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

Gomadashi udon / wheat noodles with fish sesame paste

Gomadashi udon is simply wheat noodles, fish sesame paste, a garnish and plenty of hot water. It is amazingly simple to prepare, as it was originally developed as a quick warm dish for fishermen coming back from the ocean. To satisfy our taste buds with a smaller amount of reduced-sodium version gomadashi, I use a small amount of dashi instead of hot water and add other goodies for overall umami enhancement and color to stimulate the appetite. This is one of Tom's recent favorites.

1 serving (with 150 g fresh low-sodium udon noodles):
575 calories; 22.6 g protein; 13.6 g fat; 87.9 g carbohydrate; 80.8 g net carbs; 460 mg sodium (with reduced-sodium gomadashi); 118 mg cholesterol; 7.1 g fiber 

1 serving (without udon noodles):
191 calories; 12.8 g protein; 11.0 g fat; 11.6 g carbohydrate; 7.3 g net carbs; 450 mg sodium (with reduced-sodium gomadashi); 115 mg cholesterol; 4.3 g fiber

Tonyu miso nikomi udon / hot-pot udon wheat noodles in red miso and soy milk broth

A personal-size, sizzling hot pot with udon for cold days. The combination of aka miso and soy milk makes this a mild yet deep and satisfying dish. As it is individually cooked in a small clay pot, goody choices can easily be personalized. Even better, each pot can be prepared at a different time -- when noodles, soup and goodies are prepped and ready for assembly, everyone gets to enjoy hot pot simmered just for them, which is perfect for busy days when family members are on different schedules. This dish warms you up from the inside, but you still need to be careful not to burn your mouth!

With 80 g dried udon wheat noodles per serving:
529 calories (1/2 of recipe); 26.8 g protein; 13.3 g fat; 75.4 g carbohydrate; 67.2 g net carbs; 723 mg sodium (with shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce); 214 mg cholesterol; 8.2 g fiber

Somen no tonyu tsuketsuyu / soy milk dipping sauce for thin wheat noodles

This mild and rich soy milk-based dipping sauce is quite filling. Pair it with somen or hiyamugi noodles or thin udon noodles accompanied by goodies for a more substantial meal. Among condiments, ginger goes especially well with this dipping sauce, so grate more than usual.

1/2 of recipe:
184 calories; 9.3 g protein; 12.8 g fat; 9.8 g carbohydrate; 7.6 g net carbs; 191 mg sodium (with shoyukoji made with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce);  0 mg cholesterol; 2.2 g fiber 

When served with 100 g (dry) somen noodles with 1/2-egg kinshitamago (julienned egg crepe), a small bunch of blanched mizuna, fresh kaiware daikon radish sprouts, 3 grilled spot shrimp and condiments (small knob ginger, 2 purple shiso leaves, 1/2 green onion) per serving:
641 calories; 30.8 g protein; 18.6 g fat; 83.8 g carbohydrate; 78.2 g net carbs; 442 mg sodium; 175 mg cholesterol; 5.6 g fiber 

Kamatama udon / hot wheat noodles with egg and soy sauce

The udon-version equivalent of tamago-kake gohan! The dish is as simple as its rice counterpart but with more variety, because of the endless possibilities of toppings. This one is kama-age udon, where udon noodles are not chilled (and reheated) after boiling. The method naturally leaves the surface of udon slightly rough, which lets noodles mingle with sauce better for a richer taste. Toppings for kamatama udon (kama-age udon with egg) can be as minimal as chopped green onion or as elaborate as including mentaiko spicy salted pollack roe, nori seaweed, cheese, and so on. Below is our favorite, a simple combination of green onion, chives, toasted white sesame seeds and agetama tempura pearls.   

1/2 of recipe:
451 calories; 12.2 g protein; 8.7 g fat; 73.6 g carbohydrate; 70.7 g net carbs; 798 mg sodium (with nama shoyu fresh soy sauce; 701 mg with 50% reduced-sodium soy sauce; 857 mg with regular soy sauce); 210 mg cholesterol; 2.9 g fiber

Somen, udon no tsuketsuyu / dipping sauce for somen or udon noodles

Strong dashi is the key to a flavorful dipping sauce.

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.