Raccoon and Lobster

It’s been over two weeks since my last recipe posting, and you would not be remiss for thinking that I have given up eating. The truth is that I just haven’t been any baking, and most of my cooking doesn’t seem blog-worthy. Lacking in anything else to blog about, however, I am resigned to posting these pseudo-recipes. I’ve been eating a lot of udon lately, it’s a great way to get a quick, hot, and healthy meal after a chilly late night run. I thought I was quite a genius for my time saving trick of using bacon instead of the traditional slices of roast pork, but Google cruelly informs me that many a chef has already made this discovery.

This should be regarded as a very rough guide to making your own udon bowl. Sprouts, green onion, egg, bok choy, and wakame are all common ingredients in udon, and you can also make a more traditional udon broth with dashi, soy sauce, and mirin.

Miso Udon with Mushrooms, Spinach, Tofu and Bacon

4 cups water
3 tablespoons miso paste
1 serving dried udon noodles
½ cup dried wood ear mushrooms
½ cup enoki mushrooms
2-4 ounces tofu (I use tofu cutlet, aka atsuage tofu)
3 large handfuls of spinach
1 slice of thick cut bacon, chopped into large pieces

Boil the water, add the miso paste and udon noodles, and reduce the heat to a low boil. Typical cooking time for dried noodles is 12 minutes, so after 5-6 minutes, throw in the mushrooms and tofu. When the noodles are almost done, add the spinach and bacon. When the bacon is done (approx 1 minute or less), you are ready to eat.