Tempura Udon Soup

Japanese Comfort Food

You are just going to love Shrimp Tempura Udon Noodles because it has comfort food written all over it. Super long al dente thick udon noodles and nourishing broth that is going to warm you all the way down to your soul. It's just what the doctor ordered.

Soup Season

Shrimp tempura udon soup is the BEST go back to school recipe. Kids and adults just adore this recipe. With the start of the new school year there is always new friends and a whole new set of bugs to share as well.

The kids start with their sniffles and coughs and a little dashi based soup or our immune boosting soup will get them sorted right away. There is something so comforting and nourishing about udon noodles in that special broth.

Slurping Noodles in Japan

We just love slurping our noodles. In Japan, it is very common practice to hear people slurping up their noodles. Loud slurping may be rude in the U.S. However in Japan it is considered a compliment to the chef. So, slurp away dear friends!

We use the special spoon to drink the broth and chopsticks to eat the noodles. These udon noodles are so long you can't help but slurp!

What are Udon Noodles?

Udon noodles are thick white Japanese wheat based noodles. Often, they come pre-cooked and are delicious in our beef sukiyaki udon recipe. They can also be purchased fresh or dried.

You can find udon noodles in the Asian or your local grocery stores in the frozen food section. Individual servings are frozen in sections making them very convenient. It takes only takes 1-2 minutes in boiling water and you are done.

If you are celiac, there are also gluten-free udon noodles available via Amazon. We have tried Kobayashi Noodle's Gluten Free Fresh Noodles. They are made from non-GMO 100% Japanese white rice or brown rice and they are quite nice.

Umami Broth Ingredients

The broth is the heart of this delicious udon tempera soup. It's simply made with...

• Dashi is a delightful cooking stock used in Japanese cooking. It helps accentuate the umami flavor. Dashi usually contains dried bonito (dried fish), konbu (edible kelp), dried shiitake mushrooms and sometimes other dried fish like baby anchovies.  You can find dashi in an Asian food store or buy online. The brand we used Is Anjinmoto Hondashi. You can also find this in your local grocery store down the Asian foods isle.
• Dried shiitake mushrooms - you can find these in Asian food stores and on Amazon. Be sure to save the water from rehydrating the mushrooms as that will be used as the soup base.
• Tamari (soy) sauce
• Mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine used for cooking. Mirin is like sake but is sweeter. If you cannot find Mirin you can use a sweet marsala wine. Kikkoman makes a mirin type cooking wine called “Aji- mirin” which means tastes like mirin.

Substitutions and Variations

If you want to make this tempura udon soup recipe vegan or cannot find dashi then use a vegetable broth. Combine the vegetable broth with the shiitake mushroom broth from rehydrating. Then add mirin and soy sauce (tamari sauce). If you are celiac of suffer from gluten intolerance you will want to make the vegan version as dashi is not gluten-free.

How to Rehydrate Shiitake Mushrooms

• Place a handful of dried shiitake mushrooms in a bowl.
• Cover the mushrooms with boiling water.
• Use a small plate to hold down the mushrooms in the bowl.
• Soak mushrooms for 30 minutes or until soft.

We added this delicious shiitake mushroom broth in our soup broth and in our soup as a garnish. If you have any extra, be sure to try our pork and shiitake mushroom stir fry.

How to Make Tempura Shrimp?

• Peel shrimp but leave the tail on.
• Remove the veins from the shrimp.
• Lay the shrimp on a cutting board belly side up and make small slices horizontally across the shrimp being careful not to cut all the way through.
• Next, carefully press the shrimp into the cutting board to make flat. It will make a slight crunching sound. The goal is to get the shrimp to lay completely flat.
• Dip your shrimp into the potato starch/ corn starch to dust on all side and shake off the excess.
• Next dip your shrimp into the wet tempura batter on all sides and then slowly and carefully place your shrimp into the hot oil for frying.
• Fry the shrimp for about 1 to 1.5 minutes. You will know when your shrimp are done because then you pick up the shrimp they will be crispy on all side and the shrimp will stay firm and will not limp.

Recipe Tips

• Buy whole raw shrimp with the tail on. Leaving the tail on makes for a super cute shrimp tempura.
• Scrape and remove the black from the tail as this helps prevent some of the splashing during the frying. The tail can hold hidden moisture.
• Make sure you dry your shrimp with a paper towel well.
• Preheat your cooking oil to about 180 degrees C (360 degrees F). Your oil should sizzle when you put in a little bit of the tempura batter. Your oil should not be so hot that it is smoking.
• We used a premade tempura batter mix and mixed it with super iced cold seltzer water. The reason why the water needs to be iced cold as it prevents the gluten in the flour from activating. If glutens start to activate, this can make the tempura batter tough or heavy.
• If you cannot find premade tempura batter mix, replace with cake batter, an egg and water/seltzer water instead.
• Do not overmix the tempura batter as this will cause the glutens to activate and make your batter tough. Just toss the tempura flour mixture and the seltzer water or water just until combined. It will still have lumps and that is perfect. Lumpy tempura batter is preferred.
• Keep your batter cool while frying your shrimp. We put a bowl of ice under our tempura batter bowl to keep the batter cool.
• Do not overcrowd your frying vessel with too many shrimp at a time. This may lower the temperature of your oil and the shrimp tempura may stick together. It goes fast so just do 1-2 at a time.
• We always season our tempura with a little salt immediately upon coming out of the fryer.