Every time we go to the library, I always end with a pile of food books to take home and devour. I recently collected a Japanese cooking book on simple Japanese cuisine and, while I was laughing, I discovered a homemade udon recipe. Ghummy … we love Udon Noodles! Hummm … but wouldn’t it make the opposite of “simple” to noodles udon?
It turns out that this AND Really simple to make homemade Udon! Who knew, love? And not only is it easy to make, but this homemade udon has such a good flavor: dense, firm and rubbery, so bright and just slight of noodle !!
Truth: they are a bit dependent on these fabulous and fresh noodles …
For some reason I had always hypothesized that Udon Noodles used a special type of flour. I have no idea where this notion comes from. In reality, Udon Noodles uses only normal flour for all purposes with a little added starch. And instead of water, Udon noodles uses salted water! The salt is what develops the characteristic structure and chewing of the Udon.
So, easy. Launch the flour, the starch and the salted water together and rub with your fingers until all mixed. It will be a dry, perfect dry mess.
Press that mess in a ball in the best possible way and then let the dough rest. The gluten in the dough will begin to relax while resting.
The next part of the recipe broke me! He declares, with all seriousness, to “knead the dough with his feet”! Ah, ah … crazy, right? Well, I looked for it and traditionally the udon is actually kneaded with my feet! Basically, walking through the covered dough, hopefully, very clean feet.
You can try this if you want, but we decided not to do it. A little too strange. I think that the reason to knead with the feet is due to the fact that this is a very dry dough that is quite difficult, at the beginning, to be kneaded.
So instead of using the feet, we used our hands and a rolling pin to press the dough down to form a sheet. As you can see in the photo, the dough still seems rather rough at this point.
Bend that sheet of pasta in four. It looks like artistic time and crafts!
Once again the dough must be flattened to a sheet. In the photo above you can see the method of using a rolling pin to press the dough down. It is quite effective, as good as your feet if you ask me. This four folding and flattening is performed twice in total. You will see the plot of the complying while proceeding.
So, the now smooth dough is collected in a ball, covered and left to rest again. Relax, gluten, relaxed.
After this second rest, the dough will be much easier to launch in preparation to cut the noodles. And there is this special trick to launch the thin dough and also that is so beautiful. How to blow my mind!
Make sure to sprinkle the table and the mixture with starch. The starch prevents the dough from attaching itself to itself or the table. So, while I roll the sheet of pasta more and more, start rolling the dough on itself, that is, wrapped around the rolling pin, as in the photo. The starch prevents you from attaching itself and you will see the dough eliminate thinner but in a wonderfully uniform way. Pure magic!
Once the dough has a thickness of about 1/8 inch, you are ready to cut the noodles. Fold the dough in third parties and use a knife to cut the noodles. Omgosh, not these noodles Udon seem sexy!
He throws the noodles cut into a bowl with a little starch to prevent them from sticking. Your homemade Udon Noodles are made!
At this point you can immediately cook your homemade noodles Udon or you could portion and keep the noodles in the refrigerator or freezer for subsequent use.
To cook the Udon Noodles, boil a large pot of water and add the noodles. It is not necessary to add salt to the water because the udon is already salty. When the noodles are al dente (Take a bite and check if you translucent to the bottom) Remove from the water and is ready to be served.
Homemade noodles udon recipe
Preparation time: 30 minutes of rest time: 2 1/2 hours Cook Time: 12 minutes
Ingredients:
Prepare the dough: Add the salt to the water and mix to dissolve. Add flour and starch for bowl and whisk to mix. Add the water gradually while mixing with your fingers to form an irregular dough. Press the dough in a ball, cover and let it rest for half an hour.
Dough dough: Put the dough on the work surface. Use your hands and the rolling pin to press the dough in a sheet. Fold in four. Press the sheet again, bend to four and press in a sheet one last time.
Fold the sheet of pasta towards the center to form a smooth ball, cover and leave to rest for 2 hours.
Talli da Spaghetti: Lightly powder work surface and surface of the dough with corn starch. Spread the dough into a rectangle, sprinkling the dough if necessary if sticky. As the size of the pasta sheet become larger, it starts rolling the dough on itself, that is, wrap the dough around the rolling pin while rolls. This method will allow thin and even even rolling. Remember only to sprinkle the dough with starch while rolls if necessary. Continue rolls until the dough is often 1/8 inch.
Cut the noodles: Fold the dough in third parties. Cut the noodles of about 1/8 thick thumb. To prevent the noodles from sticking, add the noodles cut into a bowl with a little starch and throw to cover.
Cook noodles: Boil a large pot of water. When the water boils add up and cook for about 12 minutes or until al dente. Test by biting a noodle to check if the center is translucent. Remove from the water and rinse to remove the starch. Add the noodles cooked to the bowl of noodle for soup noodles or a hot wok if fry.
Warehouses: Store the noodles in a narrow container in the fridge for a maximum of 3 days. For a longer conservation, portion the noodles in portion size and then freeze until they are difficult. When it is hard in Zippock to keep up to 2 months. Enjoy!
Noodle-Licious at the Hong Kong Cookry:
