{"title":"Japanese Udon","description":"\u003cp\u003eJapan's thick wheat noodle, soft, slippery and far fatter than ramen, in a light soy-and-dashi broth rather than a rich one. Kitsune, with sweet fried tofu on top, is the classic. Also in \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/japanese-instant-noodles\"\u003eJapanese Instant Noodles\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"nissin-donbei-kitsune-udon","title":"Nissin Donbei Kitsune Udon Cup — Fried Tofu, 82g","description":"\u003cp\u003eInstant udon in a cup: thick wheat noodles in a soy-and-dashi broth built on bonito, mackerel, sardine and kombu kelp, with a piece of sweet seasoned fried tofu on top. The tofu is made with sugar syrup and soy sauce, so it eats sweet against a savoury broth: that sweet-against-savoury is what makes it kitsune udon rather than just noodles in soup. Boiling water to the line, five minutes, stir.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e日清のどん兵衛 きつねうどん: the Japanese name across the cup, so you can match it to the one you remember.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDonbei is Japan's everyday udon rather than a specialty one. It is the standard supermarket cup there, and Nissin's premium udon lines sit above it. \u003cstrong\u003eThis particular cup is the export version, made in Hong Kong for markets outside Japan, and its recipe is not the same as the cups sold inside Japan\u003c\/strong\u003e: worth knowing before you weigh it against one you had over there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThick wheat udon, a heavier, softer noodle than the curly one in a ramen cup, which is why it wants five minutes rather than three.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA broth built on bonito, mackerel, sardine, anchovy and kombu kelp, with soy sauce and sugar in it. It is a fish-stock flavour rather than a meat-stock one.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA piece of seasoned fried tofu, aburaage, made with sugar syrup and soy. You taste the sweetness first, not a savoury topping.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShichimi seasoning through it: chilli, tangerine peel, sesame, Japanese pepper, seaweed and perilla.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt is a salty cup, treat it as a meal rather than a light snack.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains fish, sesame, gluten, soy and wheat, and may contain lupin. Japan's chart has no general fish category, so the bonito, sardine and anchovy sit in the pack's ingredient list rather than its allergen box: check the ingredients, not the chart; ours is the fuller list.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIt is not vegetarian.\u003c\/strong\u003e The broth is built on fish, and the fried tofu is set with gelatine made from pork skin. Worth saying plainly, because an ingredient list will usually just print \"gelatine\" without telling you what it came from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Kitsune\" means fox, and there is no fox in it. It is simply the Japanese name for udon topped with fried tofu.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is udon, not ramen: a fatter, softer wheat noodle in a soy-and-dashi broth rather than a curly noodle in a rich soup. And if you have read about Donbei's regional versions, do not go looking for a letter on this cup: those recipes belong to the cups sold inside Japan, and this export pack carries no region mark at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo not microwave the cup.\u003c\/strong\u003e The lid is foil. There is a microwave method and it does give a firmer noodle, but it starts by tipping the noodles and broth into a bowl of your own.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nissin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48245625848034,"sku":"SH-NDL-0007","price":3.98,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/nissin-donbei-kitsune-udon-82g-hero.webp?v=1787653197"},{"product_id":"nissin-donbei-tokumori-kitsune-udon","title":"Nissin Donbei Kitsune Udon Extra Large — Fried Tofu, 131g","description":"\u003cp\u003eInstant udon in the extra-large cup: 131 g against the standard Donbei's 96 g, and 102 g of that is noodles. Thick flat wheat udon in a dark bonito-and-soy broth, with a big slab of sweet seasoned fried tofu and slices of fish cake on top. The tofu is seasoned with soy and comes out sweet, so you get sweet tofu against a savoury broth. That contrast is what makes it kitsune udon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e日清のどん兵衛 特盛きつねうどん, the Japanese name across the cup, so you can match it to the one you remember.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDonbei is Japan's everyday udon rather than a specialty one: the standard supermarket and convenience-store cup, with Nissin's premium udon lines sitting above it. It is also Japan's best-selling brand of instant \u003cem\u003ecup\u003c\/em\u003e udon and buckwheat soba by sales value across 2025: that standing belongs to the brand across all its sizes. \u003cstrong\u003eThis is the East-Japan version\u003c\/strong\u003e, marked with an (E) below the barcode: a darker soy broth led by bonito, where the West cup goes lighter, with kombu kelp alongside the bonito.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat you're getting\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThick, flat wheat udon, heavier and softer than the curly noodle in a ramen cup, which is why it wants five minutes rather than three. It goes down smoothly rather than fighting back.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA big slab of seasoned fried tofu. It is seasoned in its own right rather than just soaking up the soup, so it tastes of something different from the broth around it: you taste sugar in the tofu itself, and that is right, not a mistake.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA dark soy broth built on dried bonito, bonito is a fish, dried hard and shaved into flakes, and there are two kinds of it in here, with kamaboko fish cake and spring onion in the cup. It is a fish-stock flavour rather than a meat-stock one.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt is a lot of food. A 131 g cup where Japan's standard Donbei is 96 g and the export cup we also stock is 82 g: this size exists because the ordinary one does not fill people up. Treat it as a meal, and a salty one.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTwo sachets: a powder soup and a shichimi chilli blend, joined together under the lid.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAllergens\u003c\/strong\u003e: contains fish, wheat, gluten, milk, soy and sesame. Japan's chart has no general fish category, so the bonito and kamaboko fish cake sit in the pack's ingredient list rather than its allergen box: check the ingredients, not the chart; ours is the fuller list.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIt contains fish.\u003c\/strong\u003e The broth is built on dried bonito and fish powder, there is kamaboko fish cake in the cup, and the Japanese pack declares mackerel. Treat it as a fish product: if fish is a problem for you, this one is not for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIt is not vegetarian\u003c\/strong\u003e, whatever you may have read, many of the English recipes you will find for kitsune udon are vegan versions, and this is not one of them. The broth is built on fish and there is fish cake in the cup. It also contains gelatine, and Nissin does not publish what that gelatine is made from, so it cannot be treated as halal or kosher either.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"Kitsune\" means fox, and there is no fox in it. It is simply the Japanese name for udon topped with fried tofu. And this is udon, not ramen: a fatter, softer wheat noodle in a soy broth built on dashi, the bonito-and-kelp stock, rather than a curly noodle in a rich soup.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe powder sachet goes in before the water, not after, and the shichimi is sprinkled on at the very end once it has steeped, the opposite way round from what most people expect. \u003cstrong\u003eNever microwave the cup\u003c\/strong\u003e: the lid is foil.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Nissin","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48258802581730,"sku":"SH-NDL-0010","price":7.68,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/1312\/5858\/files\/nissin-donbei-tokumori-kitsune-udon-hero.webp?v=1787647332"}],"url":"https:\/\/shintop.com.au\/collections\/japanese-udon.oembed","provider":"Shintop Trading Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}