06/15 Lunch: Bukkake udon

Bukkake udon (cold udon noodles) topped with:

• sliced negi (green onions)
• katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
• nattou (fermented soybeans)
• tororo konbu (thinly sliced kelp)
• agedama (balls of deep-fried tempura batter)
• a raw egg

The noodles are splashed with mentsuyu or dashi-jouyu (both soy-sauce based sauces) and the toppings mixed up into the noodles before eating.

Comments

[carlyn]

Amy;
The noodles look delicious. Do you make your own tsuyu, or do you buy the bottled? If you make your own, could you post a quick recipe? Thanks. And... the tororo konbu, do you do anything to it or just take it from the package and use it as is?
Thanks.....C

[Lea]

You know, the more I see you using natto the more I want to try it.... you give me confidence that us gaijin CAN and DO like natto!

[JuptierGoddess]

Ummm....correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't "Bukkake" a perverse sexual act? O_o"

Maybe it's spelled differently, but when I saw that I couldn't help but laugh. I hope I'm wrong about this!

[Amy]

Carlyn,
I do occasionally make my own tsuyu, but for fast simple dishes like this I use bottled.

Lea,
Do try it! It's definitely possible to learn to love natto. But I would suggest that your first few tries be cooked natto- especially deep-fried or with cheese.

Jupiter Goddess,
"Bukkake" is the noun form of the Japanese word for "splash", and is used for noodle dishes like this one- cold, a variety of ingredients slopped on top, splashed with a small amount of sauce.

The bukkake you're referring to is more of a "adult video act" than a "sex act"- I don't imagine anyone actually does that off-camera. It's also a rather recent phenomenon and has a very very niche audience. I doubt that the average Japanese person is even aware of this meaning of bukkake.

Thus "bukkake" remains a popular noodle style that can be ordered in a restaurant or made at home without embarrassment.

[JupiterGoddess]

Oh good!

When I was in the beginning stages of learning about japan and it's culture, I used the internet to find most of my information. (Correct or otherwise, I'm afraid.)

When I'd hear of a new word that I didn't know, I'd google it and naturally be more than a little shocked at my results.

Ah Japan...if you can think of it, they've probably got it.

Now for my next question:

I scrolled up and looked at the "Nikumaki" photo that you had taken and something dawned on me. You have a job, right? Between jobs, daily chores, and entertainment for yourself, HOW do you manage to cook all that food?

When I cook for me or my fiancee, it normally consists of one large plate of food for each person as well as perhaps a side salad.

How do you manage to cook all of those little individual dishes, with all those little plates and STILL have a life?

It must take you forever! Not to mention the fact that all of those dishes must eat up a lot of storage space.

How do you find the time to cook like that?

[Amy]

Well, I think it's mostly the weird and shocking stuff about Japan that really gets mentioned on the internet. So it's not very surprising that more people outside of Japan know the other meaning of bukkake than IN Japan.

I do have a job, but just part-time. Sometimes I consider cooking itself to be entertainment and don't mind spending time doing it. But I definitely don't cook elaborate meals everyday.