Now, I am not taking credit for this at all, but I do love a good Udon Noodle bowl... For several days, I have been craving and looking for a good Udon Noodle recipe and found a great recipe for making them.  Check out the original article over here.

Making udon noodles is a simple process, and once again, I am glad I found La Fuji Mama's article here.

Handmade Udon Noodles

Method adapted from La Fuji Mama's Blog

Makes 2 servings

2 teaspoons salt
4 ounces (1/2 cup) warm water
1 1/4 cup of unbleached bread flour
3/4 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour
Bread flour, for dusting

Making the noodles:

1. Put the bread flour and all-purpose flour in a large bowl, and whisk the flours together.
2. Add the salt to the warm water and stir until it has dissolved.
3. Add salty water to the flour.  Mix the flour and water together with your hands until crumbly. Pull the dough up from the bottom of the bowl and press down, and repeat until the flour and water are well combined and a rough ball is formed.
4. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead it on a clean board or table for 5-10 minutes.  Knead until the dough has become smooth then form into a ball.
5. Transfer the dough to a large plastic ziploc bag, and then wrap the bag in a thick towel.  Put it on the floor and walk on it.  Turn as you walk, so that all the dough gets flattened.  When the dough feels flat, remove the dough from the bag and roll it out.  Then fold it up, put it back into the bag and repeat the process. Repeat procedure at least 3 times. 
6. Leave the dough in the bag, and let it rest for 3 to 4 hours (during the winter, leave it in a warm place).  I found that 3 hours was perfect for me, plus I am a bit impatient when it comes to waiting for something to set...
7. After the allotted time, remove the dough from the bag, and shape into a large ball. 
8. Dust your work surface with bread flour and prepare to roll out your dough.
9. At this point, I get out the rolling pin and flatten the dough out into a large square or rectangle.
10. Dust the dough and then fold it into thirds. 
11. Now, let's actually turn the dough into noodles... Cut the dough into 1/4 inch thick noodles.

Cooking the noodles.

1. Prepare a large pot with water and bring to a rapid boil.
2. Shake excess flour from the noodles and add them to the boiling water.
3. Cook the noodles for 6-7 minutes, stirring occassionally.  The noodles are done when they are translucent and firm without a hard core. 
4. Drain the noodles and rinse under cold water.
5. Seperate the noodles with your hands and continue to rinse them in cold water to remove additional starch

According to La Fuji Mama's article, rolled out dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 2 weeks.  However, as I am typically cooking for myself, this only lasts a couple of days.  I have yet to attempt to store or freeze the dough.

Kake Udon

Makes 2 servings

1 batch udon noodles
1 1/2 cups dashi (Japanese fish stock)
2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
finely sliced scallions, to taste

Optional ingredients

Sliced kamaboko (fish cake)
Shichimi togarashi or Chili Powder, to taste
Shitake Mushrooms sliced

1. Bring dashi to a simmer.
2. Add mirin, soy sauce and salt.
3. Add scallions, and if you are adding Shitake Mushrooms to the soup, add those too.  We'll allow these to cook and soften some before adding soup to noodles.
4. Spice broth to taste with Shichimi togarashi or Chili Powder.
5. Continue simmering until ready to use, adding additional water if necessary.
6. Cook Udon noodles until done.  
7. Drain and rinse cooked udon.
8. Divide into serving bowls.  (A lot of times, the second helping goes straight into a tupperware container for my next meal)
9. Top with fish cake slices (optional).
10. Using a serving spoon, fill bowl with broth, scallions, and mushrooms (optional).