Kitsune udon – Japanese noodle with fried tofu

Many must be familiar with the Japanese well-known udon noodle. This noodle soup has an interesting name. Kitsune in Japanese means ‘a fox’. Why is there ‘a fox’ here while the noodle is served very simply with noodle in a broth and topped with fried tofu?

I was only told by one of my Japanese teachers that, according to the folk stories, fried tofu was a favorite food of the fox, that’s why the noodle was named after this folk tale.

This fried tofu in Japan is called ‘aburaage’. The noodle sounds very simple, but the cooking method is not so. Nowadays, in this modern and busy pace of life, out of convenience, dried udon can be bought easily from the supermarkets and it can be cooked according to the directions on the packages. However, cooking the udon in the real Japanese style is much more complicated. One needs to wait until the first time water just boils then add more cold water, and repeat this step for 3 times.

The broth is quite simple, however the fried tofu is not. In fact, this fried tofu is an empty tofu pocket which is used to make inari-zushi, a kind of sushi where the rice is wrapped inside a tofu pocket. This tofu is very easily consumed if one is in Japan. However, it is not so easy for me to buy this kind of tofu. So I used firm tofu, sliced it thinly then fried the thin tofu slices. In order to make the broth even less oil from frying, the Japanese also soak the tofu in cold water to remove the excess oil.

However, all these troubles are worth overcoming, as you would have a great bowl of noodle. 

Ingredients (serves 4)

- 4 pieces Japanese deep-fried tofu

- 340g dried udon noodles

- 4 Spring onions or scallions, chopped

- ground red pepper (optional)

* For simmering tofu:

- 200ml bonito stock (dashi)

- 1 tbs sugar

- 1 tbs sake (or white rice wine)

- 1 tbs dark soy sauce

* Broth:

- 1.2 lít dashi

- 2 tbs dark soy sauce

- 1 tbs light soy sauce

- 1/2 tbs sugar

- 1/4 tsp salt

 Cách làm:

- Cook the noodles according to directions on package.

- Soak the fried tofu in cold water about 3 minutes then drain. Place the tofu in the dashi, bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and sake, simmer for 5 minutes, Add the soy sauce, simmer for another 5 minutes then remove from the heat.

- Combine all the broth ingredients, bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer for 10 minutes.

- Divide the noodles into 4 serving bowls. Arrange the tofu and scallions on top of the noodle, pour over the hot broth. Sprinkle with ground red pepper, if using.