For chewy Japanese noodles, borrow an Italian technique

Japanese udon noodles are all about the chew, but it’s hard to replicate the texture with what’s available in American markets.

Fresh udon is hard to come by. So for this recipe from our book “Milk Street Tuesday Nights,” which limits recipes to 45 minutes or less, we needed a solution for more widely available dry udon.

Enter the Italian technique of cooking the noodles only until al dente — still quite firm. To further firm up the texture, we chilled them by rinsing them with ice in the strainer under cold water. Even after reheating the noodles in the cooked sauce, they retained that pleasant toothsome quality that makes this vegetarian dish feel so hearty.

With the texture settled, we opted for an umami-rich sauce of soy sauce, dried shiitake mushrooms and the semisweet rice wine mirin, all balanced by a little sugar. Fresh shiitake and mild-tasting baby bok