Where to Buy Udon for Cooking at Home?

So I used to get lovely bowls of soup with fat udon noodles around the corner from our home at Mizu, but alas Mizu has closed.

I'm ready to make broth and fixings at home and want to add udon, not ramen noodles.

Where can I buy good udon noodles in the city?

Tai Nam Market, in the plaza just south of the Argyle CTA.

They sell the Nanka Seimen Futonaga brand for $1.15 per pack at 12 oz. each.

You're welcome!

Joong Boo has them in the freezer case in single-serving pouches.

3333 N Kimball
Chicago, IL

North Broadway has a number of places that should have what you're looking for. I really like Golden Pacific Market. They have a nice variety of ingredients from all over Asia. If you're looking for good Udon recipes I really like Takashi's Noodles - you can get all of the ingredients you'll need from Golden Pacific.

Golden Pacific Market
5353 North Broadway
Chicago, IL 60640
(773) 334-6688

Nice seeing you at the theater...
I don't know that there is a big difference in Udon packing or quality. But, I can get a Japanese brand on the end cap of my Dominick's, where they keep the tofu, no cal noodles, bean sprouts, and vegetarian stuff. I also bought some good ones at H-mart. But to be honest, they didn't taste any different than the ones at Dom's. Most of them come with a flavor packet, you can discard if you want. I just saw chicken, and vegetarian at my Dom's on Sat.

Thanks all.

Nicandchic, good seeing you at Book of Mormon last Saturday.

Did you eat before or after the show?

Ate before at ULCC, and was glad we could hop on the blue line right after that. Messy. But the show was fantastic. Had udon soup today at lunch at Takumi on Monroe St, because of this post.. I always think I'm going to try the ramen, but I always go to those good udon noodles.

One thing I've noticed when purchasing udon noodles is that I much prefer the frozen noodles over the refrigerated or even (shudder) room-temperature ones. Texture seems much better.

In particular, I REALLY enjoy the ones that are cut with corners, so that the cross-section is square as opposed to circular. I'm sorry I can't recall the name at the moment, but they seem quite hard to find and I've only really seen them at Mitsuwa.

Curious to hear other data points.

Costco has good udon in their refrigerated section; large bag with several single-serve pouches inside.

Puppy wrote:One thing I've noticed when purchasing udon noodles is that I much prefer the frozen noodles over the refrigerated or even (shudder) room-temperature ones. Texture seems much better.

In particular, I REALLY enjoy the ones that are cut with corners, so that the cross-section is square as opposed to circular. I'm sorry I can't recall the name at the moment, but they seem quite hard to find and I've only really seen them at Mitsuwa.

Curious to hear other data points.

I was introduced to Udon many years ago by a Japanese army buddy while attending the Defense Language Institute in California. I remember it was my 21st birthday and my friend took me to a Japanese bar located on a desolate stretch along the north shore of Monterey Bay, across the water from Cannery row. The place was in a rundown wooden shack right at the high tide line, so it was surrounded by mud flats when the tide was out. The rocky shoreline on that side of the bay seemed to always be shrouded in fog, even when the rest of the sky was clear. The place was very smoky and filled with closely spaced rickety wooden tables and wobbly chairs. There were a couple of flickering and buzzing Japanese beer signs in the window, backed by venetian blinds, which cast sinister flashing shadows across the dimly lit dining area. The jukebox created a wall of scratchy 1950's Nisei pop tunes, which was occasionally pierced by the screech of gulls and the low hollow howl of foghorns. It provided a perfect soundtrack to complete the Film Noir treatment. There was even a gracefully aging Japanese hostess leaning against the bar sporting a tight black sequined strapless dress who chain-smoked cigarettes from a long black holder and entertained the Japanese sailors and squid fishermen who frequented the joint. At any moment, I expected Bogie himself to come swaggering through the shuttered bar-room doors. Lettuce Entertain You could not have done a better design job, except the place was absolutely authentic. The atmosphere alone was enough to make me fall in love with the dive, but the house specialty, Nabe Yaki Udon, is what I remember most vividly. The noodles were homemade, chewy and dense with a square cut as described above. The broth was light but flavorful and steamy hot. The soup was filled with a variety of fish cakes, fresh earthy tasting mushrooms, slightly bitter baby bok choy and spicy radishes. The bowl was topped with chopped green herbs, leeks and crowned with an egg nestled between two pieces of shrimp tempura. The steamy hot soup was a perfect complement for a foggy winter night. At one point, my friend asked if he could have my fish eye, which I frantically searched my bowl for, but could not find. He laughed and said I must have already eaten it (I later saw him pull this same joke on other round-eyes he brought there). At any rate, I don't know if it was the incredible ambience or the fact that it was the first Udon I had ever sampled, but I have never found any that remotely compares. Unfortunately, the place burned down late one night in one of the many "mysterious" fires that plagued the Monterey Waterfront in the 1970s. As soon as the old wooden buildings were leveled by flames, they were quickly replaced with modern cafes and touristy chain stores (funny how the fire department never seemed to arrive in time to save the historic but ramshackle structures).

Beautiful post. Thank you.

boudreaulicious wrote:Beautiful post. Thank you.

You are welcome, thanks for reading my ramblings. Isn't it strange how just the mention of square noodles can trigger a memory of a meal I had more than 3 decades ago, and how vivid that recollection can be? I had trouble remembering my Japanese friend's name, but could still remember exactly how the mushrooms tasted (maybe that belongs in the "you know you are an LTHer" thread).

Puppy wrote:One thing I've noticed when purchasing udon noodles is that I much prefer the frozen noodles over the refrigerated or even (shudder) room-temperature ones. Texture seems much better.

In particular, I REALLY enjoy the ones that are cut with corners, so that the cross-section is square as opposed to circular. I'm sorry I can't recall the name at the moment, but they seem quite hard to find and I've only really seen them at Mitsuwa.

Curious to hear other data points.

That's definitely the stuff to get. At Mitsuwa, it's in the chest freezers just past the produce. I wouldn't be surprised if H Mart carried it too.

One odd thing is that Mitsuwa does not carry udon flour (udonko). If anyone happens to see it anywhere, please let me know; I'm interested in giving it a try.

Isn't it strange how just the mention of square noodles can trigger a memory of a meal I had more than 3 decades ago, and how vivid that recollection can be?

If I recall, a taste memory inspired a guy named Proust to do some very fine writing, as well.

A related question, where is the best place to buy ramen for cooking at home? To my surprise, I've had no luck at Jong Boo, looking both in the fresh case and in the frozen. I have used the frozen ramen from Mitsuwa and the fresh from the Super-H.

Has anyone explored places such as:

Oriental Noodle Company
3100 W Lawrence Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
Neighborhood: Albany Park

Thx, Jen

spinynorman99 wrote:Costco has good udon in their refrigerated section; large bag with several single-serve pouches inside.

I couldn't find this is it still there?

Ended up eating lunch at Akai Hana & popped next door to their sister market. Picked up a couple of packages of the frozen udon.

Quite good. Last week I made a quick kombu dashi for udon. It was lovely.

Today, I'd planned ahead & made kombu dashi last week ( the uncooked kind that Mark Bittman says is deemed superior by some cooks). Seasoned it with soy & ginger, according to the suggestions of Bittman and added shiitake, baby spinach, beansprouts, and scallion to the udon.





Akai Hana Market
3223 W Lake Ave
(at Skokie Blvd)
Wilmette, IL 60091

Business Hours
MON-THU 9:30am-8:00pm
FRI & SAT 9:30am-9:00pm
SUN 10:30am-8:00pm

(847) 256-7010
http://www.akaihanasushi.com