Noodles ── Udon
Kitsune Udon
Kitsune Udon — udon topped with sweet-simmered fried tofu
Said to have begun in Osaka's Semba district, this pairs udon with fried tofu simmered sweet and salty. It's cherished as the archetype of Osaka udon: kelp-and-dried-fish dashi over a noodle that's not too thick and pleasantly chewy.
- Origin: Osaka City, Osaka
- About 400 km west of Tokyo
What it's made of
The core is udon topped with fried tofu simmered sweet and salty. The dashi runs mainly on true kelp and mixed dried fish, finished with scallion, kamaboko, and yuzu as garnish. The noodle itself is meant to be not too thick and pleasantly chewy, built to take up the dashi well.
How it's made
Dashi is drawn from true kelp and mixed dried fish, then seasoned with sugar and salt. The fried tofu is simmered separately, sweet and salty, in its own dashi. Boiled udon is doused in the broth and topped with the tofu and garnish. Preparing the tofu and dashi separately is said to be the point of the effort.
Why it took this shape
In 1893, at a Semba udon shop called Matsubaya, a customer is said to have topped a plain bowl with fried tofu, and that became the dish's start. The name kitsune (fox) is said to trace to a folk belief that foxes favor fried tofu. In Osaka, kitsune specifically means the udon version; soba with the same topping is called tanuki instead.
Before you go
- How to read a ticket machineShops that use a ticket machine (shokken-ki) often place their most popular items in a similar spot.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
- What staff say, and how to respondCommon set phrases you'll hear at restaurants, with what they mean and what to do when you hear them. You don't need to memorize them — just recognizing them is enough.
Dishes in the same style
- Bukkake UdonUdon boiled and chilled in cold water, then doused directly with a concentrated sauce. Scallion and grated daikon go on top, and mixing everything together boldly is said to be the standard way of eating it. A hot version, using warm broth instead, is also said to exist.
- Chikara UdonKake udon topped with a piece of grilled mochi. The name is said to trace to mochi's reputation as a food that "gives you strength," carrying more calories than plain rice. In the Kinki region it is also called kachin udon, from okachin, an old courtly word for mochi.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Also from Osaka
- AkanekoSteamed sticky rice pounded with wheat flour is dusted with sugar and soybean flour — also called hangesho mochi, for the rite marking the end of rice planting. The whole-ground wheat flour once left the mochi brownish, said to resemble a cat's round back and give the dish its name.
- BatteraThin slices of vinegared mackerel and white kelp sheet are pressed together in a wooden mold. A sushi shop in Minami-Senba is said to have devised it in 1891, naming it after the Portuguese word for a small boat because the original version, made with konoshiro, resembled one.
- Beni Shoga TenThin slices of red ginger, pickled in plum vinegar, are battered and deep-fried. The plum vinegar's tang and the ginger's bite are said to suit drinks well, and the fritter appears as a one-sen tempura in Sakunosuke Oda's 1940 novella 'Meoto Zenzai,' evidence of how long it has fed ordinary Osakans.
- Beni-zuiki to Aburaage no TaitanBeni-zuiki, reddish taro leaf-stalks that can grow to 2 meters tall, is soaked in vinegared water to remove its bitterness, then simmered with fried tofu in dashi and soy sauce — a summer obanzai dish. Its spongy cross-section is said to soak up flavor well, and it has been named a Naniwa specialty product.
- Dote YakiParboiled beef tendon simmers for a long time against a bank of miso and mirin piled around the pan's edge like a levee, or dote. Rich and sweet-savory, it pairs well with drinks and is said to be a beloved downtown Osaka food, with many shops concentrated in the Shinsekai district.
- EhomakiA thick sushi roll eaten whole and in silence while facing the year's auspicious direction on Setsubun, the last day of winter. Its origin is not settled, but theories passed down include a game among the geisha quarters and a prayer for prosperity by Osaka's Semba merchant houses.