Curry Udon
Quick answer
- Total time
- 30 min
- Level
- Easy
- Servings
- 2 servings
- Ingredients
- 5
About this dish
Kare udon is a Japanese curry noodle dish built on dashi stock, which separates it from curry rice despite sharing the same roux.
Read more
Thinly sliced pork and onion are stir-fried in oil first, then dashi made from katsuobushi and kombu is added and brought to a boil. Curry roux blocks are stirred in next, transforming the stock into a thick, clinging sauce that coats the pot and every strand of noodle. The heat must drop to low the moment the roux goes in, with constant stirring to prevent the starchy sauce from scorching. Katsuobushi and kombu contribute an umami depth that the curry spices intensify rather than mask, producing a broth more layered than either element alone. The fat, chewy udon strands absorb the sauce and carry it from pot to mouth with each lift of the chopsticks. Finishing with sliced scallions or shichimi adds fragrance and a mild bite. Though the same roux block appears in kare raisu, the presence of dashi and noodles makes this a distinctly different dish in taste, texture, and character.
Ingredients
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Instructions
Read the steps as a cooking flow: prep, heat, seasoning, doneness control, and finish.
- 1Heat
Slice 1 onion thinly and cut 100g pork into bite-size pieces if needed.
Cook or briefly blanch 2 servings of udon ahead of time, then drain well so excess water does not thin the curry broth.
- 2Control
Warm the pot over medium heat and cook the pork until its surface changes color.
If it begins to stick, add a little of the measured dashi stock and scrape the bottom while stirring.
- 3Control
Add the sliced onion and keep cooking over medium heat for about 3 minutes.
Move it through the pork fat until the edges turn translucent and the onion smells sweet before adding the stock.
- 4Control
Pour in all the measured dashi stock remaining after the previous step and bring it to a boil over high heat.
Skim foam from the surface, then prepare to add the curry roux.
- 5Season
Lower the heat to low and add 2 blocks of Japanese curry roux.
Stir while scraping the bottom of the pot until the roux fully dissolves, because the thickened sauce can scorch quickly.
- 6Finish
Add the 2 servings of udon and simmer over medium heat for only 2 to 3 minutes.
Serve as soon as the noodles look glossy and the thick sauce clings to them, before they swell too much.
Practical Cooking Checks
The cues that matter most while cooking.
- Key technique
- Kare Udon builds on dashi stock, producing a depth that curry rice made with the same roux cannot match.
- Finish cue
- Serve as soon as the noodles look glossy and the thick sauce clings to them, before they swell too much.
Cooking decision evidence
Calculated Charim data and applicable official cooking and food safety guidance.
This recipe
30min, 5 ingredients
Category median
35min, 9 ingredients
Based on 233 recipes
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