{easy beef udon soup recipe}

my husband and i love udon soup. udon is definitely one of our favorite noodles because its chubby and has a great chewy texture. as i write this post, i realize that i clearly have this affinity for chewy things {udon, mochi, macarons, cookies/brownies....mmmm}.

anyways, here's an easy udon recipe since you're using mostly pre-packaged or frozen items. what busy mom wouldn't like that?? :) although the initial cost of buying the packaged ingredients may seem more costly than buying a bowl at a japanese restaurant, most of the items can be used for several meals! below i have pictured the frozen ingredients that i used, which you can buy at most asian grocery stores.

Ingredients: (to serve about 4 people)
- ~1/2 pound Shabushabu Kobe beef
- Frozen udon noodles (I used Shirakiku Sanukya Udon noodles)
- Slices of Korean Fried Fish Cakes (or use any type of fish cake)
- Udon soup base
- Soy sauce
- Chopped green onions
- Chopped Napa Cabbage

for the meat, i used a shabu-shabu kobe beef that was purchased at marukai japanese supermarket, which is sooo tender and delicious. [we use this meat for hot pot as well}.

Directions for udon noodles:
1. Boil water.
2. Add frozen udon noodles until cooked (about 1 minute!).
3. Drain and place it into your serving bowl

Directions for soup:
1. 1 cup udon soup base and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce into pot
2. Add 4-5 cups of water into pot {I wrote 4-5 cups since you should make it to your liking for saltiness. I liked 5 cups, but if you like it saltier, use 4 cups}
3. Heat udon soup base and water to almost a boil
4. To cook the meat, there are 2 ways you can do it.
a) For a clearer broth, you can boil some water in another pot and dip the meat into the water until cooked. (we're talking a minute...its fast...don't overcook it!). Remove meat and set it aside.
b) The other way--which is not necessarily better, but pictured below, we dipped the meat into the broth quickly until cooked, removed it and then set it aside. The annoying part of the second method is that you have to "strain" or remove the layer of "stuff" from the meat that accumulates on the top of the broth.
5. Add the napa cabbage and the fish cakes into the broth. {I only did it for a minute since i like my napa cabbage crunchy}
6. Spoon the soup, napa cabbage, fish cakes over the serving bowl with the cooked udon noodles
7. Add the meat into the udon noodle bowl
8. Sprinkle with chopped green onions

Enjoy this on a cold night. Its delicious and easy peasy too!