Nabeyaki Udon is an Udon soup dish that is cooked and served in an individual clay pot. It is this signature clay pot (nabe) that gives this dish its name – Nabeyaki.
Kitsune Udon (きつねうどん) is Udon noodles in hot Dashi soup topped with Aburaage that has been cooked in a sweet and salty sauce. Although you don’t often see Kitsune Udon in Japanese restaurants in the US, it is one of the most popular dishes and a staple menu item at Udon restaurants in Japan.
Kitsune is “fox” in Japanese, but don’t worry, we don’t use fox meat in the dish. Some people think the dish may have been named because of a folk tale that Aburaage is a fox’s favorite food. Others think it is called Kitsune because of the brown color that is similar to a fox. In fact, we often use “Kitsune Iro” (fox color) to describe a brown color in cooking.
Yakiudon is stir-fried Udon noodles with meat and vegetables. It is so easy and quick to make that it is more home cooking rather than restaurant food. Even though Yakiudon isn’t fancy Japanese food, with a lot of vegetables and meat, it is still a very good thing for you to eat. Perfect lunch or a great alternative to a fast food dinner.
Udon are Japanese wheat noodles. They are made from all purpose flour, water and salt. Very simple affair, so it seems. Japanese Udon artisans make Udon that look like the ones made by machines. You can see those artisans making Udon noodles through the window at the front of good Udon restaurants. It is actually pretty amazing to watch. Udon is sometimes eaten hot in seasoned broth, but other times, it is eaten cold and dipped in sauce. It is an extremely popular lunch food in Japan and also in the US. A lot of Japanese restaurants in the US serve Udon and stores sell the noodles for home cooking, but you can make it at home. And not just the dish, I mean you can really make the Udon noodles themselves.
Curry udon is one of the most popular ways to use up leftover Japanese curry sauce. It is certainly my favorite, and I look forward to eating curry udon every time I make Curry and Rice. It is almost like the joy of eating a turkey sandwich on the day after Thanksgiving here in America. Some things just taste better the next day!
You may find it interesting to know that we use Dashi (fish broth) to thin the leftover curry sauce which is almost like thick gravy and usually with meat. The meaty and lumpy sauce that resembles the western style stew is mixed with some delicate dashi broth. Really? Yes, and believe me, it works. Since the sauce is watered down a bit with dashi broth, we usually add some sort of starch (using corn starch here) to thicken, and a bit of soy sauce can be added for flavor.