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A great recipe from !

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Now I've never been much of a weeb or japophile, but if there is one thing the Japanese do well, its soup. And if there is one thing the Japanese do better than soup, it's taking stuff other people invented, and outdoing the original (tempura anyone? stole that right from the Portuguese well we were giving you guns and jesus, what a great package deal!). for instance, take the udon noodle, invented by the Chinese, but mastered by the Japanese in this great soup.

Beef udon is a savoury, easy, incredibly quick soup that can be personalized to your tastes. For this recipe, I stepped slightly away from tradition, added a few things, and took a few out, just to both simplify the flavours, and the preparation. Less ingredients, less bullshit. The basics of beef udon are honestly simple, good beef, Beef broth, and udon noodles, the rest is honestly up to you, though this works best with stronger, more bitter veggies.

Ingredients: (serving of 6-7 bowls)

~noodles~

Udon noodles, I find 2 packets works good for this, in the store you are looking for these bad boys -> http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images.....uL._SY300_.jpg

~Veggies~

Baby bok choy, [about a cups worth, or 14-15 little "heads"]
Green onions [1 or 2 shoots, just for garnish)
Kombu (leaf-like seaweed,) [2 tablespoons, dried]
Shiitake Mushrooms (dried are great, keep them in the cupboard for months, a lot cheaper than fresh, and just as good) [a hand full, honestly to taste)

ALTERNATIVES,

Sub bok choy for baby spinach, add shaved carrots, Spanish onion, chives rather than green onions,

~Meat and Broth~

you don't want to overcrowd the pot with too much meat, i find less is more, so I find about a pound of beef is best.

I find tougher cuts work best, don't be a moron and buy a nice steak to chop up, a butcher would beat you and so would I. I find neck or joint cuts work best, they are tougher, have less of a fat content and are REALLY cheap. Either buy the whole joint, or you can buy the fillets pre-tenderized. If you cant find them pre-tenderized, just shave off about a 1/2 inch thick fillet off the joint or neck, and beat the living shit out of it with a meat hammer.

Vegetarian? use a firm tofu, works just as well, still tastes great.

as for the broth, use your preferred method of beef stock, UNSEASONED, powdered, cubes, canned, carton, home made, you name it, it works. if you're vegetarian, you're sorta fucked on this step, but you can use miso paste and vegetable stock.

~SEASONINGS~ (for the love of god, season your meat,)

Minced Garlic,
Minced Ginger,
Soy sauce (no low sodium crap, use the real deal, Kikkoman is a cheap, well- rounded soy sauce for just about every use)
Sriracha (optional*)
**your preferred / available cooking oil** I recommend sesame oil, but olive, or vegetable "works" In this case I had to use olive oil, I had forgotten I ran out of sesame.


~~Preparation~~

Bok-choy: Wash, and cut the leafy part from the stock, cock the "butt" of the bottom of the stocks, set aside.

Shitake and Seaweed: Re-hydrate in a separate bowl, when rehydrated (after 5-10 minutes) drain, set aside.

Green Onion: thinly slice, set aside as garnish.

Beef: slice into thin "fingers" no longer than an inch and a half by 1/2 inch, and no more than a half inch thick,

In a separate container, prep your beef broth, (I find you'll need at least 5-6 cups of broth, more broth, less crowded soup,)

In a large pot, (this is a single-dish recipe) Bring it up to high heat, add oil, add minced garlic and ginger to taste, cook off the garlic and ginger for about a 45 seconds, then add your beef. Fry off the beef for about 2 minutes and give both sides some nice colour, add soy sauce to taste (about 2 tablespoons is nice) and a touch of Sriracha to taste, cook the beef and reduce the sauces, (about 5-7 minutes, to taste)

Once the beef is finished, add the Beef stock into the same pot, we do this because we don't want to loose any of the flavours by transferring. Bring the stock and beef up to a gentle boil, and add your noodles, stocks of the bok choy, re-hydrated Shiitake Mushrooms, re-hydrated Kombu(seaweed) and cook off until the noodle loosen from there bundles (should take about 2-3 minutes.

Once the noodles are separated, add the leafy part of the bok choy, and give the contents a good toss and stir to blend all the ingredients, the noodles have a nasty habit of staying in a clump, simmer for a minute just to get those bok choy leaves slightly cooked,

~~Serving~~

Take a bowl, ("cereal" style, not one that is wide and flaring,) and ladle in equal parts of all ingredients, cooking chopsticks can help with getting those tricky noodles in the bowls, try not to overcrowd the bowls with too much of anything. Garnish with green onions, and serve.

Works best to be eaten with chopsticks, and an "Asian style" spoon. or you can just use western utensils.

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Allergy warning – please read all recipes carefully and be aware of any allergies or sensitivities that may affect your health and well-being