Udon in dashi with a soft egg
A quiet bowl for a low-appetite evening
Doubles in a slightly larger pan, poaching two eggs at once.
Dashi is the plainest broth in the world to make and one of the most forgiving to get right: hot water, a spoonful of instant granules or a good stock cube, and it tastes of something within a minute. Udon noodles, thick and slippery, need only warming through in the seasoned broth rather than a separate pan of boiling water, which keeps the whole dish to one pot and a few minutes at the hob. The egg goes in last, cracked straight into the simmering broth and covered so it poaches gently in the same liquid the noodles sit in, the white setting soft around a yolk that still gives when you press it. No nori, no spring onion, nothing floating on top. It is a bowl built for an evening when cooking at all feels like a lot.
Ingredients
Contains: Gluten, Soya, Egg, Celery
- 400 mldashi or clear stock, clear and strained, from instant dashi granules or a good stock cube
- 1 tbspsoy sauce
- 1 tbspmirin
- 200 gudon noodles, straight-to-wok or pre-cooked
- 1egg
Method
Warm the stock in a small pan until it is barely trembling. Home-made dashi goes through a fine sieve on the way in, so nothing is left floating in it.
Stir in the soy sauce and mirin, then add the udon noodles and warm through for 2 to 3 minutes, until they are hot and tender.
Crack the egg into a small cup. Make a little space in the broth, slide the egg in gently, cover the pan and poach for 3 to 4 minutes, until the white has set but the yolk still gives when you press it gently.
Ladle the noodles and broth into a deep, warm bowl, lifting the egg on top last.
Watch-points
- Use a dashi or stock that is completely clear, with nothing floating in it.
- No nori and no spring onion go into the bowl. The broth and the egg carry the whole dish.
- Cover the pan while the egg poaches so the white sets through evenly, and serve it while the yolk still gives when you press it.
- Cook the egg through, yolk and all, if you have been told to avoid runny eggs while your immunity is low. Give it 6 to 7 minutes in the broth rather than 3 to 4.
Make it more nourishing
- Stir a 15 g knob of butter into the broth shortly before serving. Unconventional, but it adds richness and about 110 kcal.
- Use two eggs instead of one, poached in the same broth.
- Whisk a tablespoon of skimmed milk powder into the broth as it heats, for about 3 g more protein and no change to the flavour.
Swaps
- Instead of instant dashi, use a good chicken or vegetable stock cube with a dash of soy
- close enough in a bowl this simple, though it loses the faint smokiness of real dashi
- Instead of udon, use thick rice noodles
- wheat-free and just as soft, though the soy sauce still carries gluten unless you swap it for tamari