Dear Schumann,

I don’t know if you’d like this dish, but I suspect that you will because you hate mixing cold food with hot ones. And in this case, everything is the same temperature – hot kimchi and hot udon noodles.

I was also reminded of you because of your recent trip to Korea and Japan where you said that the food – and udon – was tastier over there. More importantly, how you said the udon there wasn’t round like the ones we buy in supermarkets here. Well, I didn’t find any flat udon noodles, but this recipe caught my eye and it was well worth it. I gave it two taste tests, each a week apart and have decided this deserves a spot in my meal planning repertoire.  Especially because it’s so fast and easy to make, perfect for busy week nights!

Kimchi Udon with Scallions
Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
Makes 2 servings

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 cup kimchi, plus ⅓ cup kimchi juice
2 tablespoons gochujang
½ cup chicken broth
2-3 pre-portioned frozen udon noodles
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
3 scallions, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced on a diagonal
1 tablespoon furikake

1. Boil water in a large pot.
2. Turn your stove on to medium-high heat and put in 2 tablespoons of butter, the kimchi, and gochujang. Let it cook for about 4 minutes, give it a stir occasionally.
3. Add in the chicken broth and kimchi juice, bring the sauce to a simmer, about 3 minutes.
4. When the water is boiling, put in the frozen udon and cook according to the directions on the package.
5. Drain the water using a sieve when the udon is done cooking. Then transfer it into the sauce. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Toss and coat the udon in the butter and sauce for about 2 minutes.
6. Divide into two bowls, top with egg yolk or sunny-side up egg. Sprinkle with scallions and furikake.
7. Mix the egg yolk in to coat the udon. Enjoy!

The egg yolk is probably the best part. The first week, I fried up sunny-side eggs because I didn’t want to waste the egg whites. It was just as good because there’s some nice crispy texture and creamy egg yolk to go with it.

The second week, I did just the egg yolk as the recipe instructed and found it heavenly too. The hot udon noodles were coated with the creamy yolk and was just as delicious. Howard, who doesn’t like runny eggs at all, had to agree that the yolk made the dish. Validation!

We’ve also been obsessed with furikake lately. It goes great on plain white rice and as a salt substitute. Instead of seasoning with salt and pepper, I’ve been using this sesame seed, seaweed, ground fish, sugar, and salt mixture.

Next time you come over, I’ll make you this. I’m starting to keep frozen udon as a staple in my freezer now. I don’t know understand the ramen craze that much, but if udon started becoming more popular here, I could get on that train. So far, Inspire Restaurant‘s udon carbonara, Kinka Izakaya‘s kimchi udon, and MeNami‘s salmon cream udon and black sesame udon have me going back.

Sincerely,
Syl