Guilty

I have had a lifelong addiction to noodles; in particular, Japanese and Okinawan noodles. I woke up this morning craving kitsune udon for breakfast.

To support Bug's lower carbohydrate and sodium diet, I have minimized cooking noodles to almost nil. We haven't eaten pasta in months. Of course, the first step in avoiding temptation is to remove access.

Last weekend, I broke down and picked up a packet of Sapporo Ichiban kitsune udon, warabi (bracken or fiddlehead fern), and kai lan (Chinese broccoli). We always keep surimi and shiitake in the freezer.

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What differentiates kitsune udon from other bowls of udon in broth is the aburage, the brown square. This particular aburage is thinly sliced slightly sweetened tofu that is deep fried. The broth itself is also on the sweeter side.

After I cooked the noodles until they were 2/3rds to al dente, shocked, drained, then set aside, shiitake, aburage, kai lan, warabi, and surimi were added to the broth at various points in the simmer to retain their texture.

The aburage was snipped to 1/4th its original size for the same reason someone orders a large diet Coke with their triple Whopper and large fries. *shrug*

Raw egg -- my favorite ramen and udon add-in -- beautifully augments the flavor of noodles and was added at the end. Shichimi togarashi, ground Japanese chili peppers, was added after the shot (oops!). If we had menma (marinated bamboo shoots), I would have added that too!

As the noodles slithered into my belly, I enjoyed 15 minutes of guilty bliss in the cool (65°F) morning air.

- Cassaendra