Tempura udon

Because I work alone, at home, lunch is often crackers and peanut butter eaten at my desk. But sometimes I just need to Get. Out. Of. The. House. That's where tempura udon comes in handy.

Kunitoraya is situated on a block of rue Sainte-Anne that hosts all the other Japanese noodle joints that have mushroomed in Paris. I tend to avoid these places because I can't distinguish the good from the bad, but a friend brought me here and I've since claimed it as my own lunch spot, the place I come to eat alone. Here, I can slip into an anonymous stretch of counter and not feel punished by a table set for two.

There are many options on the menu, but I also seem to order the same thing: fat udon noodles paired with shrimp and vegetable tempura. It sounds simple, but the way you eat it is very particular; I had to ask for directions the first time I tried it.

First, you prepare your dipping sauce, adding sesame seeds, grated daikon, ginger, scallions, and a quail egg to a broth made of dashi, mirin and soy sauce.

 

Then, you remove an udon noodle from its bath of hot water and dip it into your special sauce, before slurping it up. The tempura also gets dipped in the same sauce. The noodles are fat and squidgy, the tempura hot and crunchy, and both are brightened by the smoky, gingery tang of dashi/soy sauce.

Perhaps it takes a bit longer, and requires a bit more skill, than your average meal, but all the dipping and noodle maneuvering is part of the fun. Plus — since you're eating alone, there's no one to notice if you accidentally spatter yourself.

Kunitoraya

39 rue Sainte-Anne

75001 Paris

tel: 01 47 03 33 65