Anime Recipes: Kitsune Udon from 3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season

Nagareboshi

Hi there. Thanks for clicking on this article and welcome to another installment of Anime Recipes! Each article, we enjoy breaking down and explaining how to make the delicious food that we see in anime. Fall, this season, has been a hit. With so many shows, there are so many delectable dishes that you need to know about and try. For today, we are taking a look again at another episode of 3-gatsu no Lion or March comes in Like a Lion. Let’s go!

3-gatsu no Lion is all about the self-made Shogi prodigy Rei. While he is slowly but surely advancing in his career, he feels alone. Without anyone really at his side, Rei just spends his days studying and playing shogi instead of studying for his classes in high school. One fateful encounter though and he is now in the graces of the three Kawamoto sisters Akari, Hinata, and the adorable Momo. The three girls have but their grandfather and two cats left in this world, so Rei takes on a special sort of existence as their brother and yet, is a stable male figure in their lives. Akari works hard to fill their lives with delicious food, so no matter how stormy the day is, there is always something delicious to eat at the Kawamoto household.

Kitsune Udon is actually part of the udon family of dishes within Japanese noodle family. Udon, long considered a comfort food in Japan, can be put into just about anything—other than maybe ramen—but we surmise that if you looked hard enough, there is probably someone somewhere who uses udon noodles instead of ramen ones in their ramen dish. Udon has a mysterious past in that no one is sure exactly how it arrived in Japan, but we do know that it arrived from China in a pretty box. The thick wheat flour noodle took off immediately and was a massive hit somewhere around the 13th century. It has since evolved and been put into so many dishes and evolved into so many noodle variants, that you could probably eat a different udon dish each day for months and not repeat anything. Kitsune udon or “fox udon” is where we are today. Originating from the kitchen of Japan where all delicious food comes from, Osaka, kitsune udon is loved around the country and just a simple bite is all you will need to be convinced of its deliciousness.

What You Will Need:

3 tablespoons

mirin (sweet rice wine)

3 tablespoons

dashi or fish stock

1 bouillon cube

aburaage (thickly fried tofu)

Spinach for flavor

Optional Notes:

Kitsune udon’s main theme is the thickly fried tofu. If you are looking for something more to it, chicken thigh meat cut into bite-sized pieces is a great place to start. If you want to avoid meat, there is always kamaboko or steamed, seasoned fish paste. Diced green onions also make an excellent topping that we recommend.

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How to Cook It:

1. 
   
   
   First, boil your spinach for about… 3 minutes. Nothing too long as you do not want to make it into soup.
   
   


2. 
   
   
   Next, simmer your aburaage for about 15 minutes after bringing some water to boil.
   
   


3. 
   
   
   If you have fresh udon, please heat it up for about 2 minutes in the bag it came in, but be sure to cut a hole in it so that the hot air can escape.
   
   


4. 
   
   
   If you do not, please heat up your udon based on what the package tells you to do.
   
   


5. 
   
   
   Next, boil your water and add in the bouillon cube.
   
   


6. 
   
   
   Once it has dissolved completely, add in your mirin and mix.
   
   


7. 
   
   
   Once the mirin has been mixed, add in the soy sauce and mix.
   
   


8. 
   
   
   Put your udon noodles in a bowl.
   
   


9. 
   
   
   Pour the broth over the noodles and then add in the spinach and aburaage.
   
   


10. 
    
    
    

(Note: Be careful not to burn yourself either with the water or the steam as you are cooking the various ingredients. A burn is not fun. )

Yum!

If the drama or the bustle and bustle of life ever gets you a lot like how it does Rei, then all you need to do is find solace in the delicious food that you can make just like the Kawamoto sisters do for Rei in 3-gatsu no Lion. Have you ever given udon a try? What are your thoughts? Can you handle a noodle that is thicker than spaghetti? Let us know! Also, be sure to let us know in the comments below and if you are interested in seeing a dish from an anime series broken down. ßUntil next time!

Editor/Translator

Author: Nagareboshi

American by birth; international by choice. I am trying to bring attention to one of my favorite causes; me. I translate by day and write by night. Aspiring polyglot. My dream would be to be the personal translator for Amuro Namie. Other than that, my hobbies include languages, weightlifting, sleeping, karaoke, GOOD coffee and music. When I’m not doing any of the above, I am most likely laughing hysterically at Willam Belli videos or EV farming. I ain’t gunna Rupologize for it neither. Waifu are Shirai Kuroko & Euaerin.

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