Recipe: Japanese Udon or Soba Noodles in Broth

JAPANESE UDON OR SOBA NOODLES IN BROTH
Makes 6 servings

This recipe calls for seven-spice mixture (Shichimi), a Japanese mixture of powdered flavors sprinkled on soba and udon noodles or stirred directly into soups. The mixture contains red pepper flakes, sansho pepper pods, dried mandarin orange peel, white poppy seeds, white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds and ground nori seaweed.

This is one of the simplest and most satisfying of all Japanese noodle soups. It can be varied by adding strips of leftover meat or fish or pieces of fresh shrimp.

The broth is made by seasoning dashi with both light and dark soy sauces, mirin and a little sugar. Although this recipe spells out exact quantities, you should play with the ingredients until you come up with a style you like. Use a larger quantity of noodles for a light main course. Less for a first course.

4 quarts water
8 to 18 ounces dried udon or soba noodles
5 cups dashi
2 Tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 Tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoon sugar
2 Tablespoons mirin
TO SERVE:
4 scallions, both white and green parts, finely sliced
seven-spice mixture (shichimi)

Bring the water to a rapid boil and cook the noodles in it until al dente-completely cooked but with a little bit of texture and no rawness in the middle, about 10 minutes. (Check every minute or two.) Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse with cold water to eliminate starch.

Bring the dashi to a simmer and add the soy sauces, sugar and mirin. Slide in the noodles and heat them in the dashi for about 2 minutes.

TO SERVE:
Distribute the noodles among hot Japanese noodles bowls and pour the hot dashi over them. Sprinkle with the sliced scallions. Serve the seven-spice mixture at the table with a small spoon so guests can help themselves.

SUGGESTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
You can add almost anything to this soup to vary it or make it more substantial.