Curry Udon with Sweet Potato

Curry Udon with sweet potato is truly a bowl full of comfort. The creamy texture of the curry sauce, the soft noodles and warm spices throughout make this an irresistible fall and winter dish.

This Curry Udon recipe is like a soup, a stew and a noodle dish, all combined into one amazing meal.

The Udon noodles are added to a thick and flavorful curry made rich and creamy with sweet potatoes.

Curry Udon is loaded with umami flavors and interesting, yet easy-to-find, ingredients that come together fairly quickly in this cozy and delicious recipe.

What is umami? Umami flavor can be described as a meaty, earthy, savory deliciousness that deepens flavor. It's a fifth taste, that's not quite sweet, salty, sour, or bitter. In Japanese, it means “essence of deliciousness.” Here are a handful of examples of foods with umami flavor.

The Ingredients

• udon noodles - You can use dry udon or fresh udon. Dry udon typically come in bundles and are slightly flat. More of a chewy udon, the fresh noodles are sold in the refrigerated section of the market, and are round and a bit more plump. Most major super markets carry both, and all Asian markets will have them.
• onion - Try to choose onions that are firm, heavy for their size and without bruises.
• fresh ginger - Fresh ginger root should be firm and feel heavy for their size.
• fresh turmeric root (also called turmeric rhizome) - Turmeric root looks much like ginger root, only it's orange. It's typically located in the produce department in the same section as the ginger. Choose roots that are firm. (If you want to use ground turmeric, see Substitutions below.)
• fresh garlic - Look for firm heads of garlic without green shoots, which are an indication it's old and likely bitter. (Pro tip: if there are green shoots in your garlic cloves, slice them in half, lengthwise, and remove the green root with the tip of a knife. The rest of the clove should still be good.)
• ground cumin
• ground coriander
• ground cayenne pepper
• sweet potato - Orange sweet potatoes are my favorite for Curry Udon, though you can use other varieties. Choose sweet potatoes with smooth skin.
• Dashi stock - Though this is not an authentic Japanese Curry Udon, Dashi stock is also known as Japanese soup stock. It is the umami in this recipe and is usually made from bonito flakes, shiitake mushrooms, seaweed and anchovies, though ingredients can vary. It's typically sold in powder form and water is added to it. You can find it in Asian markets and you can get it here. You can also use vegetable or chicken stock. (See Substitutions below.)
• coconut milk - Full-fat and light coconut milk are both okay in this recipe.
• green onion (scallions) - Select green onions with crisp green tops and creamy white bottoms.
• spinach - Preferably baby spinach.
• cilantro - For garnish. Skip it if you don't like it.
• red chile flakes - For garnish.
• salt
• sugar - Just to taste.
• black pepper - Preferably freshly ground.

(See recipe card for quantities.)

Substitutions

• Dashi stock. The Dashi stock can be substituted with a rich, dark vegetable stock or chicken stock, with the addition of 2 tablespoons soy sauce. (A lighter vegetable stock will also be okay, just not as deeply flavored.)
• Udon noodles. Soba noodles are the best substitute for udon in this recipe, though almost any ramen noodle will work well.
• Fresh turmeric root. If you're able to use fresh turmeric that's fantastic, however you can substitute dry, ground turmeric and it will still be delicious. Use just shy of 2 teaspoons of the dry to substitute the 1½ tablespoons of the fresh.
• spinach. You can substitute the spinach with bok choy, gai lan or kale.
• red chile flakes. Togarashi is a good substitute.
• To save time you can substitute the turmeric, cumin and coriander with about 2 tablespoons of curry powder. Or, you can substitute the turmeric, ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne with about ¼ cup of this homemade curry paste.

Variations

• You can add all sorts of protein to Curry Udon, like chicken, tofu, fish, shrimp, and beef. In fact, this dish is very reminiscent of Skillet Sweet Potato Chicken.
• It's also delicious with hard or soft boiled eggs.
• Adding sautéed shiitake mushrooms is fantastic!
• If you serve it cold after it's refrigerated, it's excellent with grapes. Slice them in half first and just mix them in. (See Can you make it ahead? below.)
• Vegan/vegetarian version. Use vegetable stock.
• Gluten-free version. Though the texture will be lighter, you can make this with rice noodles or Shirataki noodles, which are both inherently gluten-free.
• Kid-friendly version. Omit the cayenne and chile flakes, and use about half the amount of ginger. (Unless of course your kid loves spicy foods.)

Recipe Tips

• It's important that the sweet potatoes are cut into a small dice. Otherwise the cooking times indicated in the instructions will not be long enough. The pieces become soft quickly when cut small like this.
• I purée half of the curry sauce in this recipe. It leaves you with some sweet potato chunks and sautéed onion pieces, but overall a rich and creamy sauce. This combination of textures is lovely. You can also blend all of it, or none. If you don't blend it at all, it will be on the thin side with many chunks of sweet potato. This is up to you. Most curries like this are thickened with a roux, which would include flour, but here the sweet potatoes alone do the trick. (You can use a blender or immersion blender.)
• The best way to grate the ginger and turmeric is with a microplane zester. This will turn the ginger into a pulp and grate the turmeric into very tiny pieces. You can also use it for the garlic, but be extra careful since the cloves are generally on the small side.
• When you're grating fresh turmeric, be sure to wear cooking gloves, unless you don't mind gold fingertips. 😉
• The measurement for the stock is 2 ½ to 4 cups. About 1 ½ cups is used to adjust the consistency if it's thicker than you'd like after the noodles are added.
• If you use the Dashi stock, you very likely won't need to use any salt when seasoning to taste.

How to Make it

- Before you begin, grate the turmeric, ginger and garlic. (The garlic can also be minced with a Chef's knife.)

- Add the onion, turmeric, ginger and garlic to the oil in a large pot. Place it over medium heat and stirring occasionally, cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.

- Add the cumin, coriander and cayenne, mix, and cook until it's very aromatic, about 30 seconds. (Don't worry if there are a lot of bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. When the stock is added they'll loosen and work their way into the sauce.)

- Add the diced sweet potatoes and cook them with the onion for about 7 minutes, again stirring occasionally.

- Add 2½ cups of the stock to the sweet potatoes and use a deglazing spatula to work all of the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan back into the mix. Then bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until they're very soft, about 10 minutes.

- Add half of the curry mixture to a blender (or use an immersion blender) and purée it.

- Pour the puréed curry back into the pot, add the coconut milk, mix and season to taste with salt (if not using Dashi stock), sugar and black pepper.

- While the curry is simmering, cook the udon according to the package instructions. (Typically this will be about 5 minutes in boiling water.) Drain them and set aside until you're ready to assemble.

- With the heat on low, add the cooked Udon and spinach leaves to the curry. Once the spinach has wilted completely, if it's too thick, add more stock.

- Serve immediately with a few sprigs of cilantro, a sprinkle of sliced scallions and chile flakes on each portion.

(Please see the recipe card below for the full recipe.)

Serving Suggestions

Curry Udon with Sweet Potato is a perfect one pot meal. It's can stand alone perfectly. That said, of course you can add other dishes, and below are a few of my favorites to serve with it.

• Crispy Garlic Bok Choy
• Miso Garlic-Ginger Tofu
• Broiled Black Cod
• Miso Glazed Eggplant

Can you make it ahead?

• Curry Udon is ideal when it's served immediately, right off the stove.
• Once it's refrigerated, it will still be very tasty, just quite different. The noodles will absorb most of the liquid, so it will no longer be like an Udon noodle soup or stew-like.
• While it's good cold, if you'd like to heat it after it's been refrigerated, just add more stock to it on the stove.

Other Recipes with Curry

• Beef Curry Stew
• Curry Smashed Potato Stew
• Curry Fries with Yogurt Lime Dip
• Ginger Lemongrass Soup with Coconut Milk

I hope you find this as delectable and as comforting as my family and I do!