137. Tokyo - Tsurutontan Serves Godzilla-sized Bowls of Udon / つるとんたん (Tokyo: Minato-ku, Roppongi / 東京都: 港区, 六本木)

Despite my unholy consumption of bread earlier in the day, I was not done eating carbohydrates just yet.  For dinner, Tokyo resident Kristen Shimatsu introduced Ken and me to Tsurutontan (つるとんたん), a restaurant that serves Godzilla-sized bowls of udon (うどん) noodles.



I ordered the nabeyaki udon (鍋焼きうどん), a traditional noodle soup served directly in the cast iron pot that it's cooked in.  Even though the display case outside the restaurant gives customers a glimpse into the life sized portion of the noodles, it is still hard to believe that a bowl approximately the size of my torso is sitting piping hot in front of me.

A variety of ingredients were placed atop the broth, including shrimp tempura, chicken, unagi, a poached egg, tofu skin, enoki and shiitake mushrooms, sliced bamboo, cabbage and kikuna.  The jagged edged vegetable known as kikuna in Japan is more commonly known as tongho in Mandarin at hot pot restaurants or crown daisy in English at local American supermarkets.

Common in Japanese ramen is one half of a soft boiled egg that garnishes the top of the noodles.  However, in Japanese udon, the egg is usually fully cooked through.  What I love about eggs in Japan and Taiwan is the glowing orange hue of the yolk.  It is something that we rarely see in America, so when I see it in Asia it becomes a sort of treat.

Kristen ordered a vegetable udon, and Ken ordered the pork udon.  We also chose a tako salad with  lotus root and nagaimo to share.  The citrus in the salad dressing was a good palate cleanser for our very savory noodles.

The flagship location in Roppongi is open for lunch at 11:00 and does not close until 8:00 in the morning.  I am already thinking that this might make a good spot for some post-drinking eating.  Speaking of which... now that dinner was complete...

Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

つるとんたん / Tsurutontan
東京都 港区 / Tokyo Metropolis, Minato Ward
六本木 3-14-12 / Roppongi District, 3 Chome 14-12
外苑東通り / Gaien Higashi-dori Street
六本木3丁目ビル / Roppongi 3 Chome Building

Check out more of the giant bowls of udon in my Flickr set here.

ML - 20130627

Post 82.2: Tsuke Udon - Mr. Lee Brought Fresh Udon from Japan, Part 2

One more pack of fresh Japanese udon left... what shall we do with it?

How about following the instructions on the package of noodles?

The instructions in the package suggested that the noodles be served tsuke style, which meant that the noodles should be dipped into sauce or broth rather than having the sauce or broth poured over the top of it.  I've only ever had tsuke style udon in Japanese restaurants before, so I thought it would be fun to make it at home.  Ken approved.

Ken and I strolled through Mitsuwa to see what kinds of ingredients we could add to the udon.  We picked out a package of beautifully cut pork belly on skewers.  I also picked up some more honshimeiji mushrooms.

I made a quick marinade of soy sauce, ponzu, minced garlic, sesame oil, and salt and pepper.  It didn't have to sit long because the cuts of pork belly had high fat content, which would already give the skewers a large dose of flavor.

After boiling the udon and tossing it into an ice bath, I placed them in a bowl as the foundation for our skewers, soft boiled egg, and other ingredients.  The mushrooms were blanched in the dashi broth that came with the package of noodles, and they were quickly removed from the hot liquid and placed on the bed of noodles.  The soft-boiled egg was cooked to the point at which the white was solid but the yolk was still runny.  Awesome.  A quick chop of green onions made for a nice touch of color and a refreshing crunch for some texture contrast.

The tsuke, or dipping, broth was served just above lukewarm.  It was just salty enough to coat the udon with a tingle of flavor.  The grilled pork belly skewers provided the rest of the pizzazz of flavor.

A Japanese meal without miso soup just isn't a Japanese meal at all, so I prepared a miso soup with cubes of mini tofu and ribbons of seaweed.  It doesn't take more than five minutes for that soup.  All in all, it was a simple meal, but a good amount of time was required for the delicate preparation.  Thanks again to Ken and Mr. Lee for the chance to cook with fresh Japanese noodles.  Until next time, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

This post features photography by Ken Lee.

ML - 20120325

Post 82.1: Yaki Udon - Mr. Lee Brought Fresh Udon from Japan, Part 1

Ken's dad recently returned from Japan and brought with him some fresh udon from a local noodle shop in Tokyo... and I was fortunate enough to be around when Ken wanted someone to cook them.  Who, me? Me cook udon? Fresh udon? Well, who am I to say no to this request? I love noodles! Especially Asian style noodles... and it's been a long time since I've cooking anything special.  Lucky me.

Besides submerged in soup broth, one of my favorite ways to have udon is stir-fried or yaki style.  Yaki udon is a stir-fried noodle dish.  Some may even say that it's the Japanese variation of Chinese chow mein.  Instead of the commonly used thinner, Chinese yellow egg noodles, though, yaki udon uses the thicker, more doughy udon noodles.  It makes for a very luxurious tasting dish... one that allows the eater to swivel the silky texture of the noodle around the plate or in the mouth for complete enjoyment.

The first thing I did was to make sure I had a good amount of mushrooms to work with.  Since I was cooking with Japanese noodles, I decided to go with a duo of Japanese mushrooms, a well known Shiitake and the more honored honshimeiji mushrooms.  I soaked the Shiitake mushrooms in a cold water bath, and cut the bottoms off the honshimeijis to give them a proper cleaning.

The next step to make julienne some vegetables.  Carrots, celery and spring onions made for a very colorful trio of vegetables that added vibrant color and freshness to the stir-fried udon.  When stir-frying, the spring onions get added at the bookends of the cooking process.  It is added first when the oil first coats the wok to infuse some of the onion flavor in the cooking lubricant, and it is added again at the end of the cooking process as a garnish.

When eating yaki udon, I've usually had it prepared with thinly sliced beef from the fattier areas of the cow.  It get prepared with white or brown onions that are caramelized to give the udon the rich taste that we so desire.  I haven't quite mastered that method of cooking noodles, so I sliced up some pork instead.  I used the hind leg meat of the pork, and marinated it with just a bit of soy, ponzu, sesame oil, and rice wine.

While stir-frying all the ingredients together, I made sure to season the dish every step of the way.  First, the vegetables... next, the meat... and finally, the noodles.  I topped it off with sesame seeds and the freshly sliced spring onion (green onion).  I can't say it was the most traditional of Japanese noodle dishes, but I definitely did my best with it.  Thank you Ken and Mr. Lee for allowing me to do some justice to those fresh Japanese noodles.  Itadakimasu!

And just for fun I made a kimchi fried rice with soft boiled egg on top.  More details on that to come another day.  But for now... happy eating! Did I mention that there were two packages of fresh udon? Heh, heh, heh... more udon on the way! Until then, let's all get S.O.F.A.T.

This post features photography by Ken Lee.

ML - 20120316