![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/udon1pp.png\" "\\"udon1pp\\"")
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What you see above is my very first udon soup and the unorthodox toppings have only one explanation: I wanted to prepare a ramen soup*. I have been planning it for months, but when I discovered I had a choice between three different broth types, I was unable to take a decision. Hot Summer days were not very motivating either.\u00a0I kept on reading attentively Hiroyuki’s Blog on Japanese Cooking<\/a>, his instructions, recipes, testing his patience with endless questions and discussions… Then, I also searched Nami’s blog<\/a> (Just One Cookbook<\/a>) for all her Japanese soup recipes, asked her some more questions,\u00a0received precious advice and… still hesitated. Thank you both for your patience!<\/p>\n Finally, when it started to rain and the temperature fell, I felt ready for my first ramen,\u00a0but I realised I only had thicker and slightly chewy udon noodles. Then I remembered the questions Charles (from Five Euro Food<\/a>) asked on my blog about a good noodle broth recipe and Hiroyuki’s<\/a> answer (see both\u00a0here<\/a>) and decided to\u00a0switched to kake\u00a0udon idea (\u304b\u3051\u3046\u3069\u3093), in other words, udon soup made with kakejiru broth (meaning “soup for pouring on”).<\/p>\n Even though in some source (such as Shizuo Tsuji’s “Japanese Cooking<\/a>“) kakejiru contains salt and sugar, I sticked to the broth recipe given by Hiroyuki<\/a>, slightly modifying his ingredients ratio (12:1:1). Since I use only low-sodium soy sauce, I doubled it and I must say it was not too salty at all. Finally, I ended up with 25:5:2 ratio for, respectively, (home-made) dashi, soy sauce and mirin and found this broth particularly good and versatile enough to withstand the strong taste of the pork marinated in ginger and garlic. Thank you, Hiroyuki, once more for all your patient and detailed advice!<\/p>\n IMPORTANT UPDATE: Having exchanged several messages with Hiroyuki, I have decided to add something important: if you use instant dashi (containing sodium), stick to Hiroyuki’s original 12:1:1 ratio and adjust the taste afterwards. I was able to add so much soy sauce and created 25:5:5 ratio only because home-made dashi is not salty and because I use low-sodium soy sauce.<\/p>\n The kake udon photos I have seen didn’t feature as many toppings and I admit the garnish was chosen rather to match my original ramen idea. However, I was right to dare it since the soup taste was simply fabulous. Looking at my photo I think I should still work on an efficient method to cut neatly a medium-cooked egg in two… It’s not as easy as I thought!<\/p>\n*Ramen is a nourishing wheat flour noodle soup with different toppings, served in a big bowl and adored by most Westerners, for example my husband.<\/h4>\n