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Inaniwa Udon (Thin, Hand-Stretched Dried Udon in Hot Broth)

Name: Inaniwa Udon (Thin, Hand-Stretched Dried Udon in Hot Broth)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 320 g dried Inaniwa udon; 1.4 L bonito dashi; 4 tbsp light soy sauce (usukuchi); 3 tbsp mirin; 0.5 tsp salt; 200 g nameko mushrooms; 4 spring onions

Dried udon stretched by hand in Inaniwa, Akita. Pulled rather than cut, it is thin and flat, and tiny air pockets inside make it slip down smoothly. Served hot in a clear dashi broth with nameko mushrooms and spring onion.

Steps

Heat the dashi with the light soy sauce, mirin and salt. Add the nameko and simmer for 2 minutes.
⏲ 2 min
Boil the noodles in plenty of water for the time on the packet, stirring once at the start so they do not stick.
⏲ 4 min
Move them to cold water, rub them gently and drain.
Just before serving, dip the noodles briefly in boiling water to warm them and put them in warm bowls.
⏲ 20 sec
Pour the broth over and top with the nameko and spring onion.

Variations

Cold. Rinsed noodles dipped in chilled tsuyu.
Half-dried. Shops in the area, and some regional stores elsewhere, sell a half-dried version.
Inaniwa sōmen. Sōmen made the same way.

Tips

These noodles are not cut. They are stretched by hand, more like sōmen.
Thin and flat. Thicker than hiyamugi, but flat in section.
The smoothness comes from air. The hollow inside makes them slip down.
The dusting powder is starch. Not flour.
Follow the packet for the time. Dried noodles vary from maker to maker.

More detail and the reasons why (2)

Twisted to hollow them out. According to Japanese Wikipedia, Inaniwa udon is made in a way closer to sōmen than to udon. The dough is kneaded while being twisted, a step peculiar to it, which leaves air bubbles inside the noodle so that it is hollow, and that is where its smooth texture comes from. Ordinary udon is rolled thick and cut with a knife, so the two are made from opposite directions.
Once a family secret. It is said to have been started before the Kanbun era by Satō Ichibei of Inaniwa village, and it was prized enough for the domain lord to send it as a gift to other domains. The method stayed a secret of the Inaniwa family until 1972; once it was opened, production rose sharply and many more people came to eat it.