number one udon

My son loves udon, thick, white, chewy Japanese wheat-flour noodles. When he was at Japanese culture day camp, the thing he learned to say was, "一番　好きな　食べものは　うどん　です。"
"My Number 1 favorite food is udon."

He was also most displeased that his favorite was not in Feeding My Ohana from the get-go. With apologies to my young son, who is a beloved part of our ohana, here it is. 

And yes, you could make your very own soup broth (dashi) using dried seaweed and a variety of other ingredients, but the bottled Hon-tsuyu means dinner in less than an hour.

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Udon
  Dry (Safeway) or refrigerated (Japanese grocery stores and Safeway)
1 cup of Hon-Tsuyu (found in Japanese grocery stores, near the shoyu)
At least 6-7 cups of water

Baby bok choy, bottoms cut off and separated into loose leaves
Green onion, finley chopped
Chari siu (recommended) or black forest ham, thinly sliced
Scrambled eggs, thinly sliced (optional but recommended)
Kamaboko, thinly sliced (also optional, or use alone)

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Boil water and cook udon as you would spaghetti, and cook until al-dente and drain. While the water boils, cut up green onions, char siu and make and slice up the scrambled eggs.

In another pot, mix water and Hon-Tsuyu in a pot and bring to a boil. *Do not pay attention to the proportions on the bottle* First of all, they are written in Japanese. Secondly, if you follow their proportions, the broth will be much, much, much, much too salty. Taste the broth as it heats up. If it tastes a little week, add Hon-Tsuyu in small spoonfuls. 

When the broth boils, drop in the bok choy and cook until it turns bright green and just wilts. Take out. Put cooked udon in the hot broth. Put udon and broth into bowls. Add kamaboko, char siu, eggs and bok choy in each bowl. Garnish with green onions.

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