Udon - Regional Varieties

Regional Varieties

There are wide variations in both thickness and shape for udon noodles.

• Biei-style Curry (カレー): udon from Biei, Hokkaido.
• Inaniwa (稲庭): a thin type from Akita Prefecture.
• Ise (伊勢): udon from Mie Prefecture.
• Kansai (関西): udon is a soft type of medium thickness from the Kansai region.
• Kishimen (棊子麺, or more commonly きし麺): is a flat type from the Nagoya area.
• Sanuki (讃岐): udon is a thick and rather stiff type from Kagawa Prefecture.
• Hōtō (rarely 餺飥, commonly ほうとう): a flat and wide type, usually cooked with vegetables, particularly Japanese "kabocha" squash, from Yamanashi Prefecture.
• Dangojiru (団子汁): similar to the above Hohtoh, from Ōita Prefecture. Nominally a "dumpling soup", it resembles very thick, flat udon.
• Okinawa soba (沖縄そば): also called suba, a regional Okinawan noodle made by adding some vegetal ash to the flour, similar to how ramen is made. However, it is very similar to udon.
• There is also a dish called udon in Palau, because of the former Japanese administration. The broth is soy sauce–based like Japanese udon. However, as there were many immigrants from Okinawa, it uses less broth like Okinawa soba. Most notably, the noodle is that of spaghetti, as it is easier to acquire there.