Udon Noodle Pork Soup

Winter is coming…. get your soup bowls ready.

Well, eating a bowl of soup is not as ominous as Game of Thrones but if you’re a fan, you’ve probably said “winter is coming” as many times as I have. Chilly weather is soup weather and when it’s cold outside, I stay indoors, cozy under a blanket with a steaming bowl of soup warming my hands. Our leftovers end up in soup most of the time and this Udon Noodle Pork Soup recipe was inspired by left over pork roast.

I divided the roast. Some to use for the broth, and the rest to garnish our soup with. I realized the soup wouldn’t be flavorful unless I added soup bones and made a stock. I made a quick run to Ellwood’s for Udon, Soup Bones, Pickled Ginger, and Gomashio (toasted sesame and sea salt). I sound like I know what I’m doing but in reality, I grabbed every Japanese cooking ingredient from the shelf that won’t break the bank.

The soup stock  simmered on the stove for a few hours, while I readied the other ingredients for the Udon Noodle Pork Soup.   I boiled some eggs, chopped some green onions and pickled ginger, and added salt and pepper to the Gomasshio.  The Udon was prepared last and cooked per package instructions.

One of the things I love when I eat at Japanese restaurants, is the attractive presentation.   I had a lot of fun shopping and preparing this recipe. A bowl of noodle soup is not an extravagant meal but it becomes something special when simple ingredients compliment each other and are presented with care.

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Udon Noodle Pork Soup

Ingredients for Soup Stock:
Soup Bones
Water
Pork (Roasted)
Red and Green Onions
Turnips Sliced
Garlic
Soy Sauce
Salt and pepper
Sugar (optional)

Ingredients for Garnish:
Boiled Eggs
Sliced Roast Pork
Green Onions chopped
Pickled Ginger chopped
Sliced Turnips cooked in Stock (above)
Gomasshio seasoned with pepper and salt

Instructions:
1. Prepare stock by adding ingredients in a soup pot, bring to a boil, then simmer for at least 2 hours.
2. Boil eggs, peel and cut in half. Make sure the yolk is set and not runny. (link to perfectly boiled eggs below)
3. Chop green onions and pickled ginger
4. Cook Udon per package instructions and drain
5. Place Udon in a bowl and arrange garnish ingredients on top of noodles/udon.
6. Pour soup stock over the bowl and serve hot.

Enjoy!

A helpful link: Perfect Boiled Eggs