Cooking is a passion for many people, and one of the main reasons is the fact that you can combine all sorts of ingredients at your home and create something new every time. Japanese cuisine is known for using a plethora of different toppings and ingredients, so you might have come across a person who has combined udon and sushi so the question is – “What is udon sushi?”.
Udon sushi does not exist as a traditional Japanese recipe, and to be honest, it is truly an odd combination since udon is the name for wheat noodles, and sushi is a rice dish prepared usually with seaweed and seafood. Such a combination can certainly not be found in any authentic Japanese restaurant.
Udon Sushi Does Not Exist as a Traditional Recipe
People like to experiment a lot when preparing food, and, after all, freedom is one of the main beauties of cooking. Hence, your friend or yourself might have come up with an idea to combine udon noodles with sushi. However, a traditional Japanese chef would probably be offended if you were to show him that creation as it truly is a weird mix, and there is not a remotely similar dish in traditional Japanese cuisine. Here is why:
- Japanese recipes either use rice or noodles as both have similar nutritional value. When ordering some dishes at a Japanese restaurant, you will even have the option to choose between noodles and rice for a side dish.
- Both rice and noodles have very little flavor. They depend a lot on seasonings and ingredients, so a dish with both will be most likely bland.
- Both rice and noodles are the main ingredients of specific recipes. If we were to mix the two, the traditional udon soup or sushi would lose their authentic taste.
Udon and Sushi Are Two Completely Different Things
The only thing that sushi and udon might have in common is that when slicing the udon dough into strips, a good sushi knife works like a charm since it is extremely sharp. Other than that, there are no similarities. Here is a brief overview of the two things.
| Udon | Sushi | |
| Type of food | First of all, udon noodles are not exactly a dish by themselves. They are an ingredient since eating bland cooked noodles is not really a thing. | Sushi is a traditional Japanese dish, and one of the most popular dishes overall in the world, for that matter. Since there are numerous recipes nowadays, sushi can pretty much be eaten for any meal. However, in Japan, it is mostly eaten for lunch or dinner. One of the most interesting things about sushi is the fact that there is a special etiquette for eating this dish since it has a long history. |
| Preparation | One of the most popular noodle dishes coming from Japan is ramen. However, udon noodles are not exactly the same as ramen noodles. Udon noodles are made from wheat flour, salt, water, and potato starch. Traditionally, an udon noodle should be at least twice as thick as ramen noodles. The preparation is simple – you just have to knead the dough and let it sit for around four hours. After the dough has settled, it should be spread and cut into vertical pieces. Udon noodles are part of many Japanese soup dishes like “haikara,” “nabeyaki,” “oboro,” or “chikara.” The best way to cook these noodles is to cover them with the boiling soup broth and let them rest for around nine to ten minutes. By that time, the noodles should be infused with all seasonings present in the broth. Udon noodles are known for their chewy texture. | Sushi is a dish made with cooked rice, seaweed, and usually some seafood (salmon, eel, squid, crab meat, fish roe, and many more). The ingredients are combined together, rolled, and cut into slices. The seafood ingredient is always in the center, rice covers everything, and finally, seaweed is the outer layer (seaweed adds a bit of crispiness and additional saltiness). Rice is usually seasoned with vinegar, salt, and pepper, and when cooked, it becomes an exceptional moldable substance (onigiri balls are another Japanese dish that has a unique shape and rice is the main ingredient). Once the slices have been cut, they are traditionally served with soy sauce and wasabi paste which are added to the slices according to personal taste. Due to the fact that rice has a neutral flavor, nowadays, there are countless different toppings that can be used besides seafood. |
| Availability | If you don’t have time to make udon noodles from scratch, search for an Asian supermarket. Udon noodles can be frozen and are usually sold in this way, and truth be told, there isn’t much difference in taste. | If you haven’t tried sushi yet, we would recommend searching for a reputable Japanese restaurant. Nowadays, you can buy sushi slices in almost every supermarket (boxes are placed in refrigeration units). However, in most cases, this sushi will be below par when compared to the one from an authentic Japanese restaurant. Finally, you can always try to make this delicacy by yourself. The cooking process is not hard, and the most difficult thing to master will be the rolling process. |
There Is Nothing Wrong With Experimenting With Food
At the end of the day, no one really cares if you combine udon and sushi, and who knows, maybe you will be able to come up with something delicious. However, when objectively thinking about the final result, udon sushi will probably not be an enjoyable experience since the blandness of noodles would probably overpower the sushi flavors.