Niku Udon (Japanese Beef Noodle Soup)
Updated February 17, 2025
Lennart Weibull for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Victoria Granof.
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE DASHI (SEE TIPS)
20 grams/about 2 (4-inch) squares kombu
20 grams/about 2 cups loosely packed katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
FOR THE BEEF
1 pound thinly shaved beef (see Tips)
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 bunch scallions, white parts cut into 2-inch segments and halved lengthwise, light green parts thinly sliced at a sharp angle
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
¼ cup sake
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
FOR SERVING
2 tablespoons soy sauce, plus more as needed
3 tablespoons mirin, plus more as needed
1 pound fresh or frozen udon noodles
Shichimi or nanami togarashi, or use your favorite chile powder (optional)
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
100 grams carbs; 71 milligrams cholesterol; 695 calories; 3 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 9 grams fat; 9 grams fiber; 1290 milligrams sodium; 47 grams protein; 8 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the dashi: Combine 2 quarts cold water and the kombu in a medium saucepan, and place over medium heat. As soon as the water boils, remove from heat and add the katsuobushi, pushing it gently into the water to submerge (don’t stir vigorously). Steep for 5 to 10 minutes. Strain and discard the kombu and katsuobushi (or reserve to make another batch of weaker dashi) and return the dashi to the saucepan. Keep warm, but don’t let it boil.
- Step 2
Cook the beef: Combine the shaved beef, onion, scallion whites, sugar, sake, soy sauce, mirin and 1 cup of the finished dashi in a large skillet or sauté pan. Bring to a simmer over high heat, stirring. Continue cooking over high heat, stirring frequently, until the beef and onions are tender and the mixture is still moist but not soupy, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Step 3
As beef cooks, bring a pot of unsalted water to a boil — udon noodles are typically made with plenty of salt in the dough — and cook the udon noodles according to package directions.
- Step 4
To serve, add the soy sauce and mirin to the reserved dashi and stir. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste with more soy sauce or mirin. (The broth should have a balanced savory-sweet flavor.)
- Step 5
Divide the cooked noodles across 4 large serving bowls. Ladle the broth on top of the noodles. Divide the beef and onion mixture evenly across the noodles, including any liquid in the pan. Top each bowl with sliced scallion greens. (You may have extra.) Serve immediately with shichimi togarashi to taste.
You can use instant dashi powder, such as Hondashi, in place of homemade dashi. Katsuobushi, kombu and shichimi togarashi can be found at any Japanese supermarket or many well-stocked Western supermarkets, or ordered online. You can find thinly shaved beef intended for shabu-shabu, sukiyaki or other hot pots at most Asian supermarkets. Alternatively, if you have a source for high-quality shaved beef for cheesesteaks, you can use that. If you can’t find shaved beef, you can use regular ground beef (any fat percentage will do) to achieve different but delicious results.
If you prefer, you can turn this recipe into gyudon (Japanese beef and rice bowls): Omit the noodles and broth (making only enough dashi to cook the beef) and serve the cooked beef mixture on top of bowls of steamed white rice. Garnish with beni shoga (pickled red ginger) and a poached or fried egg.
Private Notes
Comments
Namiko Chen's "Just One Cookbook" (which I access online) has several similar recipes, one of which I make frequently, "Simmered Beef with Ginger". She includes a YouTube tutorial for how to slice meat thin. Put a nicely marbled rib eye or chuck in the freezer for approximately 90 minutes to 2 hours. Remove and slice across the grain as thin as you want. It's that easy and makes these simmered meat dishes much more accessible.
WOW! Made this tonight pretty much to a T and it was wonderful. I only use low-sodium soy sauce so it could have benefited from a bit of extra salt, but that’s an easy adjustment for next time. For those near a Wegmans, they have very nice thin sliced shabu shabu style ribeye - it’s pricey (!) but worked beautifully in this. Used packages of Fortune pre-cooked udon noodles from the regular grocery store shelf (discarded the accompanying flavor packets).
Why would you replace the kombu for a vegetarian dashi? Kombu is kelp and is a sea vegetable. I use dried shiitake steeped in water to make a strong broth concentrate and combine with the kombu. After adding the mirin and soy sauce in the recipe I don't think there will be a big flavor difference between it and awase dashi (I also use a little sake). My vegetarian friends in Japan make vegetarian dashi this way a lot!
Great recipe! I made one modification to the recipe, which was that I browned the onions and beef before deglazing with the dashi and sauces. Although Kenji says that it's unnecessary due to the flavourful ingredients, I thought that there could be little wrong with enhancing the flavour even more. I read about a Pakistani chef, who came from a tradition of not browning meat, and switched over to browning to improve dishes.
I make this about once a week right now. It's so good. I've poured over rice, too. I get NY strip or similar, freeze it it/thaw just enough to shave it off in very this sheets.
How long does katsuibushi last? (I've had some in the pantry for a while and am wondering if it's still okay.)