Udon Noodles - Alternative?
Posted by NRKevo on Sep 11, 2009 · Member since Jun 2009 · 49 posts
I'm (probably) going to make this recipe some time next week: vegandad.blogspot.com/2009/06/udon-noodles-with-sesame-crusted-tofu.html
I have never heard of Udon Noodles and I don't know if the grocery store I shop at carries them. They might (they've got a LOT of variety), but if they don't, what other noodles can I use?
Udon noodles can be found in most well stocked grocery stores. Look in the Asian foods section of your local giant grocery store or you can find an Oriental market locally. Sometimes the later can be a bit intimidating but they are usually awesome.
If you cannot find either of those use spaghetti noodles. Udon are typically fatter than those but it should be ok.
Personally I dislike fat noodles so if I were to make that I would use Somen which are super thin rice noodles found at either of the above locations as well. But thats just my tastes.
If you can't find udon you may still be able to find soba (an asian buckwheat noodle) which taste good w/most of the same recipes as udon.
There might be udon noodles at your store in two locations -
- refrigerated (along with a few other asian things), pre-made in little packets (and might come with powdered soup stock) it might look something like this:
http://1tess.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/instant-udon-packs-7518.jpg
- dry, in an "ethnic foods" aisle, along with (probably) rice noodles, soba, and maybe somen. looks like:
http://www.sidwainer.com/images/full/Udon-M.jpg
Of the two, I recommend fresh udon.
Like wayneshep said, if you can't find udon, soba is probably next best. Maybe somen after that (but follow directions on the package not to overcook - it's easy to)
I asked for soba noodles once in my Asian store and she handed me Chinese-branded Ramen noodles. Uh, not.
But if you can't get udon, they might be a feasible alternative, the kind that come shaped in a brick. Just don't use the seasoning packet.
Really any kind of pasta can be used. I've used whole grain spaghetti in udon recipes before but use whatever you wish, it's really not going to alter the recipe dramatically.
Thanks everyone for the ideas. We'll see what happens when I go to the grocery store tomorrow.
If you can't find them, I'd go with a whole wheat linguini or another whole grain flat long noodle, and probably break them in half since udon are not as long as spaghetti.