Noodle Tsuyu Dipping Sauce

Ease:: Simple
Serves:: 2
Prep time:: 25 minutes
Cook time:: 20 minutes
Total time:: 45 minutes

Tsuyu sauce, served with cold udon noodles or soba noodles, is a mixture of soy sauce, mirin, and dashi stock. Make your own with this easy recipe.

Ingredients

**kaeshi Japanese noodle sauce base**

150ml soy sauce

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp sugar

**dashi broth**

10g katsuobushi dried bonito flakes

Method

Prepare the kaeshi Japanese noodle sauce base: Add 2 tbsp mirin to a saucepan and heat until it starts to bubble which will remove all the alcohol. Add 2 tbsp sugar to the pan while the heat is still on and mix it well so that the sugar dissolves.

Add the soy sauce: Once you have obtained a smooth mixture, add 150ml soy sauce to the pan and continue to mix.

Turn off the heat: When the temperature reaches approximately 85°C, turn off the heat. Once it reaches this temperature you may be able to see a thin film on top of the liquid. Make sure that the mixture doesn’t boil over as this will impair the taste.

Infuse the flavours: Now that your kaeshi is finished, you can leave it to rest for a day or two. This helps to infuse the flavours together for a richer taste.

Boil some water: Let’s prepare a simple katsuobushi bonito flake dashi. Start by boiling 300ml of water in a saucepan.

Add the bonito flakes: Once the water has boiled, add the 10g katsuobushi bonito flakes and remove from the heat. Wait a few moments for the katsuobushi to sink to the bottom of the pan. Now strain the katsuobushi bonito flakes from the water with a colander to get your infused liquid dashi.

Mix with kaeshi Japanese noodle sauce base: Now you just have to mix three parts of your home made dashi to one part of kaeshi to obtain a delicious men tsuyu sauce, ideal for dipping.