Recipe: Homemade Ise Udon, it's black broth (made of sake and soy sauce) poured over udon. Garnish with green onions!

Number of steps:  4 super easy steps
Time taken: 5 minutes

About This Dish:
My father is originally from Ise city which is located in Mie prefecture. There, Ise Udon is extremely popular. Everywhere you go, you'll see signs and little local diners serving this dish. Tourists love it too. Real Ise Udon is served with udon which is extremely thick (yeap, thicker than the usual udon); since this recipe aims for simple, easy and homemade, I use frozen packaged udon sold at Asian markets. 

What is also important is the so called "black broth".  It's so concentrated that the broth does not cover the whole bowl up like you see in regular udon dishes. It stays in the bottom and you stir/mix as you enjoy the meal. For garnish, most restaurants just sprinkle some green onion. It's as simple as that.  Since this recipe is very simple and easy, compared to the real Ise Udon, it's much less work and may taste a little different, but it's close enough and great to enjoy given the fact that it only takes 5 minutes to make! 

What You Need:
(Makes 2 servings)

• 4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce 
• 1 tbsp Japanese sake
• 2 - 3 tbsp mirin
• 1 - 2 tsp sugar
• 1/3 cup dashi stock (~90ml)
• Green onion for garnish
• Udon for two

1. In a pot, heat up the soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar until it starts bubbling. 

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4. Finally, pour the sauce on top and garnish with green onion. It's a concentrated broth so don't fill the bowl up! Pour a little bit onto the noodles and that should be more than enough.

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2. Pour in the dashi stock and heat until it starts bubbling for the second time. 
Note: I usually dilute the Hondashi concentrate soup stock with water.

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3. Prepare the udon for consumption. I used frozen udon so all I had to do was put it in the microwave.

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