Shio Buta Udon

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Savory and Soothing Japanese Noodle Dish - Shio Buta Udon Recipe

During my previous trip to Japan, I remember being incredibly tired on the first day, but my hunger outweighed my exhaustion. Luckily, there was a convenience store downstairs at my hotel, but I knew that there was also a Udon chain restaurant across the street. The thought of a comforting noodle soup was far more appealing than convenience store food, so I mustered up the last of my energy and headed to the restaurant. That's when I discovered Shio Buta Udon.

In Japanese, "Shio" means salt, "Buta" means pork. The savory pork and the soothing noodles were incredibly comforting and provided me with the energy I needed to start my travels.

Today, I’m sharing my recreation of this Udon dish in the hopes that it brings you the same comfort and joy it brought me.

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RECIPE

Servings: 2

Time: 15 min

Ingredients:

• 2 servings udon noodles

• 1/2 lb thin sliced pork belly

• 2 pcs scallion

• sesame oil

• sesame seeds

• black pepper

  Sauce:

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 tsp chuka dashi (Chicken-based stock)

• 2 tsp sake

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 2 cups water

• 2 tbsp potato starch

Tools:

Cooking pot

Instructions:

1. Chop the scallions and mince the garlic. Cut the pork belly into bite-sized pieces.

2. Heat a pan and add some sesame oil, add the pork belly and cook until it’s browned.

3. To the pan, add salt, Chuka Dashi, minced garlic, Sake, lemon juice, and scallions, and half of the water. Stir well to combine all the flavors.

4. Mix the potato starch with the rest of the water, gradually add it to the pan, stirring continuously until the sauce gets thicker.

5. Cook the Udon noodles in boiling water according to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain the noodles and place them in serving bowls.

6. Pour the sauce with pork and scallions over the cooked noodles. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and black pepper.

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