Dinner

MUNCHIES [Homecookin'] . Curry Udon

Curry is welcome at our house any time, be it Japanese-style or Indian-spiced, and I love fatty thick noodles, so I thought I’d try my hand at merging both with Curry Udon. I just subbed seitan for chicken but it’s just as yummy without meat or “meat”, too. I sent Chris off with a little bento box of this with some freshly fried naturally-filigreed lotus root (renkon) crisps which perfectly complemented the thick, savory, spicy noodles. Just make sure you coat the Lotus Root slices in flour first, to give it a wonderful crunch and to absorb the water from the succulent vegetable before placing it hot oil. Watch that splatter!

You’ll certainly savor this Curry Udon, rather than belly-aching over the movie Udon.

Curry Udon (Makes 4 servings)

INGREDIENTS:
* 4 servings boiled udon noodles
* 7 cups dashi soup
* 2 chicken thighs or 1 package seitan, sliced
* 1 small onion
* 1 carrot
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 chopped green onion
* 3 oz Japanese curry roux
* 2 tbsps soysauce
* 2 tbsps potatostarch/cornstarch
* 2 tbsps water

DIRECTIONS:
Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Slice onion and carrot into thin long pieces. Heat a deep pan and saute the chicken, onion, and carrot. Salt the ingredients. Add in the pan and simmer until ingredients are soften. Add curry roux in the soup and bring to a boil. Add potatostarch and water mixture in the soup to thicken. Add udon noodles in the curry soup and heat. Add soy sauce in the udon soup and sprinkle chopped green onion over it.

About the Author:

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson is an avid food adventurist who has tried everything from jellyfish to sea cucumber to chicken gizzards. Curry Udon is perfect for those chilly November nights.