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Nabeyaki Udon 鍋焼きうどん

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Fight the cold days with this steamy Nabeyaki Udon served in donabe. Topped with chicken, tempura & heaps of vegetables in an umami dashi soup, this hot noodle soup would be your favorite kind of winter comfort food.

Nabeyaki Udon | Easy Japanese Recipes at JustOneCookbook.com

Nabeyaki Udon (鍋焼きうどん) is a hot udon noodle soup traditionally served in individual donabe (earthernware pot) or iron pots.

Besides udon noodles, the soup usually includes chicken, kamaboko (fish cake), mushrooms, and vegetables such as spinach, Tokyo or naga negi, and carrot. In addition, an egg and a large shrimp tempura is served on top.

Watch How to Make Nabeyaki Udon 鍋焼きうどんの作り方

Tender udon noodle served in savory dashi soup, topped with chicken, carrots, shrimp tempura, kamaboko, and mushrooms.

The literal translation for nabeyaki udon is, you’ve guess it, “cook in hotpot udon”. This nabeyaki udon recipe (especially with step-by-step pictures) might seem long, and to be honest, it took quite a while for us to shoot the video. BUT! The recipe is easy and doesn’t take that much effort to make (if you don’t have to video each step). Simply make dashi (soup stock), add udon and ingredients you like in a pot, and cook!

Nabeyaki Udon | Easy Japanese Recipes at JustOneCookbook.com

The most time consuming part for me was making shrimp tempura from scratch. I know quite a lot of reader do not have access to frozen shrimp tempura in nearby grocery stores, but if you do I’d recommend using packaged shrimp tempura to save time (or you can skip on shrimp tempura. No? I know, that’s the best part right?).

All the ingredients I have included for nabeyaki udon are ingredients that are commonly used in Japan. If you cannot find the same ingredients like kamaboko (fish cake), it’s okay to skip and use ingredients that are available to you.

On a cold and rainy day like today, a steaming pot of nabeyaki udon served right at the table is definitely comforting.

Nabeyaki Udon | Easy Japanese Recipes at JustOneCookbook.com

Get Your Donabe (Earthenware Pot) Ready!

How To Season Donabe (Japanese Earthenware Pot) | Easy Japanese Recipes at JustOneCookbook.com

How To Season Donabe (Earthenware Pot)

I hope you enjoy making my Nabeyaki Udon recipe! If you make one of these recipes, snap a picture and hashtag it #JustOneCookbook. I love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter! Thank you so much for reading and till next time!

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Nabeyaki Udon
Nabeyaki Udon | Easy Japanese Recipes at JustOneCookbook.com
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Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
30 mins
Total Time
1 hrs
 
Course: Main Course
Servings: 2
Ingredients
For Udon Soup:
  • 3 cups dashi (3 cups = 720 ml)
  • ⅓ cup shiitake dashi (reserved from rehydrating dried shiitake, see instructions)
  • 2 Tbsp mirin
  • 1½ Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Kosher salt
For Shrimp Tempura:
  • 2 shrimp
  • 25 g tempura batter mix (25 g = 0.9 oz)
  • 40 ml water (40 ml = about 3 Tbsp) (cold)
  • Potato/corn starch (for dusting)
Instructions

  1. Gather all the ingredients.

    Nabeyaki Udon Ingredients
  2. Soak dried shiitake mushrooms in water to rehydrate for 15 minutes. You need just enough water to cover the mushrooms, and place a smaller bowl on top to keep the mushrooms submerged under water.
    Nabeyaki Udon 1
  3. Squeeze the excess water out of mushrooms. Cut off the stems if there are any and score a cross on top. Keep the leftover soaking liquid (dashi) for udon soup. Strain the dashi through a mesh strainer to remove any grit or impurities before using.
    Nabeyaki Udon 2
  4. In lightly salted boiling water, blanch the spinach starting from the stem side for 1 minute.
    Nabeyaki Udon 3
  5. Soak the spinach in iced water to prevent overcooking. Squeeze water out and cut into 1 ½” (4 cm) pieces.
    Nabeyaki Udon 4
  6. Slice the carrot. Optionally you can cut out the carrot into a flower shape with a vegetable cutter.
    Nabeyaki Udon 5
  7. Cut kamaboko into thinly slices and break shimeji mushrooms into small pieces.
    Nabeyaki Udon 6
  8. Slice naga negi diagonally and cut the chicken into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces.
    Nabeyaki Udon 7
  9. To make udon soup, combine dashi soup and dashi from dried shiitake mushrooms in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil over medium high heat.
    Nabeyaki Udon 8
  10. Once boiling, add mirin, soy sauce, and salt. When boiling again, turn off the heat and set aside.
    Nabeyaki Udon 9
  11. To make shrimp tempura, first we prepare shrimp. Follow this instruction to clean the shrimp and make them straight.
    Nabeyaki Udon 10
  12. To make shrimp tempura, click here for the complete instructions, from how to make tempura batter and to deep fry. For today’s recipe, I used tempura batter mix. Simply combine tempura batter mix and cold water.
    Nabeyaki Udon 11
  13. Cook udon in a boiling water. Once the noodles are separated, take them out and soak in ice water to prevent from cooking further. Drain and set aside.
    Nabeyaki Udon 12
  14. Divide ingredients (except for egg, spinach, and mitsuba) into two individual earthen donabe clay pots (or use any big pot).
    Nabeyaki Udon 13
  15. Add udon soup and cover with the lid. Bring the soup to a boil over medium high heat. When it comes to a boil, leave the lid slightly open to let some steam out, or it will overflow. Lower the heat and simmer to cook until the chicken is cooked through.
    Nabeyaki Udon 14
  16. Add an egg, spinach and mitsuba and cover to cook until the egg is done to your liking.
    Nabeyaki Udon 15
  17. Add shrimp tempura on top and serve. Sprinkle shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) if you like the soup spicy.
    Nabeyaki Udon 16
Recipe Notes

Prep/Cook time: This may vary depends on the ingredients you use and whether you use precooked shrimp tempura or make from scratch.

Recipe by Namiko Chen of Just One Cookbook. All images and content on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission. If you’d like to share this recipe on your site, please re-write the recipe and link to this post as the original source. Thank you.

 

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  7. Deborah

    Your recipes are so interesting and beautifully explained. I would love see an extra page on your site that helps us to understand the cooking implements you use and the serving dish ware. For instance, the crockery in these pictures are veru pretty. They have lids. So would these be cooking pots, or serving dishes? Is this a single serving or a family sized portion? I also noticed something leaning against the crockery that looks like it is made of wood., but we don’t see the entire item. Thanks so much for sharing the Japanese cuisine, ettiquet and culture.

    7
    Reply to Deborah'> Reply

    • Hi Deborah!

      Interesting! I’ve never thought of sharing information about Japanese cooking implements/utensils or dishware (maybe because I have limited items here in the U.S.). Something to think about. 🙂

      Yes this pot is used for cooking and serving at the same time. Japanese uses portable stove (or built in stove for restaurants) and we can eat while food is cooked. Sometimes we share a big pot, and each person serve the food into your bowl/plate, sometimes individual small pot like today’s post.

      What you see is the wooden scooper/ladle, which is only used for serving (we don’t use for cooking). It’s just a little fancier than cooking ladle. 🙂

      Your questions and observation made me realize things that are “normal” for me maybe not be so for some people. I live in the U.S. but many of things can be purchased here, so I feel like nothing is so “special”… but if you have never seen a clay pot like this or serving ladle (which are pretty common in Japanese restaurants here), it can be an interesting topic!

      Thank you so much for writing Deborah!

      50
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

    • Hi Dedy! Hmmm I’m not sure “fish” flavored udon? I might know, but nothing came to my mind by hearing the description…

      While I cook, my husband shoot a video and take step by step pictures. It’s definitely 2 people jobs and we always feel we need one more person to make better quality video. Final shoot, we take pictures together, but mainly I do. 🙂

      51
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  17. Nami-san, this is gorgeous! Lots of delicious flavors and textures going on in this heartwarming dish. Glad to hear that you had a spa day whilst the boys were having their game day. I know exactly what you mean about photography and filming taking so long. The last couple of days I just cooked, no photography, no documenting —just cooking. Just cooking is a breeze. I forgot how easy it is… LOL Take Care, BAM

    17
    Reply to Bam's Kitchen''> Reply

    • Since you take step by step pictures, you understand! 🙂 I used to think step by step pictures are so tedious! But now, with video shooting, OMG, this takes so long to do one step… we usually have a script but still, it takes time to set up a position and sometimes do several clips for one action… Our weekend work gets longer and longer….. >_<

      52
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  20. I would love to have such a lovely steaming bowl now. Can you believe I have never had udon? I must correct this mistake soon. (I suspect I would have problems with shrimp tempura: I’d eat it before it would land on the soup 😉 ).

    20
    Reply to Sissi'> Reply

  21. Asami

    Oh my god, I love Nabeyaki Udon. I always order this when I’m going to a certain Japanese restaurant in Duesseldorf. It’s so delicious. The ones I had always had a piece of mochi in it.

    21
    Reply to Asami'> Reply

  26. This udon looks amazing Nami, I love all the flavorful ingredients and cooking everything in the earthenware pot makes this such a warm and comforting meal:) Sounds perfect for a gloomy and chilly day!

    26
    Reply to Kelly'> Reply

      • AyakoL.

        Hi Nami-san!
        Well, I usually take a small bite of Ebi-Ten first, then eat Udon noodle, perhaps Kamaboko next and noodle again and so on! Then I come back to Ebi again 🙂 I would like to enjoy the harmony of all the ingredients little by little ’til the end. I don’t mind if the Ebi-Ten gets soggy. It’s kind of like eating “Tanuki Udon”, right?

        58
        Reply to AyakoL.'> Reply

        • Hi Ayako! Thank you so much for answering my question! 🙂 It’s probably just me who try to finish tempura first! I have never been a fan of soggy tenkasu – so when I make tanuki udon first, I eat tenkasu before they absorb all the liquid. I know, I’m so weird! =P Thanks again, and have a great weekend!

          59
          Reply to Nami'> Reply

  36. Kimmi

    Thanks for sharing this recipe with us! It’s perfect for the snowy and wet weather that we’ve been having in the Northeast… =) I also love how personalized the size of your nabe pot is. It’s encouraging me to shop for a smaller one for easier cooking and portioning when I eat by myself.

    36
    Reply to Kimmi'> Reply

    • Hi Virginia! Thank you so much! I’m happy to hear you like my step-by-step instructions. It really takes time (too much time) to prepare step by step, but feedback like yours keep me going! 😀 Thank you!!!

      56
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  38. Hi Nami, do you know if there is some “hack” dashi I can make? I really want to make tempura udon again soon and finally was able to find some udon noodles, and I can get shrimp of course, and the other toppings but I just can’t get dashi anywhere! I read your other post about making it yourself but I can’t even find the ingredients to make it yourself… using katsuboshi (spelling?) or that sea kelp. I guess I might have to try to find a place which sells it online but it’s hard 🙁 Was wondering if you knew some “non-traditional” recipe which might work as a substitute!

    38
    Reply to Charles'> Reply

    • Hi Charles! Haha, some “hack” dashi… Well, I think “Hondashi” (instant dashi powder) is the easiest dashi you can make. Just need hot water and Hondashi. However, instant dashi available outside of Japan contain MSG and it’s rare to see MSG-free dashi powder even in the US. So…. if you’re anti-MSG, this is not for you.

      I think, kombu and katsuobushi (bonito flakes) are probably very hard to find if you don’t have Japanese grocery store.

      For this particular recipe, you can use chicken stock. The flavor of stock should be very subtle, not overpowering (which is why dashi is perfect). Japanese seasonings are rather light, so even chicken stock can be very strong in fragrance/taste.

      Anyway, I’ll send you an email about this separately. 🙂

      57
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  50. 南カリフォルニアも寒くなりましたのでなみさんの鍋焼きうどんは完璧な食事だと思います。友達から天ぷらの作り方を学びましたが、ちょと怖がっています。。。しかし、店のエビ天ぷらを買いたくなかったら勇気を出して練習をしなければいきませんね。

    61
    Reply to The Ninja Baker'> Reply

  52. What a gorgeous meal Nami! It was interesting going through the process (thanks!). I can tell you are a true perfection because someone like me, who isn’t – would never even think of cutting the carrots slices with a flower cutter. 🙂 I also see that you used dried mushrooms, an ingredient I never think about. I always use fresh and sometimes they are very hard to find. Need to give the dried mushrooms a try. Thanks!

    63
    Reply to mjskit'> Reply

  55. I’ve bookmarked this page for a long time, hoping to come back to have a peek at one of my favourite Japanese style noodles. I absolutely love that you used fresh ingredients and stripped the cooking process down to easy steps. I don’t own a claypot (coincidentally is pronounced as “nga po” in Cantonese.. sounds like nabe, no?) but I can see how I am able to build this up in a regular bowl.

    66
    Reply to Jayne @ Tenacious Tinkering'> Reply

  56. jayne

    Hi Nami,
    Another keeper for me.
    Since I came across your blog, I’ve been making japanese cooking at least twice a week.
    My family is a big fan of Japanese food (to the point where we think we must be Japanese in our previous lives) and Japanese cooking ingredients are always in my grocery list. But my knowledge was limited, so I always ended up cooking ‘fusion’ kind or the same thing over and over again.
    Now, thanks to your blog, I improve so much in my knowledge and cooking Japanese food. I really feel like congratulating myself 🙂
    Thank you, Nami!

    my oldest son s

    67
    Reply to jayne'> Reply

    • Hi Jayne! Your comment has just made my day! Thank you for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you like Japanese food. It’s okay to make it fusion (and I do that with my own cooking with other cuisines), but if you can find authentic ingredients, do give them a try! Congratulations to you for cooking more Japanese food! 🙂

      68
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  58. Sambit

    Dear Nami,
    I and my wife are Japanese food lovers, and so it was a happy accident that I discovered your website. Have tried out few recipes, and love the simple instructions for cooking.
    Again, thank you!
    sam

    70
    Reply to Sambit'> Reply

  59. Martin

    Nami, I’ve been sick all week and finally felt up to giving this a try. I had to improvise with items I had in my pantry, instant dashi, baby bok choy, etc. but no matter, I’m so happy with the results, I feel better already! Thanks for this and all your other recipes and this wonderful website.

    Martin in Denver

    72
    Reply to Martin'> Reply

    • Hi Martin! So glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Improvising is great as we don’t always have the ingredients ready in the kitchen, or some ingredients can be hard to find in your area. I’m glad you tried this recipe! I hope you’re feeling much better from sickness. And thank you very much for reading my blog. 🙂

      73
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  60. Cassandre

    Made it for my lunch today, and it turn out really good! The udon soup was very tasty ; wonderful flavor.
    I’m going to keep the recipe for udon soup, even alone it make a great light dinner (or soup for breakfast!).

    Your recipes are very easy to make and so good, so thank you. 🙂

    74
    Reply to Cassandre'> Reply

    • Hi Cassandre! Yay! So happy to hear you liked it. It’s very comforting and you can make many different variations with ingredients you have in your fridge. 🙂 Thank you very much for your kind words! 🙂

      75
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

    • Thank you Kelly! Unless you put a lot of meat, it should be okay. Udon should not be overcooked. In Step 13, you just need to loosen up udon, so you still need to cook more at the final stage. Hope this helps! 🙂

      79
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  64. Eileen

    I felt a little ambitious today so I made your nabeyaki udon for dinner. Using your recipes, I also made the udon noodles from scratch, the dashi soup and finally the shrimp tempura. So glad that I was finally able to make use of my mother’s nabe pots. Brought back wonderful memories of when she used to make this for me! Thanks to your step by step instructions, photos and videos it all came together beautifully and tasted amazing! All the work put into it was worth it when my family said it was delicious!!

    82
    Reply to Eileen'> Reply

  65. Lyn

    I first had this dish while pregnant when visiting Hawaii… It was the ONLY thing I could eat in the morning and keep down. Its been many years since that time and while I have been able to find and consume this at local Japanese restaurants, Am and so very happy to be able finally to make this and eat it at home!!!! Thank You for making this possible!!!!

    83
    Reply to Lyn'> Reply

    • Hi Lyn! Aww thanks so much for your sweet story. I’m so happy to hear you tried it at home! You can make your variations with toppings you enjoy if you make it at home. Thanks so much for your kind feedback, Lyn!

      84
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

      • Lyn

        Went with a friend to an Asian market to purchase fish cakes and some other necessary items to make my Nabeyaki Udon ‘taste” more authentic!!!! While I still do not have an authentic ceramic Nabe, I do own the perfect size cast iron pot that I Will use until I Am able to locate a ceramic one in my area…. Can’t wait to try your recipe tomorrow!!!

        85
        Reply to Lyn'> Reply

  66. Anne

    I wanted you to know that I made Nabeyaki udon for my 93 year old mother last night for dinner and she was amazed! Thank you for the easy to follow directions and for making me look like I know what I’m doing . My mother is traditional old school Japanese and I’m so Americanized even though I was born in Japan that I really don’t know how to cook Japanese food. Thanks to you I am Learning….

    87
    Reply to Anne'> Reply

    • Hi Anne! So happy to hear your mom enjoyed this recipe! I don’t make fusion dishes (maybe sometimes) so my recipes must be very “nataukashii” (nostalgic?) to your mom. 🙂 Thanks so much for your kind feedback!

      88
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

    • Hi Nike! Instead of Donabe that I used for this recipe, you can simply use a regular pot/saucepan with a lid. Donabe retain the heat very well after cooking, but you can just use a regular pot or maybe dutch oven? Thank you for your kind words. Your photography is amazing! I wish I have the photography talent. 🙂 Good to know a local photographer! 🙂

      90
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  68. Judy

    I tried this recipe and it’s so yummy! Thank you so much Nami for yet another good idea and recipe! I am lucky enough to be able to get frozen ready made tempura shrimps at the supermarket. Can I ask whether I can deep fry a bit more at one go and leave the extra pieces for next day’s rice ball filling by just heating them up in the toaster?

    91
    Reply to Judy'> Reply

    • Hi Judy! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! I’m not always a big fan of frozen ready-made food BUT sometimes it’s so convenient to just put the premade tempura on top of Nabeyaki Udon and the whole meal gets much better. 😀

      Yes, as long as you use the toaster oven, it will get crunchy again (but then when you put in onigiri, it gets soften). 🙂

      92
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

    • Hi Samantha! Ohhh how awesome! It’s so delicious when you make food in a donabe, and I hope you enjoy cooking with this. Make sure not to use high heat. 🙂 Looking forward to seeing your creation. xo

      94
      Reply to Nami'> Reply

  71. hmucha

    Have you had this dish at Yayoi? At Yayoi, it comes with this delicious yuzu sauce, made from yuzu and salt. Is it possible to buy that sauce in the bay area? I am addicted to eating nabe mixed with that sauce.

    97
    Reply to hmucha'> Reply

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