Beef Udon!
Hi foodies!
I went to Hawaii a couple of months ago, and I tasted so much delicious food there! I’m still hungry for all the food in Hawaii!
The other day, I was craving Marukame Udon in Hawaii. Ah, the fresh udon noodles with sweet beef, soft egg, crispy tempura flakes, and sharp green onion—beef Udon perfection!!
I had to recreate Beef Udon—Nikutama Udon at home; otherwise, I would be spending $500 to taste a bowl of udon noodles every time I crave them.
So, I made this recipe as a “Cheating” version, which uses many shortcuts. Hey, we all are busy; let’s not judge.
However, I made toppings from scratch (even though you can buy one of the toppings online, like tempura flakes); yeah, you can tell. I like making problems for myself. lol
First, onsen tamago.
Onsen means hot spring, and tamago means egg in Japanese.
So it means hot spring egg.
You know there are lots of hot springs in Japan, and they just found another use for them other than monkeys taking baths and drinking sake. They tried cooking eggs in the hot spring, and it turned out just perfect—if not better than poached eggs. Also, it’s easier than poached eggs!
All you have to do is drop the egg into 145°F water for 1 hour.
Then, crack the egg into the serving plate!
TA DAAAAAA!
I’ve been so fancy recently, so I purchased a sous vide from Amazon.
So far, I have cooked eggs and one pork belly in my sous vide, but that’s okay. I will cook steak one day, like every other fancy chef.
This is my sous vide, Joule. It is so awesome.
If you don’t want to use sous vide, check out the recipe below. I made onsen tamago without the sous vide.
You can also use simple poached eggs or soft-boiled eggs. (Not as fancy, just saying)
Prepare sous vide 145°F
Carefully add eggs and cook them for 1 hour.
Remove the eggs from the water and place in a ice water bath to stop cooking.
As I mentioned, you can buy tempura flakes from a Japanese grocery or online.
But if you feel fancy and wanna make tempura flakes from scratch, heat frying oil to 375°F.
Combine tempura powder and water in a mixing bowl.
There are two ways to make tempura flakes. One is a bit intimidating because you pretty much have to dip your hand into tempura batter and hot oil. But this will give you the perfect result of traditional-style tempura flakes.
There is an easier way, though. (Maybe more extreme and exciting, too -not sure if that’s a good sign in the cooking or now- since the oil will bubble away like magma)
Carefully add 2 to 3 tablespoons of tempura batter (at a time ) to hot oil with a circling action. Fry the tempura batter for 1 minute or until golden brown and crispy.
Remove with a strainer and place on a paper towel-lined tray. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Please do not fry the batter too much at a time, and the hot oil will boil over. Also, make sure to use a large enough pot because as soon as the batter gets into the hot oil, the bubbles extend the size. Big time. Be careful.
Break down the tempura flakes to your desired size. Jacob likes it big, and I like it medium.
The egg and the tempura flakes can be 5 to 7 days made ahead.
Of course, keep the egg in the refrigerator and the tempura flakes in an airtight container in your pantry.
Finally, let’s make the beef udon!
Combine the beef, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake in a bowl.
Heat a pan or medium-sized pot over medium heat, then add oil and sliced onions. Sauté the onions until translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Add beef mixture and cook the beef until beef is about halfway done, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour dashi stock and let it simmer for 4 to 6 minutes or until beef is fully cooked and onion is soften.
Dashi is the basic ingredient of Japanese cuisine. More than half of Japanese food and recipes call for dashi. It’s the heart of cooking.
Check out my basic dashi recipe below if you wanna make it from scratch.
Well, since this is a “Cheating” recipe, I used hondashi powder incased of making form scratch.
Just add this hondashi powder into water and ta-da~! Instant dashi stock is ready to go!
It’s like chicken bouillon—the Japanese version! It tastes really good. I love using this Hondashi powder as a shortcut!
When the beef is fully cooked and onion is soften, remove from heat and set aside.
Cook the udon noodles by following the directions of the package you are using.
Rinse the noodles under running cold water for 10 seconds and then hot water for the last 10 seconds. Also, boil 4 cups of water for the soup.
This is my favorite udon noodles, you can find at Japanese/Asian grocery frozen section!
In a serving bowl, place tsuyu- Japanese soup base and 2 cups boiling water.
Tsuyu is a great shortcut for Japanese hot/cold sup recipes!
Depending on the brand or type of tsuyu, the ratio can be different, so please check and follow the directions of the tsuyu bottle you are using.
Mine was 1 part tsuyu to 6 parts water.
Add the udon noodles, then top with the sweet beef, tempura flakes, green onions, and lastly, the egg. Crack the egg right on top of the udon.
Beef udonSprinkle some shichimi- Japanese 7 spices if you like to and enjoy!
CHEATING Beef Udon
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 2 1x
Description
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- For the Tempura Flakes (You can also buy tempura flakes from Japanese grocers or online)
- 1/2 cup tempura powder
- 3/4 cup water
- Frying oil
- For the Beef
- 8 oz thinly sliced beef ribeye or sirloin
- 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp mirin
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sake, rice wine
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 medium size onion, sliced
- 1/2 cup dash broth (I usedHondashi powder, but you can make it from scratch by following my dash recipe)
- For the Beef Udon
- 1 serving portion of fresh frozen udon or dry udon noodles
- Tsuyu, Japanese soup base
- 4 green onions, chopped
- Shichimi togarashi, optional
Instructions
- Prepare sous vide 145°F Carefully add eggs and cook the eggs for 1 hour. Remove the eggs from the water and place in a ice water bath to stop cooking. If you want to make a soft egg without sous vide, please check out my “Kimchi Fried Rice with Beef Short Ribs” recipe! You can also use simple poached eggs or soft-boiled eggs.
- You can buy tempura flakes from Japanese grocery or online. But if you are making tempura flakes from scratch, heat frying oil to 375°F. Combine tempura powder and water in a mixing bowl. Carefully add 2 to 3 tablespoons tempura batter (at a time ) into hot oil with circling action. Fry tempura batter for 1 minute or until golden brown and crispy. Remove with a strainer and place on a paper towel-lined tray. Repeat with the remaining batter. Please do not fry the batter too much at a time, and the hot oil will boil over. Also, make sure to use a large enough pot because the bubbles extend as soon as the batter gets into the hot oil—big time. Be careful. The egg and the tempura flakes can be made 5 to 7 days ahead.
- Let’s make the beef udon! Combine the beef, soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake in a bowl. Heat a pan or medium-sized pot over medium heat, then add oil and sliced onions. Sauté the onion until translucent, about 2 to 3 minutes.
- Add the beef mixture and cook the beef until it is about halfway done, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the dashi and let it simmer for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the beef is fully cooked and the onion is soft. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Cook the udon noodles according to the directions on the package. Rinse the noodles under running cold water for 10 seconds and then hot water for 10 seconds. Also, boil 4 cups of water for the soup.
- Place tsuyu—a Japanese soup base—in a serving bowl and 2 cups boiling water. The ratio can be different depending on the brand or type of tsuyu, so please check and follow the directions of the tsuyu bottle you are using. Mine was 1 part tsuyu to 6 parts water.
- Add the udon noodles, then top with the sweet beef, tempura flakes, green onions, and lastly, the egg. Crack the egg right on top of the udon. Sprinkle some shichimi if you like, and enjoy!
- Cook Time: 15 mins
3 comments
OMG, Thank you so much. Me too, after a short trip from Waikiki we had our first experience at Marukame Udon 🍜 OMG 😮. The best ever and finding your recipe was unreal. Delicious 😋 whole family love them.
SOOOO happy to hear that!!!