Zaru Udon Sauce Recipe
Leanna Perr
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Cook your udon noodles according to the instructions on the packaging. Once cooked, pour through a sieve to drain the water and rinse with cold water. Place the sieve over a bowl and place a few ice cubes on the noodles to help chill them further.
Zaru udon is usually served with additional ingredients to allow each person to customize their sauce. Grated ginger, wasabi paste, chopped green onion, tenkasu (tempura bits) and grated daikon radish are all great options.
Once cooked, udon noodles should be eaten as soon as possible to preserve their texture. When exposed to the air, they can dry out and become stuck together. Pouring fresh water over them can help unstick them. For best results, I recommend eating them as soon as they are cooled, but as a last resort, wrap them in plastic wrap, refrigerate and consume within 24 hours.
For this dish, I served the same rich sesame sauce which I introduced in the cold somen recipe. This is a versatile sauce and has nice nutty flavor with natural sweetness coming from the combination of the Golden Sesame Paste and Saikyo Miso.
To say I love that sesame sauce is an understatement- I remember having it in Japanese restaurants when I was a kid and I was kiiinda obsessed, especially with the gomae/sesame spinach salad. One of my favourite things about Japanese food is how clean and simple it is. This udon sounds so cooling- exactly what I need right now!
This is gorgeous Cynthia! You totally have me craving this sauce with some cold noodles and tofu right now. Sounds like the perfect summer lunch. I love how traveling opens you up to new tastes and bring so much inspiration into the kitchen back home. Love
These Cold Soba Noodles (Zaru Soba) are perfect during the warm summer months! My favorite part about eating these delicious noodles is dipping them in a sweet and savory tsuyu dipping sauce that complements the soba noodles perfectly. It only takes 15 minutes to make this easy and delicious summer meal!
Soba noodles are Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour. They are full of fiber and are extremely versatile noodles used in a variety of Japanese cooking. They can be served hot during the colder months and served cold during the warmer months like this Cold Soba Noodle (Zaru Soba) recipe! Either way you prepare them, soba noodles are absolutely delicious!
Dashi is Japanese soup stock that is used in many Japanese dishes. It has a unique, rich, umami-packed savory flavor. It is commonly made from dried kelp (kombu) and dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi).
Take a small saucepan and mix together water, dashi powder (or dashi liquid), light soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Turn the heat to high and mix the ingredients until the sugar is dissolved and the sauce comes to a boil.
Once the sauce is boiling, turn the heat off and let it cool. Tsuyu is meant to be eaten cold, so if you are planning on eating immediately, place the sauce in an airtight container and in an ice bath.
This quick & easy zaru soba recipe features cold soba noodles dipped in an ultra-flavorful Tsuyu sauce made with only 4 simple ingredients from your pantry! This light and refreshing meal takes just a few minutes to prepare, and truly the ultimate way to cool down on a hot summer day.
Zaru Soba is easily one of my favorite meals to have in the summertime as they are simple to prepare, healthy, and best of all, loaded with incredible umami flavors to complement the ice-cold noodles.
Soba noodles are known to be healthier than other alternatives as it is made with a base of buckwheat flour, resulting in fewer calories and more nutrients such as Vitamin B, various minerals, and fiber.
The best way to serve these soba noodles for a crowd is to serve the noodles and dipping sauce individually, and have the variety of toppings centered at the table for guests to dress their sauce to their liking!
This was so easy to make and so delicious! And I love that the sauce lasts for so long in the fridge. This is definitely going to be a staple for the rest of my summer, and I look forward to trying more of your recipes :)
Hello ! I wish to prepare this meal ahead of time to eat while at work, but I wonder : can I put the noodles in the sauce from the beginning, even though that would mean for them to stay in the sauce for an hour or two ? or would they not be as good anymore ? I can arrange to not have them mixed then, but I do wonder. Thanks for the recipe !
Hi there! I'm Elle, dropping in to give you a warm welcome to Cookerru. All recipes on this blog have been mindfully designed to be quick & easy to follow yet full of big flavors. Happy cooking everyone!
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Hi Juliana! Those frozen udon noodles are already cooked and then frozen, therefore all you need to do is to thaw in hot water. Therefore, you only need to drop in boiling water and take out after 1 minute. No more than 1 minute and I think it will start to disintegrate (if you keep boiling).
Hi Ayako-san! I only like Cold Tanuki Udon (I can keep my tenkasu to be crunchy) and I love Kitsune udon cold and hot. ? OH yeah, I love leftover Tempura on udon too! Thank you so much for your kind comment. ?
Being able to eat healthy foods for less than $5 is something I dearly miss about Japan. You can walk into a convenience store and buy salads, chilled noodles, boiled pumpkin, tofu, even sashimi for little to nothing.
Renting an apartment in Tokyo may be as expensive as in New York but food is a lot cheaper there. In Manhattan, a bowl of soba will cost you at least $12, which is crazy to me and the reason why I prefer to make it at home.
The ingredients needed to make zaru soba are easy to find (at your local Asian supermarket or on Amazon). They are also the base of many other Japanese dishes. I always have the pantry basics at hand so I can whip up delicious meals whenever I am in the mood for a little Japanese.
Make a big container of mentsuyu and store it in the fridge for up to a month. This way, next time you crave a bowl of zaru soba you will only need to boil the noodles and chop a few scallions (grated daikon is optional).
Hi Diana, thank you for pointing out the missing step in the recipe! You actually take the kombu out as soon as the mixture comes to a boil. You can discard it or do as my mother does, cut it up in sticks and pan fry it with a little soy sauce to eat as a side. I hope you enjoy the recipe! ?
You can make dashi and keep it refrigerated for several days. That way, recipes like this one come together in a jiffy. For the garnishes, set them out on small dishes and let guests help themselves and craft their personal set of flavors.
If you want an amazing meal, pair the noodles with pot stickers dumplings (see Asian Dumplings, page 41, for the pork and shrimp gyoza recipe) and a little chilled radish and cucumber salad. Or, make some Japanese pork belly buns to serve as a starter.
3. To serve, divide the noodles among 2 or 4 plates or shallow bowls, depending on if your guests want to share not. Divide the sauce among 4 shallow bowls; choose large rice or soup bowls that you can pick up and hold for easy slurping and shoveling the noodles into your mouth. Put the garnishes on individual or communal plates.
this was so delicious! thank you for the recipe. I was hesitant as my pasta/ noodle/ dough skills are very basic but your recipe made it very simple. The next time I think I will pair this will some BBQ eel for a complete meal or maybe some steamed clams ? Thank you again!
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