Gomoku ankake udon / wheat noodles with thickened soup and assorted ingredients

Udon often is mentioned as a good choice when feeling unwell. When made with hot, thickened soup, it warms your body from inside. Noodles and warm soup alone is the basic foundation. Ginger -- either grated, finely julienned or only the squeezed juice -- intensifies the warming effect while adding a zesty note and aroma to your soup. Select and cook goodies according to your appetite and condition. While everything is simmered in broth starting with the toughest item below, goodies can be grilled or fried and added to the soup for those who want more texture. This is also a nice dish for chilly days.

The broth's sodium content is on the low end (0.7%), and partly because of the amount of vegetables and mushrooms, it might be too weak for those who have not been on a reduced sodium diet. Adjust the taste to your preferred level at the end.

1/2 of recipe (with virtually sodium-free homemade udon noodles):
480 calories; 22.0 g protein; 3.2 g fat; 87.0 g carbohydrate; 82.9 g net carbs; 651 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium regular soy sauce and shiokoji salted rice malt); 72 mg cholesterol; 4.1 g fiber

Shoyu raamen / ramen with soy sauce flavored soup

One of the standard ramen noodle variations in Japan comes with soy sauce flavored broth. Here is a tasty example topped with asparagus and eringi saute for spring and early summer. A combination of homemade chicken stock with a soft ginger aroma and niboshi-kobu-shiitake dashi (dried young sardine, kelp & dried shiitake stock) provides a flavorful underlying tone.

Proportion of seasonings was figured out backwards, starting from total sodium figures and the salt level needed to ensure tasty results, and it did work like magic after several trials and adjustment. Once you get the right proportion of seasonings, this is pretty simple to make and satisfies your taste buds.

1/2 of recipe:
427 calories; 18.2 g protein; 5.9 g fat; 74.7 g carbohydrate; 8.4 g net carbs; 500 mg sodium (with koikuchi shoyu regular soy sauce & shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 27 mg cholesterol; 5.3 g fiber; 450 mg potassium

Miso yasai raamen / vegetable ramen noodles with miso-flavored soup

Finally, a sodium-savvy ramen with plenty of vegetables and great-tasting soup! More toppings mean more soup going into your mouth, especially when toppings are cut or sliced into small sizes, as a greater surface area is likely to carry more soup into your mouth. So for a reduced-sodium version, having lots of toppings is counter-intuitive, yet we opted for julienned vegetables for the extra flavor they add.

After being on a reduced-sodium diet for more than three and a half years, this is quite salty for us and definitely tasty. The recipe below is at the low end of the sodium content spectrum (soup has a salt level of 0.8% whereas soup at ramen shops averages 1.5%). Feel free to add more seasonings to taste, at your own risk ...


1/2 of recipe (approx. half of soup left in bowl): 
515 calories; 17.0 g protein; 9.3 g fat; 88.1 g carbohydrate; 15.8 g net carbs; 781 mg sodium* (with reduced-sodium miso and shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 11 mg cholesterol; 7.5 g fiber; 706 mg potassium 
*Stir-fried vegetable toppings alone contain 100 mg sodium per serving.

Satsumaimo to ebi no tai reddo karee / Thai red curry noodles with sweet potatoes and shrimp

Once ingredients are prepped or chopped, it takes less than 30 minutes to cook this tasty, warm and filling dish served with noodles of your choice. Shoyukoji soy sauce rice malt and kurozu brown rice vinegar work their magic yet again here to minimize the amount of nampla as well as sodium-loaded red curry paste.

1/2 recipe (curry only, noodles are excluded):
311 calories; 16.2 g protein; 14.7 g fat; 30.0 g carbohydrate; 24.3 g net carbs; 622 mg sodium (with shoyukoji made of 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 99 mg cholesterol; 5.7 g fiber

Shirunashi tantan men / dan dan mian noodles

Yummy dan dan noodles featuring okara-konnyaku bits and Chinese-flavored green olives. The numbing spiciness of hua jiao Sichuan peppercorns is intriguing in this dish. One of the big hits in our kitchen this year.
Use fewer noodles if adding more vegetables or other unflavored goodies, as the amount of sauce is on the low end below.

1/2 of recipe:
523 calories; 14.2 g protein; 16.2 g fat; 81.6 g carbohydrate; 75.6 g net carbs; 497 mg sodium (with lower sodium seasonings); 0.2 mg cholesterol; 6.0 g fiber

1/2 of recipe without noodles:
177 calories; 4.2 g protein; 14.2 g fat; 9.6 g carbohydrate; 5.6 g net carbs; 439 mg sodium (with lower sodium seasonings); 0.2 mg cholesterol; 4.0 g fiber 

Teuchi udon / handmade wheat noodles

Udon noodles made without adding salt! Using boiling water for dough appears to be a common technique with commercially available salt-free udon. But they don't share other secrets to achieve a chewy yet sticky texture. Some people suggest using milk or tofu as a (partial) replacement for water, while others say water alone gives satisfactory results. Below is my best attempt so far, based on a bread-making technique using yudane water roux (flour gelatinization).

1/2 recipe (average to large 1-person portion):
385 calories; 10.5 g protein; 2.8 g fat; 75.2 g carbohydrate; 73.1 g net carbs; 14 mg sodium (basically 0 mg after boiling); 3 mg cholesterol; 2.1 g fiber

Whole recipe:
770 calories; 21.1 g protein; 5.5 g fat; 150.4 g carbohydrate; 146.2 g net carbs; 28 mg sodium (basically 0 mg after boiling); 6 mg cholesterol; 4.2 g fiber

Seri soba / buckwheat noodles with water dropwort

The refreshing leaves and crispy stems of seri water dropwort, the subtle softness of enoki mushrooms, and the juicy soup released by usuage ... all perfectly match the deep earthiness of soba noodles in broth.
This is what we enjoyed as our toshikoshi soba [year-end buckwheat noodles] on December 31 last year.

With 125 g dried soba noodles per serving
522 calories (1/2 of recipe); 24.0 g protein; 6.7 g fat; 90.8 g carbohydrate; 84.2 g net carbs; 536 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 0 mg cholesterol; 6.6 g fiber

With 100 g dried soba noodles per serving
436 calories (1/2 of recipe); 20.5 g protein; 6.1 g fat; 74.1 g carbohydrate; 68.4 g net carbs; 515 mg sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 0 mg cholesterol; 5.7 g fiber

Kiriboshi-daikon to itokon iri yasai yakisoba / vegetable fried noodles with julienned dried daikon radish and konnyaku noodles

Packaged yakisoba noodles with seasoning packs are loaded with sodium -- many products have over 1,000mg per serving. Avoiding them is one solution, but there are other things we can do, such as adding noodle-like ingredients to replace part of the noodles in the package and tweaking seasonings. Kiriboshi-daikon julienned dried daikon radish, one of the noodle substitutes here, has a chewy texture and is rich in fiber and full of umami, providing more than a few advantages. Another yakisoba noodle substitute, itokonnyaku noodles, make this dish low in calories.
One pack of noodles and one pack of seasoning make two servings.

1/2 of recipe:
248 calories; 7.3 g protein; 3.7 g fat; 47.8 g carbohydrate; 39.4 g net carbs; 488 mg sodium; 2 mg cholesterol; 8.4 g fiber

Shinshu-mushi / white-flesh fish steamed with soba noodles

A gentle steamed fish dish accompanied by soba buckwheat noodles.

1/2 of recipe:
272 calories; 24.3 g protein; 1.3 g fat; 41.7 g carbohydrate; 38.1 g net carbs; 395 sodium (with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce; 481 mg with regular soy sauce); 55 mg cholesterol; 3.6 g fiber

Negi to shoga no ae-men / oyster sauce flavored Chinese noodles with green onions and ginger

So simple and tasty! The combination of green onions and ginger is pungent and fresh, and provides a great contrast to the deep taste of oyster sauce. The sauce can be made with oyster sauce and water only; in the recipe below, I used chicken stock and a few other ingredients to control the sodium and give extra umami. One of my favorite lunch noodles.

Whole recipe:
303 calories; 11.5 g protein; 6.0 g fat; 50.9 g carbohydrate; 47.8 g net carbs; 556 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 3.1 g fiber

Harusame to chingensai no itameni / saute-simmered mung bean vermicelli and baby bok choy

This is a reduced-sodium version of harusame to komatsuna no itameni (saute-simmered mung bean vermicelli and komatsuna) with a different vegetable. While I cut back on both oyster sauce and tobanjan chili bean paste, I added taka no tsume red chili pepper, Shaoxing wine and a small amount of shiokoji salted rice malt to achieve the right spiciness, saltiness and umami. It’s as tasty as the original recipe!

1/3 of recipe:
95 calories; 1.7 g protein; 1.7 g fat; 17.9 g carbohydrate; 15.4 g net carbs; 329 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 2.5 g fiber

Daizu moyashi yakisoba / fried noodles with soybean sprouts

Soybean sprouts stay relatively crispy, making this yakisoba dish look and feel much bigger than it really is. Crunchy soybeans are an additional plus for the overall texture.

Yosenabe / hot pot with assorted ingredients

A very light yet satisfying nabe hot pot served with ponzujoyu citrus-flavored soy sauce. One of the first dishes that comes to our minds when finding fresh fish in winter. Add lots of vegetables to make the broth soft yet deep.

Sakana to harusame no nikomi / deep-fried white fish simmered with mung bean vermicelli

A soothing, filling and warming dish for a chilly day.

Somen / plain cold somen noodles with dipping sauce

A standard summer dish of cold flour noodles. These thin noodles are a great choice on scorching hot days when you have little appetite -- they cool you down from the inside.

Yasai yakisoba, shoyu-aji / fried noodles with vegetables, soy sauce flavor

Yakisoba is a popular food for local festivals, school events and outdoor cooking on the riverbank or lakeside. Here is a light, simple version with soy sauce and oyster sauce.

Harusame to komatsuna no itameni / saute-simmered mung bean vermicelli and komatsuna

A simple mung bean vermicelli dish flavored with oyster sauce. Dried shiitake mushrooms add an earthy depth.

1/3 of recipe :
103 calories per serving; 2.1 g protein; 2.3 g fat; 18.3 g carbohydrate; 16.6 g net carbs; 489 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 1.7 g fiber

1/2 of recipe:
155 calories per serving (; 3.2 g protein; 3.5 g fat; 27.5 g carbohydrate; 24.9 g net carbs; 734 mg sodium; 0 mg cholesterol; 2.6 g fiber

Hiyashi kakeudon / cold udon noodles in soup

A cold udon noodle dish for hot days. You can enjoy endless variations by changing toppings. Here is a simple example with ginger, green onion and semi-cooked egg.

Yasai chuka yakisoba / Chinese stir-fried noodles with vegetables

Slice any vegetables you find in your fridge or on your kitchen counter and throw them in! The flavors of multiple vegetables blend together and give mild depth to this common dish. Dried shiitake mushrooms add an extra earthy note.

Biifun / Taiwanese fried rice noodles

My favorite rice noodle dish since my Taiwan days.