Noodles ── Udon
Teuchi Udon
Teuchi udon — udon dough kneaded, trodden, and cut by hand
Udon whose dough is kneaded from wheat flour and salt water, trodden underfoot to build strength, then cut by hand with a knife. Repeating the cycle of treading, rolling, and folding is said to develop the gluten network that gives the noodle its firm bite and spring. It is served as a fresh, uncooked-and-boiled noodle at its base.
What it's made of
The dough is made from nothing but wheat flour and salt water, with a process added on top to develop the gluten network that gives the noodle its backbone. Repeating the cycle of treading, rolling, and folding is said to work water evenly through the flour and strengthen the gluten, producing a firm bite and real spring. Served freshly cut and freshly boiled is said to be its proper form.
How it's made
Wheat flour is mixed with salt water and kneaded well, then the dough is trodden underfoot. The cycle of treading, rolling out, folding, and treading again is repeated some seven times to build up the noodle's chew, after which the dough rests to mature before being rolled to an even thickness and cut with a knife. This treading, done with the maker's own body weight, is said to produce a spring machines struggle to replicate.
Why it took this shape
The process itself — treading by foot, rolling, cutting by hand — is said to have shaped the basic form of udon as a wheat noodle. Across Sanuki and the other udon-producing regions, treading the dough carefully is passed down as the condition for a firm bite, and shops advertising teuchi udon remain scattered across the country even now that machine-milled noodles have spread widely.
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.