Chicken Udon Noodle Soup

This chicken udon noodle soup makes a balanced meal with chicken, udon, ramen egg, mushrooms, fish cake and spinach all in the bowl.  Much as we love hotpot, we skip them on weekdays because it takes longer to prepare and eat … so this chicken udon noodle soup arises as a “I-cook-the-hotpot-for-you” one-dish meal.

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Chicken Udon Noodle Soup Recipe

When cooked and served in a claypot (nabe) as shown, this dish is also known as nabeyaki udon (鍋焼きうどん). I cooked the udon separately then served it in the claypot, since I like springy noodles with a bite. If you love soft udon, just cook and serve this dish directly in the claypot.

Chicken Udon Noodle Soup Recipe
I used skinless and boneless chicken fillet (can be thigh or breast) from the supermarket. Just cut them to bite-sized chunks, marinate with a bit of mirin and soy sauce and they are ready to cook. This is a really fast meal!

Chicken Udon Noodle Soup Recipe

My personal bowl comes with extra runny ramen eggs. I prepare the ramen eggs 1-2 days in advance, and keep them chilled in the fridge, soaked in the sauce. This saves a lot of time to make dinner on weekday nights. Check out ramen eggs recipe here.

Chicken Udon Noodle Soup Recipe

When cooked and served in a claypot (nabe) as shown, this dish is also known as nabeyaki udon (鍋焼きうどん), though you can use any casserole, pot and serving bowl.

This recipe is great for clearing leftover fresh foods. Substitute with seasonal vegetables and mushrooms to make this bowl.

Ingredients:

  • 100 grams boneless chicken fillet cut to bite-sized chunks
  • 100 grams or 4 stalks Chinese spinach (phuay leng) cut to 5 cm sections; separate stems and leaves
  • 8 slices Japanese ‘naruto’ fish cake
  • 2 servings (150-200 grams each) fresh udon noodles
  • 4 fresh shiitake mushrooms optional: make a cross cut on the cap
  • 50 grams or small handful hon shimeji mushrooms ends trimmed
  • 1 stalk Japanese scallion (negi) use bottom white portion, sliced diagonally to 2.5 cm sections

(A) Marinade

  • 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp mirin

(B) Soup base

  • 700 ml water
  • 1 ginger slice
  • 1 tsp dashi powder
  • 1/2 tbsp mirin
  • 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce

Garnishing Suggestions

  • 2 ramen eggs optional; get the recipe here
  • 1 tbsp chopped spring onions
  • 1 tsp nanami togarashi (Japanese 7 flavour chilli powder)

Directions:

  1. Marinade chicken in (A) for 10 minutes.
  2. Cook udon in a small pot of boiling water according to package instructions. Transfer cooked udon to a strainer and rinse in tap water. Drain and divide cooked udon into two serving bowls or individual claypot (nabe).
  3. Cook spinach. Re-boil water.  Add spinach stems and cook for 1 minute 30 seconds, then add leaves to cook for 40 seconds. Drain spinach on a strainer. When cooled, squeeze out excess water and set aside.
  4. Make soup broth. Rinse the pot. Add soup base ingredients (B) and bring to simmer. Add marinated chicken, mushrooms, “naruto” fish cake and scallion. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Serve. Top serving bowls with the cooked ingredients. Ladle soup broth over. Garnish with ramen egg, chopped spring onions and serve with nanami togarashi at the side.