Beef Udon (Niku Udon) (Video) 肉うどん

Craving a steamy bowl of hot noodle soup? This heartwarming Beef Udon is my go-to Japanese comfort dish. My recipe serves up tender sliced beef on top of thick, chewy udon noodles in a savory broth. What’s not to love?

When my family visited Takayama in Japan in 2015, we had the opportunity to enjoy this warm udon noodle soup with Hida beef. Made of freshly cooked udon noodles in a fragrant hot soup, topped with sweet juicy sliced beef, the beef udon was delicious and perfect. Today, we are going to recreate this Beef Udon (肉うどん) back in our own kitchen.

Despite its simplicity, this noodle soup is packed with flavor! The savory broth, seasoned tender beef, caramelized scallion, and chewy smooth noodles — that’s all you really need for a well-composed bowl of noodle soup.

Ingredients for Niku Udon

With basic Japanese condiments, you can easily make this delicious noodle soup at home.

• Udon noodles – Can be frozen, fresh, or dried. Wish to learn more about this noodle? Click here.
• Thinly sliced beef – It works great with “shabu shabu beef” from a Japanese market, but you can always slice your own.
• Negi (Japanese long onion) – You can use green onion as a substitute.
• Dashi (Japanese soup stock) – More about it below.
• Condiments: soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar.
• Optional toppings: narutomaki (fish cake), green onion, mitsuba (Japanese herb), etc.

How to Make the Best Beef Udon

1. Prepare dashi broth and add the seasonings to make udon soup broth.
2. Stir fry the negi (or green onion) and thinly sliced beef. Season them with soy sauce and sugar.
3. Cook udon noodles according to the package instructions and drain well.
4. Assemble udon noodles and broth in individual bowls. Top with cooked beef and other toppings of your choice.

3 Ways to Make Dashi

The key to the most flavorful broth for beef udon is dashi — the quintessential Japanese soup stock. Dashi is clear, delicate, mildly sweet, and full of umami. It is the base flavor for a superb bowl of beef udon.

For those who had never made dashi, it might sound intimidating. But trust me, it’s easier to make dashi than any other broth out there; all you do is drop the ingredients in water and let them steep. That’s it!

Just in case you’re new to making dashi, here are 3 ways to make dashi:

1. Homemade dashi — You can make standard Awase Dashi by steeping kombu (edible kelp) and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) in water. If you’re vegetarian/vegan, make Vegan Dashi with kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms. [20 minutes]
2. Dashi packet — A dashi packet is the best shortcut method that I use often. Similar to making tea, you steep the dashi packet in water and cook for a couple of minutes. Despite its quick method, the flavor of this dashi is pretty good. [5 minutes]
3. Dashi powder — Dashi powder is my least favorite method due to its lack of flavor, but you can make a quick dashi with just dashi powder and hot water. [1 minute]

If you want to learn more about dashi, check out The Ultimate Dashi Guide, where I talk about 6 different types of dashi and the above 3 methods in detail.

Make Homemade Udon Noodles

If you have extra time, I recommend making Homemade Udon Noodles from scratch! All you need is flour, water, and salt.

The texture of the dough is much firmer than bread dough, so traditionally, the Japanese used their feet to knead the udon noodles. Isn’t it fun? Check out the post to see how we make udon noodles in Japan.

Other Delicious Udon Noodles

Don’t miss out on these delicious recipes with udon noodles:

• Yaki Udon (Stir-Fried Udon Noodle)
• Curry Udon
• Nabeyaki Udon (Hot Pot Style Udon Noodle Served in Donabe)
• Kitsune Udon
• Miso Nikomi Udon

Wish to learn more about Japanese cooking? Sign up for our free newsletter to receive cooking tips & recipe updates! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram.

Beef Udon

4.75 from 267 votes

Craving a steamy bowl of hot noodle soup? This heartwarming Beef Udon is my go-to Japanese comfort dish. My recipe serves up tender sliced beef on top of thick, chewy udon noodles in a savory broth. What’s not to love?

Print Pin

Video

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the Broth from Scratch

• ▢ 2½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) (use standard Awase Dashi, dashi packet or powder, or Vegan Dashi)
• ▢ 1½ Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢ 1 Tbsp mirin
• ▢ 1 tsp sugar
• ▢ ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt

For the Udon Noodle Soup

• ▢ ½ Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) (white part only; or use 2 green onions)
• ▢ 1 green onion/scallion (for topping)
• ▢ 4 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (optional; for garnish)
• ▢ 6–8 oz thinly sliced beef (such as ribeye) (or learn how to slice meat thinly at home)
• ▢ 4 slices narutomaki (fish cakes) (optional)
• ▢ 1 Tbsp neutral oil
• ▢ 2 tsp sugar
• ▢ 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢ 2 servings udon noodles (1.1 lb/500 g frozen or parboiled udon noodles; 6.3 oz/180 g dry udon noodles)

For Serving

• ▢ shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) (optional)

For the Quick Broth with Mentsuyu (optional)

• ▢ ⅓ cup mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base)
• ▢ 2⅓ cups water
• ▢ 1 Tbsp mirin

Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.

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Instructions

 

• Gather all the ingredients. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the udon noodles. Once boiling, keep it covered on low heat until you‘re ready to heat the noodles.
  

To Make the Broth from Scratch

• First, make 2½ cups dashi (Japanese soup stock) of your choice. (To make a quick broth with mentsuyu noodle soup base, see the instructions at the end of the recipe.) Here, I‘ll show you how to make a quick dashi using a dashi packet (you can find it on Amazon). In a medium saucepan, add 2½ cups or 600 ml water and 1 dashi packet. Bring it to a boil over medium heat.
  
• Simmer for 2–3 minutes. Then, squeeze the liquid from the dashi packet and discard the packet.
  
• Season the dashi with 1½ Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp mirin, 1 tsp sugar, and ⅛ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and mix it all together. Cover the pot with a lid to keep it hot and prevent evaporation. Turn off the heat and set aside.
  

To Prepare the Ingredients

• Cut the white part of ½ Tokyo negi (naga negi; long green onion) diagonally into ½-inch (1.3-cm) slices. Set aside.
  
• Thinly slice the leaves and tender stems of 4 sprigs mitsuba (Japanese parsley)(optional).
  
• Cut 1 green onion/scallion into thin slices. Transfer the green onion slices and optional mitsuba to a small plate or bowl for topping the soup later.
  
• Diagonally cut 4 slices narutomaki (fish cakes) (optional). Then, cut 6–8 oz thinly sliced beef (such as ribeye) in half to about 1½–2 inches (3.8–5 cm) wide.
  

To Cook the Beef

• Heat the frying pan on medium heat. When it‘s hot, add 1 Tbsp neutral oil and the Tokyo negi.
  
• Sauté the negi until golden brown and tender. Then, add the thinly sliced beef and cook until it‘s no longer pink.
  
• Add 2 tsp sugar and 1 Tbsp soy sauce.
  
• Stir-fry the meat until it is well coated with the seasoning. Remove from the heat.
  

To Boil the Udon Noodles

• Cook 2 servings udon noodles in boiling water according to the package instructions. For frozen udon noodles, boil from frozen for 1 minute to reheat. Drain well and rinse quickly with water to remove the excess starch.
  

To Serve

• Divide the drained udon noodles into individual serving bowls and pour the hot broth to cover.
  
• Place the stir-fried beef, narutomaki, green onions, and mitsuba on top. If you like it spicy, sprinkle shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) on top. Enjoy!
  

To Store

• You can keep the stir-fried beef, udon noodles, and broth separately in airtight containers and store them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To Make the Broth with Mentsuyu (Optional)

• In a medium saucepan, combine ⅓ cup mentsuyu (concentrated noodle soup base), 2⅓ cups water, and 1 Tbsp mirin and mix well. Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cover with a lid and turn off the heat. The udon broth is now ready to use.
  

Nutrition

Calories: 579 kcal · Carbohydrates: 59 g · Protein: 32 g · Fat: 23 g · Saturated Fat: 8 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 5 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 9 g · Trans Fat: 1 g · Cholesterol: 72 mg · Sodium: 976 mg · Potassium: 353 mg · Fiber: 4 g · Sugar: 7 g · Vitamin A: 107 IU · Vitamin C: 2 mg · Calcium: 35 mg · Iron: 3 mg

Author: Namiko Hirasawa Chen

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Japanese

Keyword: noodle soup, udon noodle

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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on November 8, 2015. It’s been updated with new images and video.