Homemade Asian Noodles

I discovered even more paving blocks in front of the doghouse, so I dug away a 2meter square area of sod - which may not sound like much but my back will tell you it was a lot of deep matted roots. Obachan gave me some directions about doing something on the lower field and I really didn't get it but I said I would do it tomorrow. I'm thinking it could be fertilizing the soil before I plow but who knows. I sanded the back door and now need to look for primer. I figured I did enough today.

I will make some homemade noodles for dinner. My daughter wanted a homemade cake for her friend's birthday this weekend so I've been baking (needed to practice) and I made a mess in the kitchen, so I figure I might as well just keep making a mess. Soup noodles are quick and easy, I cut mine flat, rather thick and 1/4" wide for variety but these are great for thick udon noodles too.

Noodles:
2 1/2 cups regular flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp oil
1/2 cup warm water

Combine the flour and salt in a big bowl (or your mixer with a heavy duty paddle). Pour in oil and water and stir or mix on lowest speed until dough sticks together. Knead for 5-10 minutes to make an elastic and smooth dough. Let it rest for a couple of hours, covered to prevent it from drying out. Roll it out to the desired thickness (1/8" for udon), roll the dough up and slice it with a sharp knife, dipping the knife into flour if needed. Unroll the noodles and hang them over the side of a bowl while you boil a large pot of salted water. Cook 5-7 minutes. Drain and add cooked noodles to your favorite soup. Serves 3-4. (If you haven't ever done this, try it, you will never buy dried noodles again!)

Our soup tonight is a simple broth made with beef, daikon, onions, soy sauce, mirin, and a little bit of vinegar. At the last minute, we add grated ginger, garlic, green onion and a heap of bok choy and spinach (or any greens on hand). Ideally we should have some slivered carrots in there but we didn't have any. Itadakimasu! (That's what you say before you start to eat.)