Our favourite recipes from Japan

Ingredients

Noodles

• 500g Hokkaido flour
• 15g salt
• 230ml water

Soup

• 200ml mentsuyu soup base
• 200ml water
• 40g grated ginger
• 40g spring onions
• 5g cut nori seaweed
• 4 sheets of bamboo leaf

Serving size: 4 people

Instructions

• Dissolve salt in the water, add the salted water to the flour and mix well.
• Form a ball with your hands and take it out onto a flat surface.
• Knead the dough using the base of your hand for about 8 minutes.
• Wrap the dough in cling wrap and rest for 30-60 minutes.
• Remove the wrapping and place the dough on a work surface that is dusted with flour.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough, occasionally rotating it 90 degrees and dusting the dough.
• When the dough becomes 2 mm thick, fold it a couple of times so that it is easier to cut.
• Cut the dough into 2 mm thick pieces.
• Boil the fresh Udon Noodles for about 10-12 minutes. Serve with the soup.

Download recipe here

Ingredients

Syrup

• 5 cups of water
• 400g brown sugar
• 5 stalks of pandan leaves
• 50g old ginger skin/crushed

Glutinous rice balls

• 500g glutinous rice flour
• 2 cups of lukewarm water
• 1 carrot (blended for the juice)
• 5 stalks of pandan leaves (blended for the juice)

Serving size: 6 people

Instructions

• Combine all the ingredients for the syrup and bring to a boil.
• Cut the carrot and blend, use a strainer to extract the juice.
• Cut the pandan and blend, use a strainer to extract the juice
• Sieve the glutinous flour into a large mixing bowl, slowly add in the water. Or divide the glutinous flour into 2 bowl and add the extract juices in each bowl. Mix the glutinous flour into a firm and stiff dough.
• Knead each portion of the dough separately until the colour is well distributed. Tip : Make sure to wash your hands each time after kneading the different colour dough to avoid discolouring.
• Using the palm of your hands, roll each piece into the size of a marble
• Cook the balls in the syrup. It should float to the surface once it is cooked. Serve with the syrup.

Download recipe here