{"id":686,"date":"2008-01-12T01:06:48","date_gmt":"2008-01-11T16:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-01-12\/686"},"modified":"2008-01-12T01:06:48","modified_gmt":"2008-01-11T16:06:48","slug":"making-udon-noodles-from-scratch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2008-01-12\/686","title":{"rendered":"Making Udon Noodles from Scratch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>90 sec, f\/3.2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nIt's Time To Make the Udon<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

For dinner this evening, Fumie prepared udon<\/i> – thick noodles<\/a> – which\nreminded me of our trip last month to Takamatsu<\/a> (Kagawa\nPrefecture, Japan). That area is known for both its udon production and\nconsumption, with something like a bazillion<\/span> times more udon shops per\ncapita than Tokyo has McDonald's and Starbucks combined.<\/p>\n\n

We got a recommendation from a local for a good<\/span> shop, and were not\ndisappointed, as we could watch the noodles being made from scratch.<\/p>\n\n

The process starts out with the chef kneading wheat flour, salt, and\nwater into a big<\/span> ball, and letting it sit for a few<\/span> hours. He then flattens<\/span>\nit out as shown above. With liberal use of flour, he uses a rolling<\/span> pin to\nflatten further...<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>90 sec, f\/3.2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Every once in a while as the dough got flatter and thinner, he would\nroll it all up like this:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f\/3.2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nMeasuring?<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I'm not sure why. In the shot<\/span> above, you can see a big<\/span> black steaming pot – that's where the noodles will soon end up.<\/p>\n\n

Eventually, he got the thickness the way he liked, and he folded the\ncurved sheet of dough over itself a few<\/span> times, then started cutting the\nindividual noodles.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>90 sec, f\/3.2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nMeasure Twice, Cut 278 Times<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I've seen those type of blade assemblies that include a screw<\/span>-like main\nmounting bar such that the knife moves over a set<\/span> amount with each stroke,\nbut this one seems to be free-flowing, he's measuring the width of each cut\nhimself.<\/p>\n\n

He said that he'd been doing this for 38 years. I noticed<\/span> that he still\nhad all his fingertips. That's pretty impressive.<\/p>\n\n

Toward the end of the cutting, he paused, took the first noodles cut,\nshook them with flour, then laid the bundle over the others. He did this<\/span>\neach time, but I haven't<\/span> the faintest idea why. He then continued<\/span> cutting\nthe last sixth or so of the dough.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/3.2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nFinal Cuts<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Once cut, they're noodles and are ready for cooking. They take a minute<\/span>\nor two in the boiling water, and then they get added to soup and whatever\nextras you're having.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>50 sec, f\/3.2, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\nMy Udon<\/span>Vegetable Tempura<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n

While eating my lunch, I noticed<\/span> the cook having a well<\/span>-earned\nbreak....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1250 sec, f\/2, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The shop's name is Gen'nai (\u6e90\u5185)<\/span>\n<\/a>. They have two shops; we were at the one they call “takamatsuten”,\nwhich is apparently not the main shop.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For dinner this evening, Fumie prepared udon – thick noodles – which reminded me of our trip last month to Takamatsu (Kagawa Prefecture, Japan). That area is known for both its udon production and consumption, with something like a bazillion times more udon shops per capita than Tokyo has McDonald's and Starbucks combined.<\/p>

We got a recommendation from a local for a good shop, and were not disappointed, as we could watch the noodles being made from scratch.<\/p>

The process starts out with the chef kneading wheat flour, salt, and water into a big ball, and letting it sit for [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}