Japanese noodle recipes from Emiko Davies

Winter vegetable and udon hotpot
This hotpot is a sort of giant, hearty miso soup, filled with a variety of winter vegetables, such as Japanese pumpkin, daikon and napa cabbage – and, most importantly, noodles that are cooked directly in the pot. This adds starch to the broth, making it slightly thick and almost creamy. This is based on the houtou noodle soup from my latest cookbook, The Japanese Pantry. Thick, flat, handmade houtou noodles are from Yamanashi prefecture, which is famous for its many beautiful views of Mount Fuji. Farmers in this area traditionally grew wheat, as it was too cold for rice. Since this soup is a peasant dish and flour was costly, it contained a lot more vegetables and tofu than noodles – a filling and nutritious meal. Because it is hard to get houtou noodles here, I am using udon noodles, which are similar. This is a very versatile dish. If you don’t have these exact vegetables, try potatoes, sweet potatoes, leek or other greens. You can use regular firm tofu instead of fried tofu. Japanese pumpkin is very sweet, with a floury texture and edible peel – you could use another type, such as butternut, but you would have to peel it first.

Note: dashi comes in powdered or concentrated form, and is usually made with kombu (kelp) and bonito; if you want a vegetarian version, you can also easily make it yourself with just a piece of dried kombu. Place a 10cm x 10cm square of kombu in a pot of water and let it stand overnight. Remove the kombu before using, and your dashi is done. If you don’t have time to do this, just bring it slowly to the boil and remove the kombu just before it start simmering. If all else fails, just use water, but the kombu adds incredible umami to this dish.

Serves 4
dashi (or water) 2 litres 
sake 1 tbsp 
mirin 1 tbsp 
miso 2 tbsp 
Japanese pumpkin 250g 
carrot ⅓, sliced 
daikon 5cm piece, sliced 
spring onion 1, finely sliced 
shimeji or enoki mushrooms 60g, fresh 
shiitake mushrooms 4, fresh 
napa cabbage 100g 
abura-age (fried tofu) 80g 
udon noodles 200g, fresh or dried

Place the dashi in a large pot, such as a donabe or casserole pot, with the sake and mirin. Put the miso in a small bowl and dilute it with a little of this dashi mixture and set aside.

Add the pumpkin, carrot and daikon to the soup pot. Add the white part of the spring onion (save the green part to garnish). Simmer over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the pumpkin begins to soften.

Add the rest of the vegetables to the pot along with the tofu and noodles and cook for 7 minutes (taste a noodle to check: it should not taste like raw flour, but still have a good chew). Remove from the heat and stir through the miso. Serve immediately, scattered with spring onion.

Fried noodles with bean sprouts
This is an unbelievably simple dish that my Japanese mother makes often. It is almost like a really pared-back yakisoba, and I love it because it is so quick and satisfying. The key here is good bean sprouts. You need more of these than of the noodles themselves, and this is where a lot of the flavour comes from. There’s not a lot else to hide behind, so make sure they are really fresh. My mother likes to spend the time picking off the tiny roots at the bottom of every single sprout (she says they are bitter). If you have the patience to do this, I must say, it does make a difference.

Another thing you can and should do is refresh the bean sprouts in a large bowl of chilled water while you are boiling the noodles. Undeniably, the best part of this dish (the bit everyone fights over) is the crisp, charred bits from the bottom of the pan, so make sure you have plenty for everyone.

Serves 4 generously
fresh or dried egg noodles 300g
sesame oil or vegetable oil 1 tbsp
bean sprouts 400g
oyster sauce 4 tbsp

Boil the noodles in a pot according to the instructions on the packet (if fresh about 90 seconds, if dried about 5 minutes). Drain and plunge into cool water.

Heat a large wok or wide frying pan on high heat and add the oil, followed by the bean sprouts, tossing them until they begin to wilt in the pan, 2-3 minutes.

Drain the noodles well and add them to the pan. They will be a little difficult to handle if you don’t have a wide enough pan, so you could do this in 2 batches. I use chopsticks to toss the noodles, but a pair of tongs works well, too. Continue frying and occasionally tossing the noodles and sprouts together, while also letting the mixture sit on the bottom of the pan to become a little crisp. It should take about 10 minutes altogether. Add the oyster sauce towards the end and toss until fully combined.

Serve immediately. Leftovers will also heat up nicely, brought back to life in a hot pan.