Udon Noodle Soup

My boys and I love Japanese food, and thus I have tried to create some of our own dishes at home over the years.  

Udon noodle soup was one of my favorite dishes when traveling in Japan many years ago so when the boys were little we worked on making a version at home.  This soup was inspired by my memories of my Japan travels, a similar soup that was served at Whole Foods, and my looking through Japanese cookbooks.  

I have not fixed this soup in years because it is hard to find fresh udon noodles but I found some fresh organic udon noodles* at Costco last week.  We do not eat many things made with white flour; this special treat is one exception.

This soup is delicious and so easy to make.

Ingredients:

6 cups dashi or homemade chicken broth

fresh organic greens (kale, chard, spinach, etc)

green onions

grilled chicken

fresh udon noodles*

sea salt and pepper to taste

Prepare dashi or warm chicken broth on stovetop.  Wash and tear organic greens and dice green onions (including tops).  Grill chicken and tear into bite size pieces.

While preparing the above ingredients, heat a large pot of water on the stove.  Once boiling, place udon noodles (one package if using the Annie Chun noodles) in a metal strainer and immerse into the boiling water for about 2 minutes.  Place cooked noodles in an individual soup bowl and then briefly cook the greens.  (I place one serving's worth of greens - about 1 to 1 1/2 cups - into the metal strainer and put them into the boiling water I used to cook the noodles for about 2 minutes.)  Once cooked, place the greens and green onions on the cooked noodles.  Add one serving worth of the chicken and fill the bowl with broth or dashi.  Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.  Eat immediately.

* this package of noodles from Costco contains 6 individual serving packs.