• Gather all the ingredients. Tip: I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients. Click the "Metrics" button above to get a precise measurement.
  

To Make the Udon Dough

• Add the salt to the water and stir until it’s completely dissolved. Important: The amount of salt may seem like a lot, but some of it will be released into the boiling water while cooking. Also, you will not need to salt the cooking water because the udon noodles are already seasoned.
  
• Place the flour in a large bowl. Gradually distribute the salted water evenly over all parts of the flour while mixing with your hands. This way, salt doesn't get absorbed into one part of the dough.
  
• Combine the dough until there is no dry flour left and form it into a ball.
  
• If there is some dry flour left, add only a very small amount of water needed to hydrate the flour. Important: The dough should be really tough, unlike bread dough. Try your best to avoid adding water, unless you have a really hard time pressing the dough into a ball. Again, use as little water as possible.
  
• Place the dough ball in a large durable plastic bag (such as a 2-gallon Ziploc bag).
  
• Close the bag leaving a small air gap and leave it for 30 minutes to relax the gluten.
  

To Knead the Dough

• To keep your dough and its bag clean while kneading, place the bag between two kitchen towels on the floor.
  
• Step on the bag with the dough inside using the heels of your feet. Use your weight to flatten, slowly turning 360 degrees as you stretch out the dough from the center to the edge. You can knead with your hands instead, but it will take more effort and time. Stepping on udon dough with your feet is a common practice in Japan! Continue to step on the dough until it is stretched out and completely flat.
  
• Remove the dough from the bag and fold in the edges toward the middle.
  
• Collect the edges in the center of the dough and flip it over so the seam is facing down.
  
• Press and rotate the dough with cupped hands to form it into a ball.
  
• Place the dough ball back into the bag and close the bag, leaving a small air gap. Repeat the dough kneading or "stepping" process from Step 2. You can see if you are stepping on the right location to flatten the dough by occasionally lifting the towel to check.
  
• Continue stepping on the dough until it is stretched and flattened.
  
• Remove the dough from the bag and fold the edges toward the center, flip it over, and form it into a ball again.
  
• You will notice that the dough is slightly more pliable than the first time.
  
• Repeat this process three more times (for a total of five rounds of dough stepping), or until the dough is as soft as an earlobe (that’s how we describe the texture of the finished udon dough in Japan).
  
• After the fifth round of dough stepping, take out the dough and form it into a nice, round ball. Put the dough back into the bag and close.
  

To Rest the Dough (2 Hours)

• Rest the dough on the kitchen counter for 2 hours (3 hours in the wintertime). You can also keep the dough in the bag and store it in the refrigerator overnight if you would like to continue the rest of the process on the following day.
  

To Roll Out the Dough

• Dust the work surface with potato starch and take out the dough from the bag.
  
• Flatten the dough with your hand.
  
• Using a rolling pin, first roll out the dough into an oval shape. Then, turn the dough 90 degrees and roll it out evenly in the other direction.
  
• Then, roll out the corners to create a rectangular shape.
  
• Dust the dough with potato starch occasionally to make sure the dough does not stick to the rolling pin or the work surface.
  
• Turn the dough 90 degrees and roll out the dough more.
  
• The dough should be 3 mm (⅛ inch) thick and about 10-12 inches long.
  
• Roll out each rounded corner so the dough forms a rectangle. This will allow the noodles to be the same length when you cut them.
  
• Dust more potato starch on top of the dough and spread it thinly.
  
• Fold the dough in half or thirds and sprinkle more potato starch on top
  

To Cut the Dough into Noodles

• With a sharp knife or cleaver, cut the folded dough into noodles about 3 mm (⅛ inch) wide.
  
• Pick up some of the noodles and fluff them with your fingers to make sure they are covered with the potato/cornstarch to prevent them from sticking to each other.
  

To Cook the Fresh Udon Noodles Immediately

• Bring a big pot of water to a rolling boil (DO NOT add salt to the water; the noodles are already seasoned and will release some salt during cooking). Loosen up the noodles, leaving the excess starch behind, and add the noodles to the pot.
  
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes (depending on the thickness of your noodles).
  
• Drain and rinse well under cold running water to remove the starch and give the noodles a firm texture.
  
• For hot noodle soup, you can quickly heat up the noodles either in a pot of hot water or under hot running water.
  

To Serve the Udon Noodles in Soup

• Serve the noodles in individual bowls and pour the soup broth on top. For soup broth recipes, please see my Udon Noodle Soup (Kake Udon) recipe.
  

To Save the Fresh Udon Noodles for Later

• Divide the uncooked noodles into individual portions (150 g per person) and freeze in an airtight container or bag for up to a month. You can refrigerate it for a few days, but it tastes better when you freeze the fresh udon right away. To cook, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the frozen udon for 12 minutes without defrosting. Drain and rinse well under cold running water to remove the starch. For hot noodle soup, you can quickly heat up the noodles in hot water or warm them up under hot running water.