Make kaeshi and ichibandashi ahead of time and combine them to make soup for your udon noodles.

Kaeshi
【Ingredients】 (Enough for 8 servings of udon)
Sake……100ml (3.4oz)
Mirin……100ml (3.4oz)
Soy sauce……200ml (6.8oz)
Konbu (５cm×３cm (2in x 1.2in))……１ piece
Katsuobushi ……20g

【Hot to Make】
① Add the sake and mirin to a pot and boil to remove the alcohol.
② Add the konbu (kind of kelp), katsuobushi (smoked, dried bonito), and soy sauce, bring to a boil, wait a second or two, then turn off the heat. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes, then filter out the solids with a paper towel. A sieve can also be used, but will leave some solids in the soup stock.

※ If you have extra kaeshi, you can put it into a bottle and refrigerate it. Kaeshi can be used in making a dipping sauce for tempura or in flavoring boiled dishes.

Ichiban Dashi (Katsuo Dashi)
【Ingredients】 (Kake tsuyu for 5)
atsukezuri konbudashi

Water……2 l (2.1 qt)
Konbu (5 cm×10 cm (2 in x 4 in)）……１ piece
Katsuobushi……60 g (2.1 oz)

【How to Make】
① Pour the water into a pot, add the konbu, and set aside for 1 hour.
② Begin heating the pot to boil the contents. Remove the konbu just before the water begins to boil. Once the water is boiling add the katsuobushi, wait a second or two then turn off the heat.
③ Once the katsuobushi sinks to the bottom of the pot, use a paper towel to filter out the katsuobushi. Here again, a sieve could be used, but will leave some solids in the stock.

Soup for Kake Udon
Add 300ml (1.25 cups) of ichiban dashi to a bowl. Next, add 1 to 1.5 tbsp of kaeshi for flavor. Add the udon to the soup.

※ Use chopped green onion and sesame as toppings.

Recipe Developed by: Machiko Tateno

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