I think I found this one at HMart a little while back. Indeed, I must say the nomenclature is pretty interesting; I mean, c’mon – commit to a name already! Alright so this is a katsuo udon variety – let’s ask Wikipedia about katsuo udon –
Udon (饂飩?, usually written as うどん) is a type of thick wheat flour noodle of Japanese cuisine. Udon is often served hot as a noodle soup in its simplest form, as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru, which is made of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions. Other common toppings include tempura, often prawn or kakiage (a type of mixed tempura fritter), or aburaage, a type of deep-fried tofu pockets seasoned with sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. A thin slice of kamaboko, a halfmoon-shape fish cake, is often garnish. Shichimi can be add to taste.
The flavor of broth and topping vary from region to region. Usually, dark brown broth, made from dark soy sauce (koikuchi shōyu), is used in eastern Japan, and light brown broth, made from light soy sauce (usukuchi shōyu), is used in western Japan. This is even noticeable in packaged instant noodles, which are often sold in two different versions for east and west.
In Korea, authentic Japanese udon dishes are served in numerous Japanese restaurants, while the Korean-style udon noodle soups are served in bunsikjip (snack bars) and pojangmacha (street stalls). Both types are called udong (우동), which is the transliteration of the Japanese word undon (うどん).[2] In Korea, the word udong refers to noodle dishes (typically noodle soup), while the noodles themselves are called udong-myeon (우동면; “udong noodles”) and considered a type of garak-guksu (가락국수; “thick noodles”).[2] Common ingredients for udong noodle soup include crowndaisy greens and eomuk (fish cakes), both of which are not very common in Japanese udon dishes.
So this product is called Katsuo Udon, however I don’t see anything about ‘katsuo anywhere. Could this have something to do with it –
Katsuobushi (Japanese: 鰹節?) is dry, ferment, and smoked skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus
pelamis). It is also known as Bonito flakes when young bonito is use as a cheaper substitute for skipjack tuna. Katsuobushi or similarly prepared fish is also known as okaka (おかか).
Ah here we go – dried bonito flakes are in this one in their own sachet. This product is for the USA from South Korea. Alright – let’s check this one out.
Daifuku Bowl Katsuo Udon / Katsuo Bowl Udon – United States
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Contains fish. To prepare, add in liquid sachet and contents of udon pouch and fill to line with hot water. Microwave for 3 minutes (I’m guessing at 800W). Add in remaining sachet contents. Finally, stir and enjoy!
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).
The udon pouch.
The soup base sachet/.
A dark liquid.
The dried flake sachet.
Lots of bits of ‘dried starch,’ fishcake and vegetables.
The topping sachet.
Dried bonito flake. Indeed, this is the katsuo part of the equation.
Finished (click to enlarge). The noodles come out nice and warm from the microwave. Nice and thick. Indeed the star of the show here isn’t the noodle but the rest. The broth is a sweet and tasty thin one with just a little oiliness. Thin – but hearty. The vegetable and seafood sachet yielded lots of veg as well as nice seafood bits. My favorite is the bonito flake which hydrates and fills the bowl with fish taste and texture. For those who really don’t like ‘fishy’ things, this isn’t for you. However for those who love fish taste, this is perfection. 5.0 out of 5.0 stars. UPC bar code 761898702253.
Ramen, Soba, Udon (Food Heroes)
A video showing how to make Korean kimchi udon with fishcake.
