Favourite Ingredient: Yutaka Frozen Udon Noodles

I recently wrote a Favourite Ingredient post about Mizkan Oigatsuo Tsuyu Bonito Soup Base, which makes a wonderful soup that deserves to be paired with the best quality noodles you can find. I think Yutaka’s frozen udon noodles are more than worthy. I’ve eaten many brands of instant udon but none of them match the wonderful chewiness of frozen udon. 

I still buy wok-ready udon, which can’t be beaten for convenience and are perfectly decent in an everyday stir-fry, but I use frozen udon when I’m cooking something a bit more special. They remind me of fresh udon that I’ve eaten in restaurants and are incredibly easy to cook: place a frozen block into a bowl, pour over freshly boiled water, gently separate the noodles then drain after one minute and they’re ready to be stir-fried or added to soup.

The only supermarket I’ve found that sells Yutaka frozen udon is Ocado but some specialist online retailers stock them too. One pack costs £2.89 and contains three servings so they’re a little more expensive than the non-frozen versions but I think they’re worth it. If I had unlimited freezer space I would fill my drawers with these wonderful noodles and I suppose that’s the only (tiny) downside - freezer space can be harder to come by than cupboard space but I can’t be without these irresistible udon so I’m more than happy to give them a dedicated corner in my freezer.