Hi, I’m James Li from Germany and I just started an internship at SUiTO FUKUOKA.
A few days ago, we had another udon-noodles making workshop with students from Kyushu University and Japanese language schools. People from all over the world came together for that experience and they all had a lot of fun! We also had a few Japanese students for whom it was the first time making udon so everyone learnt a lot!


Our chef, Mr. Shimizu, gave a detailed explanation about how to make udon. All of the participants divided into two groups, and started learning the way of making udon, under the guidance of Mr. Shimizu.
First, they learnt how to make the dough. Thoroughly mix flour and warm water until it becomes the desired consistency. Put the dough in a plastic bag and step on it. Why, you ask? Because the more you step on the dough, the more the body of the noodles becomes stronger, and the less chances you have that they break when boiling them.

While letting the dough rest, we watched Mr. Shimizu prepare the broth and the fried burdock topping (tempura). Burdock is called “gobo” in Japanese, and its fried tempura is the most popular topping for noodles in Fukuoka. Of course, we also had green onions as topping, as served in any udon restaurant.

once Mr. Shimizu’s demonstration was over, the students took the dough out of the bag, and tried their hands at kneading the dough. It actually requires a lot of strength, well done everyone!

Lastly, Mr. Shimizu boiled the noodles. By the time it was ready, everyone’s stomach was growling so the timing was perfect! Everyone did their very best to make the most perfect noodles they could, so without a doubt it was absolutely delicious!
I wish I could take part in the experience and make my own noodles next time!