Japanese Curry Udon (Vegan)

5 from 3 votes

A great combination of chewy udon noodles and tasty Japanese curry. This curry udon is really comforting and easy to put together with a few key ingredients. This vegan version uses kombu and shiitake mushrooms for the dashi along with fresh mushrooms of choice.

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Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Course Main Course

Cuisine Asian, East Asian, Japanese

Servings serving

Calories 373 kcal

Ingredients

1 small white onion sliced
5.2 oz mushrooms of choice - chopped or separated (I used shimeji and shiitake mushrooms)
Neutral oil for cooking
1 tbsp sake
2.25 to 2.5 cups vegan dashi (see notes)
1.5 cubes Japanese curry roux/block - I used S&B (see notes) 40 g
Pinch salt to taste
Pinch sugar to taste
2 tsp soy sauce , optional to taste
1 serving udon , I used sanuki udon (see notes)
Japanese chili oil (layu) or chili powder , optional for extra heat
Green onions for garnish

Instructions

Heat a medium sized pot over medium. Once hot, add the oil.
Sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes until translucent.
Add the mushrooms and allow to cook until lightly brown. Add the sake and leave to evaporate over medium heat.
Pour the vegan dashi or stock into the pot.
For the curry cubes, I like to chop these into smaller pieces to dissolve easily.
Place the cubes in a small strainer or laddle with holes. Submerge into the soup and mix to dissolve.
Season the curry with salt, sugar and soy sauce, to taste, if desired.
Leave the curry to simmer over medium low heat until it starts to thicken.
For the udon, I used frozen sanuki udon and simply microwaved the noodles for around 2 minutes in a bowl with a lid until chewy. You can also boil the udon until chewy and separated.
Once the curry has thickened, you can add more dashi or stock to run it down, if desired. I personally prefer a thicker soup base to coat the noodles.
Pour the soup over the noodles. Top with green onions. Finish with some chili oil or powder for extra heat, if you'd like. Enjoy while hot!

WATCH Video

https://youtube.com/shorts/NehHOWvlpjI

Notes

DASHI

For the vegan kombu-shiitake dashi, I soaked 2 dried shiitake mushrooms and one 4x6" sheet of dried kombu in water overnight. You can also soak this for 2-3 hours in hot water. Do not wash the kombu since the white powdery substance packs umami. Be sure to cut some slits onto the kombu to release more flavors.
What to do with rehydrated sheets of kombu? You can make kombu tsukudani or simmered kombu!

SAKE

You can also use mirin and skip the sugar since mirin has more sugar content.

UDON

I used frozen sanuki udon. I love the chewiness of this particular udon.

CURRY CUBES

I used the brand S&B for the curry cubes. They have mild to hot curry cubes that specifically state ' No meat contained' on the packaging.
I find that S&B curry cubes have very good concentrated flavor so I no longer have to season these unlike other brands that I've tried, which were a bit less flavorful.

NUTRITIONAL INFO

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