Udon

Chilli, citrus peel, sesame. Three sharp things scattered on one blank one.

Thin clear broth on fat white noodle. The chew is the only solid in the bowl.

Poured neat over hot drained noodles with nothing else. Kagawa breakfast.

Smoked dried fish shavings curl on the heat and salt the whole bowl.

The only sharp edge on a plate designed to have none.

Tempura sits on top and its batter dissolves slowly into the broth.

Cracked raw into the hot noodles, stirred until it just thickens.

Glutamate steeped cold overnight; it seasons without adding any colour.

Thick roux curry clings to fat noodles where thin broth would slide off.

A knob melted into soy-drenched hot noodles. Hokkaido has no shame.

Peel shaved over the bowl at the last second: perfume on top of steam.

Toasted oil gives a slippery noodle something to hold on to.

Bivalve liquor is a second dashi. Two marine glutamates in one broth.

Chewy blank starch is an unusually good vehicle for shaved fungus.

Butter, pepper, hard cheese, wheat noodle. Cacio e pepe with a bigger chew.