Kimchi Nabe Udon

This dish is a nostalgic one for me. I first tried kimchi nabe udon at a little Japanese restaurant across the street from my house in Korea, and it has quickly become one of the dishes I crave the most on my homesick nights in LA. I decided to recreate this meaningful dish, and even bought a Japanese clay pot, or donabe, to try to accurately remake this dish in my apartment.

This dish can be made without a clay pot, but I like to use one for aesthetic and nostalgic purposes~ Also, I’m a little bit extra, don’t mind me.

The star of this dish is definitely the Korean dashi stock base, which is light, but savory and adds that extra ~umami~ flavor to any Korean soup dish. When in a time crunch, you can always use low sodium chicken broth or beef broth and get a similar result to this version. This dish can be topped with any number of garnishes — my go-to are the Korean classics: Japanese fishcake, crown daisy, enoki mushrooms, and sliced red peppers.

Do you love kimchi? Do you love whipping up a hearty meal in 30 minutes? Then try out this recipe and let me know what you think!

Print Recipe

Kimchi Nabe Udon

Spicy, savory udon noodle soup cooked in a Korean kimchi dashi broth

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings: 2

Ingredients

Korean Dashi Broth

• 3 Cups Water
• 7 Pieces Dried anchovy Clean the anchovies first by opening the belly and scraping out the guts
• 1 Piece Kombu/Dashima

Kimchi Nabe Udon

• 1 Cup Chopped kimchi
• 1/2 Small onion Chopped into thin pieces
• 2 Cloves garlic Minced
• 2 Packets Udon You can buy these frozen
• 2 Teaspoons Red chilli flakes Also called gochugaru
• 2 Teaspoons Soy sauce

Garnish

• Enoki mushrooms
• Red korean pepper/red jalapeño Sliced thinly
• Red kamaboko Sliced in 1/2″ pieces
• Crown daisy

Instructions

Korean Dashima Broth

• Clean anchovies by scraping the belly area to remove guts.
• Place anchovies, dashima and 3 cups water into a small pot over medium high heat and bring to a boil. I like to put the anchovies in a small mesh bag, but this is not necessary.
• Once boiling, remove dashima from pot and reduce heat to a simmer for 10 minutes.
• Remove anchovies with mesh sieve and set broth aside.

Kimchi Nabe Udon

• Heat oil and garlic in a small pot over medium heat until fragrant (about 1 minute)
• Add chopped kimchi and cook until softened, stirring often (about 2 minutes)
• Add sliced onions and stir often for about 2 minutes
• Stir in korean red chilli flakes (gochugaru) and soy sauce. Cook until sauce has reduced (about 2 minutes)
• Add reserved dashi broth, or chicken broth and bring to a boil
• Once broth is boiling, add udon noodles and cook according to package instructions (should be about 2 minutes)
• Turn off heat and garnish as desired with crown daisy, Korean red pepper/jalapeño, enoki mushroom, and red kamaboko pieces