatoes
1 avocado
5 shiso leaves
Mayonnaise to taste
Sesame seeds to taste
You can substitute other vegetables into the salad, for example bean sprouts or broccoli.
Dressing
5 tablespoons soy sauce
5 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon sea kelp stock
3 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
1. Cut the lettuce into bite-size pieces and julienne cut the cucumber and shiso leaves. Dice the tomato and avocado.
2. Add the dressing ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Bring a pot of water to the boil and cook the udon noodles to al dente. Drain the noodles, and rice under cold running water. Leave to cool in cold water.
4. Drain the water really well and place onto a deep serving dish.
5. On top of the noodles place the lettuce, cucumber, tomato, avocado, and tuna. Sprinkle the shiso herb on top. Shiso can also be substituted with coriander.
6. Pour the dressing over the salad, and decorate with mayonnaise and sesame seeds to taste.
Itadakimasu!