Mushroom and Tofu Dashi Udon Soup

Make the Ichiban Dashi (first sea stock):

Place water and the dashi kombu in the pot and let soak for 15 minutes. Place the pot over high heat and add the katsuobushi.

Note: To make miso soup, add in 4-5 tablespoons of your favorite miso, tofu, and wakame seaweed.

For the soup:
Bring water to boil for the udon. I like to add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water; that is optional. When boiling, place the dried udon noodles in the water. The boil should subside a bit. When it boils again, add 1 cup of water. When it boils again, taste the noodles and it should be done. If not, lower the heat and check again in a couple of minutes. Rinse in cold water when done.

Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, mirin rice cooking wine, and Sriracha to the broth. I recommend adding half of each to start and then adding more as necessary. As always, add to your taste.

Cube the tofu and add to the boiling broth. Quarter the mushrooms and add to the broth. Cut the lettuce into bite size pieces, just like making a salad, and add to the broth.

Remove the dashi kombu with tongs. Traditionally, the shaved bonito should be strained as well before the addition of the tofu vegetables, but I don’t mind them.

Separate noodles evenly into bowls. Ladle in the soup and serve immediately.