Life-Changing Udon Noodles
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If you are under the impression you need to spend hours toiling over a pot of bones to make a highly seasoned broth to then make a good bowl of noodles, you must make Hetty McKinnon’s “life-changing” udon noodles from her latest book To Asia, With Love.
The broth is made with three ingredients — vegetable stock, soy sauce, and mirin — and after it comes to a simmer, it’s done. The rest of the broth’s flavor comes from garnishes: a pat of butter, a drizzle of sesame oil, a sprinkling of scallions, a pinch of sea salt, and lots of freshly cracked black pepper. The yolks of soft-boiled eggs impart the broth with a richness, and if you like a bit of spice, a spoonful of Sambal Oeleck or chili paste of choice seasons it further.
I love adding a heap of baby bok choy or other greens to make it a meal. If you like this idea, too, simply add them to the pot of boiling udon noodles, which typically cook in 1-3 minutes — the frozen udon noodles I buy cook in 1 minute, which is all the time most greens need.
Every time I make this soup, I am astounded by how quickly it comes together and by how flavorful and nourishing it is. In the intro to the recipe, Hetty writes that the recipe was inspired by a dish served at Shin Udon in Tokyo, the flavors and textures of which were “life-changing.”
About To Asia With Love
- Something I love about To Asia, With Love are the anecdotes, such as the one mentioned above. Many of the stories in TAWL are rooted in travel and discovery, which I think we all are craving right now.
- Like all of Hetty’s previous three books, To Asia, With Love is beautiful: its design, its photography, its recipes. In Hetty’s newsletter last fall, when she first shared this recipe, she described this book as her “most personal to date,” noting that it is “full of everyday Asian recipes made with simple ingredients (many of which you will already have in your pantry) along with personal stories of growing up in a Chinese household in Sydney.”
- I want to make everything in TAWL, namely the “restaurant greens”, which is my favorite thing to order at Chinese restaurants. I recently made the TAWL pad Thai salad, which was absolutely delicious (photo below). I’ll be sharing that recipe on my Instagram stories tomorrow, so follow along on Instagram if you’d like to try that recipe. I’ll keep it highlighted in my stories.
- There are two ways I keep up with Hetty: her Instagram and her newsletter. She is wonderful.
Friends! I have an extra copy of To Asia, With Love as well as a pair of TAWL chopsticks (photo below) along with some other Asian pantry treats. I’d love to give these goodies to one of you. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below. Tell me where you will travel first when you get the chance. I’m dying to go to Italy to eat pizza, England to watch soccer games, and Vietnam for noodles. Where do YOU want to go? The giveaway has been closed. The winner is: Sunny. I’ve emailed you. Thanks to all of you for your wonderful comments 💕 Love reading about where we’ll all travel next 💕
PS: Hetty’s Sushi Salad (This recipe comes from Hetty’s last book, Family, and after discovering it, I made it on repeat for weeks. It’s one of my favorites.)
How to Make Life-Changing Noodles
First, get the broth going by combining vegetable stock, soy sauce or tamari, and mirin in a pot. Bring it to a simmer.
Meanwhile, halve small heads of baby bok choy or other greens of choice.
You’ll need udon noodles (or other) noodles for this soup. I can’t recommend buying frozen udon noodles enough. They cook in 1 minute, and couldn’t be more delicious.
What your stovetop will look like: 1 pot for the noodles and greens (if using), 1 pot for the eggs, and 1 pot for the broth.
Cook the eggs for 6 minutes (for very soft boiled eggs) or 7 minutes for less runny soft-boiled eggs. Transfer to an ice bath immediately.
Cook the noodles and greens for 1 to 3 minutes.
Drain.
Transfer greens and noodles to a bowl; then pour the broth over top.
Add a knob of butter, a drizzle of sesame oil, and a handful of scallions.
Top with soft-boiled eggs. Season with sea salt and lots of pepper.
Add some chili paste if you wish.
Enjoy!
Such a good one! To Asia, With Love
This is the pad Thai salad from TAWL. Follow along on Instagram for the recipe tomorrow, April 7th.
PrintLife-Changing Udon Noodles
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: Serves 4
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
From Hetty McKinnon’s To Asia, With Love
Notes:
- Every recipe in To Asia, With Love is vegetarian. Hetty’s note from the book: To veganise this recipe, omit the eggs and use vegan butter.
- You may find you might want more of the broth (it’s so good), so just keep the ingredients handy — the veg stock, tamari or soy, and mirin. I often make a double batch of broth.
- Scale the recipe as needed. I often make a half recipe, which is perfect for Ben and me. Note: In the video, I make a half recipe, but I do not halve the amount of soy sauce — I use 2 tablespoons instead of 1.5 tablespoons. One of you noted that this made for a salty broth, so please keep this in mind if halving the recipe. Start with 1.5 tablespoons and add more salt to taste.
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 800 g (1.75 lbs.) udon noodles
- 1/4 to 1/2 lb. of greens such as baby bok choy, optional
- 500 ml (2 cups) vegetable stock
- 3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons mirin
- 4 scallions, thinly sliced
- 80 g (6 tbsp) butter, cubed, or to taste, see recipe
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil or to taste
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
- Sambal Oelek or other chili paste, optional
Instructions
- Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add the eggs and set the timer for 6 minutes. As soon as the buzzer goes, immediately drain the eggs into a colander and run under cold water (or transfer to an ice bath) until they are completely cold. (This will make very soft-boiled eggs – if you prefer a firmer yolk, cook them for another minute.) Peel and set aside.
- Cook the udon noodles (and greens if using) in a large saucepan of salted water according to the packet instructions until al dente. This should only take 1–3 minutes, depending on whether your noodles are fresh, vacuum-sealed, or frozen. Drain, then scoop the hot noodles (and greens) into four bowls.
- Meanwhile, combine the stock, tamari or soy sauce, and mirin in a small saucepan and place over low heat until hot.
- Pour the hot broth over each bowl of noodles (and greens), and top with a soft-boiled egg. Add a knob of butter and allow it to melt into the noodles. Add the scallions and scatter a generous amount of black pepper over the noodles (use as much pepper as you like, but this dish is intended to be very peppery). Finish with a little drizzle of sesame oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
- If you like spicy, stir in a spoonful of Sambal Oelek or hot sauce of choice.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 7 minutes
- Category: Soup
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Asian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
378 Comments on “Life-Changing Udon Noodles”
I had a trip booked for Ireland last year that was scheduled for the exact week that the US started shutting down for Covid. It was going to be my first international trip alone — for a week, I was going to stay in hostels & drink Guinness & hopefully listen to Irish folk music in bars! So…I hope that I can still get my “big solo” trip to Ireland once things open up again. 🙏🏼☺️
I want to go hiking in Peru. We had a tentative trip planned to attend the meat festival there, but the festival was delayed and then Covid hit….
Hi Ali! Long time fan – first time commenter 🙂 There are SO many beautiful places I still want to go to. But one that has been on my mind for a while is Japan…
the recipes from To Asia, with Love look soul-warming. i can’t wait to try this wonderful looking udon dish.
travel: first stop, when free & clear: Paris, just to reassure myself that it’s still there. after that: hiking in Scotland…or the Pyreneees…or visiting friends in Hamburg, Geneva, and Venice!
thank you!
i starred the recipe even tho i havent tried it yet 🙂
I’m skipping out for bok choy, right now! Looks amazing and I’m on a a soup-a-week roll and I love the fact that it comes together so easily, while I’m going between my Mom’s and my house.
Thank you for the opportunity! Where would i go? For now, no place far. I want to go the beach at sunrise or sunset and walk. And maybe get a clam or lobster roll at Sesuit Harbor Cafe or the Kream ‘n Kone or Arnold’s or the Lobster Pot, depending on which beach I ended up at on Cape Cod. And maybe someplace intimate and special for an anniversary dinner with my husband. Someday: back to Ireland and Cornwall…
This sounds delish! I can’t wait to go on my honeymoon to Portugal! My husband and I got married right before the shutdown started – thankful we were able to have the wedding as planned and can’t wait to celebrate in Portugal 💕
I’m going to France! The patisserie, the leisurely bistros, baguettes, espressos, wine, & the delicious food await me!
I want to take our four year old and almost 1 year old to Italy and just eat our way down the coast. Big brother loves to travel and asks to go to the airport all the time. Me too, buddy, me too.
What an inviting bowl of deliciousness. We have been playing the “where to travel first” game during pandemic and your destinations are also on our list! Amalfi Coast and a Liverpool game! I think first though for a closer trip would be a oneandonly resort or a Maui Ritz life!
Hi Ali!
We had lots of trips in the works last year that we put on hold…and even though it might not seem exotic or far flung (we live 2hrs from the border) I can’t wait to get back up to Canada!
Can’t wait to try this broth it’s been on my radar for awhile! X
The noodles look amazing! So many places on the list… I think my top destination would be Sweden in the summer! Spend a couple weeks exploring the cities and along the coast.
Ohmygosh! I cannot wait to try this recipe! I also cannot wait to go to Japan and eat from the street markets. 🇯🇵 I was supposed to be leaving for Japan today, but unfortunately other trip canceled by covid.
Hello! That book looks wonderful so even I don’t win it I might just end up buying it.
I’m dying to go back to Mexico City, although even after Im vaccinated it might be a while since the situation is so bad there right now.
Thank you!
Ah! How do we ever decide where we want to go next? We had a trip to Hawaii to visit friends and family canceled, so that is probably my first choice. But skiing in the swiss alps and exploring Costa Rica are high on my list.
For post-COVID travel, I am dreaming of mole in Oaxaca, churros con chocolate in Buenos Aires, and Idiyappam with curry in Kerala, where my husband’s family lives. We haven’t visited them in over a year, and we are anxious to be with them again and ‘break bread’ (or idiyappam) together. Though my own cooking has evolved tremendously over the course of the pandemic (with the aid of recipes like those shared here!), and living vicariously through foreign cuisines has never felt more real, I am eager to explore new flavors in different corners of the world.
My boyfriend and I had planned a trip to Japan right before the pandemic so of course we have that 2 week itinerary already set — just have to rebook those tickets! Exploring the Tsujiki fish market and the streets of Kyoto and biking the Shimanami Kaido bike trail can all be reimagined soon.
This recipe (and the book) looks amazing! My dream travel destination is India, but would honestly be happy traveling to some of my favorite places that are only a few hours away (NYC, Boston, Burlington VT, Montreal)
I have been dying to travel to London with my husband, he went a year ago for work and says it’s somewhere I need to visit, also Paris for pastries and good coffee! 🙂 Italy would be a close third, give me all the carbs!!
I still have young kids, but I’m dying to get back to Italy, Sonoma and New Orleans. I don’t know realistically when this will happen, but that’s what’s been on my mind!
Her recipes are amazing! I’d love to get to Italy.
Italy to eat cacio e pepe and carbonara❤️AND gelato🤣
My parents are from Korea and they only returned for the first time a couple years ago to deal with some family business, so the trip was stressful. My mother has recently said she longs to go back so we have been talking about going together to celebrate her retirement when it’s safe to do so. It will be my first time and I can’t wait to learn more about my parents’ lives in Korea and of course eat ALLLLL the food!
I’d love to go to Norway or Sweden, take a cruise or just drive in the countryside…and just be free 🤩
I’m def making these noodles this week! We have had to reschedule a trip to Eastern Europe 3 times due to the pandemic, so that’s where we would go!
I simply want to wander around the British Museum and see with my own eyes the wonderful things I have read about during our covid year lock down.
I cannot wait to go to India to visit my parents and my family, and eat the sweet, salty, sour, crunchy street foods of my childhood. I’m also excited to bring my two young daughters on a road trip adventure to Burlington, VT (we want to check out the farmer’s market and Lake Champlain), and then onward to Montreal for croissants, bagels, and poutine + a butterfly garden and trying out Quebecois French.
I love udon noodles and this recipe looks delicious. I can’t wait to make it. I can’t wait to travel again- first up, Hawaii, Tennessee, Thailand, and maybe Taiwan if I can swing all those trips this year! I would eventually love to travel all of Asia and learn more about the food and culture.
I can’t wait to go to New Orleans to eat all the po boys and beignets and listen to live music.
I would like to travel to Las Vegas to see my parents, who I have not seen since February 2020. Thankfully they are both vaccinated. My kids love noodle dishes so I can’t wait to make this recipe!
My partner and I had plans to travel to Korea and Japan this spring (dreams of catching the cherry blossoms!) but canceled the trip. It’s first on our list once we can travel safely again. I’m Korean-American and have never been to any Asian countries. I can’t tell you how excited I am to one day meet people and explore the food and culture that I’ve mostly only experienced through my family here in the states.
Italy! I had planned to go last summer but got cancelled so I plan to go hopefully this year!
We won’t be going far, but the first place we’re going is to the shore to see my parents and the sun! What brand udon do you use? The kind we get from the store are always too gummy…