History

Dotonbori Imai opened in 1946 in the bombed-out theatre district as an udon-suki house and helped define Osaka's lighter dashi-led udon broth, distinct from the soy-darker Tokyo style. Niku-udon, the beef variant introduced when sugared sliced beef became a workers' lunch in the 1950s, is now standard across every Osaka udon shop.

Common allergens: Gluten, Soy, Fish

Make it at home

Yield 2Hands-on 20 minTotal 30 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 2 portions thick wheat udon noodles (frozen Sanuki-style works well)
  • 200g thinly sliced beef shin or chuck
  • 1 tablespoon neutral oil
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce (for the beef)
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 1 tablespoon sake
  • 1 tablespoon caster sugar
  • 1 small piece ginger, grated
  • For the broth: 1 litre dashi stock
  • 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons mirin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 leek or 2 spring onions, finely sliced, to top
  • Shichimi togarashi, to finish

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a small saucepan. Add the sliced beef and stir-fry 1 minute until just coloured.
  2. Pour in the 2 tablespoons soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar and ginger. Simmer 6 to 8 minutes until the liquid reduces to a sticky glaze coating the beef. Set aside.
  3. In a separate pot, bring the dashi, light soy sauce, mirin and salt to a simmer for the broth. Taste and adjust salt.
  4. Cook the udon according to packet instructions, then drain and rinse briefly under hot water to remove starch.
  5. Divide the udon between two deep bowls. Ladle the hot broth over to cover.
  6. Pile the sticky beef on top of each bowl. Finish with sliced leek or spring onion and a pinch of shichimi togarashi.

Tip from the editors. Cook the beef separately and slide it on at the end; if you simmer the sugared beef in the broth, the whole bowl turns cloyingly sweet.

Where to eat niku-udon (beef udon)

Niku-udon (beef udon) in Osaka

Dotonbori Imai Honten ★ 4.0

Udon¥¥Dotonbori and NambaThu-Tue 11:00-22:00; Wed closed

One of Dotonbori's oldest udon restaurants; the kitsune udon recipe has been unchanged since the 1940s; dashi is simmered in a 70-year-old clay pot.

Order: ['Kitsune udon', 'Kakiage tempura udon', 'Ankake udon (winter)']

1-7-22 Dotonbori, Chuo-ku, Osaka 542-0071

Matsuba Sohonten ★ 4.6

Kushikatsu¥¥Umeda and KitaMon-Fri 14:00-22:00; Sat 11:00-22:00; Sun 11:00-21:30

A standing kushikatsu counter inside Shin-Umeda Shokudogai postwar food alley; from ¥100 per skewer, busy at lunch and after work with office workers.

Order: ['Beef skewer', 'Pork and negi', 'Corn']

9-20 Kakudacho, Kita-ku, Osaka 530-0017

More cities are in research. Want niku-udon (beef udon) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

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