[Sanuki Udon Tour] Day 2 _ Nakamura Udon

After 60 minutes of digestion at World Glass Craft Shop (magnificent chandeliers !), we went to Nakamura Udon, where there was no sign which can show this 'house' is an udonya (By the way, 'ya (や)' in udonya means a tavern).

This udonya is situated amongst houses in a small village with wheat fields, and a flag on the mount shows us that this is an udonya.

There are 3 types of udonya -

1) Self type : you get a donburi (bowl) with a skein of udon noodle. Then you choose from soup, or soybean sauce and fries of your preference. After eating, you need to return the donburi. Most of Sanuki udonyas are in this category.

2) Restaurant type

3) Mixed type : We choose the menu specifically, but food will be served.

Nakamura udonya is self type, and famous for Kama-Tama: Kama means a big pot, as you can see in the picture below, and Tama is short for Tamago (egg).

1) Break a fresh raw egg into a donburi;
2) Put noodles right from the Kama on 1;
3) Pour Tsuyu (katsuobushi & kelp stock with soybean sauce) and add some chopped green onion;
4) Choose fries as many as your stomach can afford :)

<1>

<2>

 <3 & 4>

 (I dropped a prawn fry as I picked it up, but all the people in the store strongly refused to be paid.)


You are now ready to eat outside on a sunny day !
The raw egg has little bit cooked, but it wraps noodle softly, and the taste of green onion refreshes mouth. Turn on to squid and prawn fries - they hold the smell of sea, though slightly cooled. Yummy *_*

[Sanuki Udon Tour] Day 2 _ Machikawa Udon

I had been dreaming about this 'Udon Bus'.
I had thought in the worst case, I could not take the bus, since I did not book it (phone call in Japanese seemed impossible).

Gladly found Mister Donut at Takamatsu Railway Station, sipping hot, steaming black coffee (262 Yen), I asked around tourist centers:
1) Can I get on the bus without reservation?
2) (since no one at the hotel knew about udon bus) Would the company run the bus even if there is no reservation?
...with no avail.

But exactly on 9.30 am, lime-green colored bus came into the bus stand number 11.
Hooray!

On 20th December, 3 of us were going for udon tour.
Only THREE.
Little bit shocked... in my mind, udon bus was festive and full of people from all over the world, with a single desire - taste the real Sanuki udon, but what hit me was a harsh reality of 'people do not go for tour on week days'.


Anyway, in the bus was a very kind female tour guide, and while we headed for the first Udonya, she explained basic information on Udon and the region, and since 2 were Korean among 3, she spoke slowly so that I can understand thoroughly.


<Machikawa Udon>
 

 

Early in the morning, we started our glorious journey with the blessing of shining sun - (oops)

This place is famous for Kake Udon and Tengu Udon.

Kake Udon : standard type of udon, boiled noodle and hot soup of Japanese anchovy & katsuobushi - dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna (says Wikipedia).

This is what I ate for the first time, a real Sanuki Udon, so the taste has been stayed for long. Simple, but profound soup (or to say, bouillon) and chewy noodle, bouncing through my teeth and tongue - it's different from al dente. When we say al dente, it usually means that we do not cook it perfectly, on purpose, to make the noodle chewy. However, Sanuki udon is wholly cooked, and it does not have any smell of uncooked flour. This texture is originated from the extraordinary way of kneading.

 

Tengu Udon :  original menu of Machikawa Udonya. 10 sorts of vegetables including squash and paprika, sliced beef make the soup sweet, but not artificial sense of sweetness. Tasted Sukiyaki-like.

* Tengu is a famous Japanese monster, with a long red nose (you can see on the 3rd picture of this post) and body of crow.

You can see the difference in size - Tengu Udon is a lot heavier and bigger than Kake Udon, though we ordered both 'small'.

Outside the Udonya, there is a raccoon figure, typically Japanese raccoon (tanuki). I am NOT sure, but there should be a certain pronunciational similarity with Sanuki.

[Sanuki Udon Tour] All about Udon Bus

Kotosan Bus Company runs 3 types of Udon bus, as you see in the following:
(** It was really hard to translate this information from Japanese to Korean/English)

http://kotosan.co.jp/sp/

Weekly bus schedule

Reservation is not a requirement, but on weekends, it would be better to do, if you have guts to have a phone call in Japanese(+81 87 812 0500).

 

 

This 40-seat bus takes you Udonyas and famous sightseeing spots in Kagawa-ken.

On Thursday, only 3 took the bus, including me, so it was more like personalized trip.

(That Japanese guy character is saying "I'm gonna eat.")

You will be holding this name tag around your neck during the day's tour.
More specific information will be in other posts, Day 2 ~ Day 4.

[Sanuki Udon Tour] Day 1

It was the film 'Udon' which hit me so badly, with a stupefying impulse - I SHOULD GO EAT UDON IN JAPAN.

So I went.

Sanuki is the ancient name of Kagawa-ken, in Shikoku, the smallest island of 4 main Japanese islands, southwest of Osaka, one of the biggest city in Japan.

From Seoul to Osaka, it takes about 1.5 hr, and 3.5 hr from Osaka to Takamatsu, the biggest city in Kagawa-ken (state), wherein 910 udonya situated.

When I arrived at Takamatsu Railway Station, it was already 9.30 pm, so after having put my luggage in hotel, I scorched the region to find a fine izakaya.

Round the Kawarabashi (2 stops away from the railway station), there was a red-light district and lots of kushiya (all sorts of fries, skewered with thin wood sticks).

Happily went to bed with a beer, expecting Udon bus next day 9 am.