Umami Bomb Udon

Instructions

1. Prepare the noodles. You can use either frozen or fresh udon, or any noodles you have on hand, but you’ll love slurping up those chewy Japanese noodles in this velvety miso-based sauce. Boil water and cook them according to the package instructions, making sure to save a couple of tablespoons (30 to 60 ml) of the noodle water.
2. Instead of draining the noodles, use tongs or chopsticks to pull them out of the water and directly into your serving bowl, which will save you from needing to use a colander while also warming up your bowl and keeping a bit of residual starchy noodle water with the noodles.
3. Cook the mushrooms while the noodles are boiling. I love having frozen mushooms in my freezer since they’re always frozen at their peak freshness, but you can use fresh mushrooms (like cremini or wild mushrooms) or even dried, rehydrated shiitake mushrooms to add the “meaty” component to this dish. Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, then add your choice of mushrooms and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the mushrooms have browned. Don’t worry about any excess liquid that develops in the pan—this will add extra mushroom flavor to the sauce!
4. Prepare the miso-Parmigiano sauce while the mushrooms are cooking. In a small bowl, beat the large egg with the grated Parmigiano Reggiano, miso paste, doubanjiang, if using, and combine with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the hot noodle water in a small bowl. This will thin out the miso paste and make it easier to combine in the sauce.
5. Add the udon to the cooked mushrooms, tossing to coat the noodles in the residual mushroom oil and water.
6. Turn off the heat, pour the egg mixture onto the noodles and quickly use tongs or chopsticks to stir the sauce into the noodles while shaking the pan around; this “agitation” process will allow the egg mixture to cook into a velvety sauce instead of scrambled eggs. Add more noodle water if needed to get the right sauce consistency. If you feel comfortable, you can toss the noodles in the pan to do the agitation process instead of using tongs or chopsticks.
7. Plate your noodles by transferring them to your serving bowl. Using your fingers or a spoon, garnish the noodles with the chopped scallions by forming a ring in the center of the bowl that’s about the size of the egg yolk, then carefully place the egg yolk in the center of that ring.
8. Top everything with a generous amount of fresh ground pepper, more grated Parmesan and crushed red pepper, if using. Take a quick photo of your beautiful creation before breaking the yolk onto your noodles and stirring everything together to enjoy.