I made the fantastic decadent-style cold bukkake udon (udon noodles with the sauce poured over it) tonight. Instead of dipping the noodles in the sauce served separately, in this dish, the sauce is poured over the noodles.
For the main toppings, I made the simple smoked jumbo scallops and eggs in the donabe smoker, "Ibushi Gin". The scallops were sashimi quality, and they looked so gorgeous. I used the sakura (cherry blossoms) tree smoke chips together with some houjicha (roasted green tea). Over high heat on the gas stove, 6 minutes without the lid, 6 minutes with the lid on, and 15 minutes resting off the heat (with the lid on). In such a short time, the amazing smokey scallops and eggs were ready!
Mmm...I love smoking!
The sauce was made in the afternoon (dashi stock, sake, mirin, and soy sauce) and it was chilled in the fridge. Once the udon was boiled, I rinsed the udon in the cold water. In a bowl, I assembled the noodles and sauce, then topped with the fresh wakame seaweed, scallions, grated ginger, smoked jumbo scallops and egg. Wow...really amazing!!
For this dish, I opened 2007 Domaine Marius Delarche, Pernand-Vergelesses. I was quite impressed by this wine. It tasted like a real upscale P-V...it was like baby Corton. The aroma had the fresh lemon, smokey mineral, earth, and the palate was rich in fruit and minerals. it had the very lush texture and so nicely balanced. The mariage of this wine and my bukkake udon (especially with the smoked scallop) was so outstanding!
Simple dinner is so great.
