KYOTO - Curry udon, a dish combining the fragrance of spices with one of Kansai's most beloved noodle staples, has developed into a distinctly different style in Kyoto, where a thickened dashi-based curry broth created to withstand the city's harsh winters has become the defining feature of a local comfort food tradition.
While curry udon is often imagined as udon noodles served in leftover curry diluted with dashi, Kyoto's version places greater emphasis on the broth itself. Rather than relying on a heavy curry roux, it uses a delicate Japanese soup stock seasoned with curry spices and thickened with potato starch, producing an ankake-style broth that clings closely to the noodles.
Food writer Nakai, who eats out throughout the year and is familiar with Kyoto's culinary scene, said the city's residents have long been open to incorporating new influences into traditional cooking. As Western food gained popularity during the Meiji era, curry spices were added to Kyoto-style dashi, helping create the foundations of the city's distinctive curry udon.
One restaurant widely credited with bringing Kyoto curry udon to national attention is Mimikou, a popular shop near Kyoto Station where customers regularly form lines outside. Founded in 1969 as a tiny udon restaurant, Mimikou helped establish Kyoto-style curry udon as a recognizable local specialty and was later selected by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry as one of Japan's notable regional products.
At first glance, a bowl of Mimikou's curry udon appears similar to ordinary curry udon, but the difference becomes clear as soon as the noodles are lifted from the bowl. The broth is thick and glossy, coating the noodles with a mixture of seafood-based dashi and gentle curry spice.
"The dashi flavor is extremely strong," a reporter said after tasting the dish. "You can clearly taste the seafood stock, while the curry spices add a mild heat. The noodles carry the broth with every bite, making it deeply satisfying."
The development of this thickened broth is closely tied to Kyoto's climate. Surrounded by mountains, the city sits in a basin that becomes oppressively hot in summer and bitterly cold in winter, with the chill often seeming to rise from the ground. Kyoto residents traditionally ate thickened dashi dishes topped with ginger to help warm the body during the colder months, and the addition of curry spices offered an even more warming and flavorful variation.
This approach also reflected Kyoto's deeply rooted respect for dashi. For cooks trained in the city's traditional Japanese cuisine, simply adding thick curry roux or large amounts of animal fat to udon broth would have been difficult to accept. Instead, Kyoto curry udon developed around the idea of preserving the clarity and umami of the stock while adding the aroma and stimulation of curry.
Mimikou prepares a broth specifically for its curry udon, blending kombu with bonito and mackerel rather than using the same stock served with its ordinary udon. The thickened texture plays an important role in allowing diners to experience that carefully prepared broth, as far more of it adheres to the noodles than in a conventional bowl of curry udon.
A comparison using identical noodles and equal amounts of broth demonstrated the difference. After only the noodles were eaten from bowls of regular curry udon and ankake-style curry udon, the Kyoto-style bowl showed a visibly greater reduction in broth, illustrating how the thickened soup is designed to be consumed together with the noodles.
Kyoto's curry udon has also evolved in ways shaped by the city's nightlife culture. In Gion, where restaurants, teahouses and drinking establishments have long relied on delivery service, curry udon became a popular late-night finishing dish after an evening of drinking.
Okaru, a long-established restaurant in Gion with a history of more than a century, is known for its cheese and meat curry udon. The dish combines the thickness of ankake-style curry broth with melted cheese, creating an even richer texture that has become popular among customers seeking a filling late-night meal.
The restaurant's manager said the broth in Gion was traditionally made slightly thicker not only to keep the noodles warm during delivery, but also to prevent spills and splashes on customers' kimono. The practical requirements of the entertainment district helped reinforce a style of curry udon that was hot, thick and easy to eat even after being carried through the streets.
At Okaru, which remains open until 2 a.m., customers arriving after drinks were seen ordering curry udon one after another. Some said they returned regularly because the thick broth felt gentle after drinking, while others praised the combination of Kyoto-style dashi and curry spice.
Kyoto's curry udon may have developed for several reasons, from the city's cold winters and devotion to refined dashi to the delivery culture and late-night habits of Gion, but together these influences created a bowl unlike those found elsewhere in Kansai: thick, warming, deeply flavored and unmistakably Kyoto.
Source: Television OSAKA NEWS
