Sanuki Udon

Wheat noodles have a long history in Kagawa, whose mild climate and soil suit wheat, and which long produced the salt, soy sauce, and iriko dried sardines that the local dashi relies on; a popular tale credits the monk Kukai with bringing noodle-making back from Tang China, but that origin is legend rather than documented fact. The name Sanuki udon comes from Sanuki, the old province name for Kagawa, and came into wide use only around the mid-20th century. The prefecture's nationwide fame as an udon destination grew through the late 20th century and was cemented by the 'Udon Prefecture' tourism campaign launched in 2011.

A dense, weighty noodle that pushes back against the teeth before yielding — the koshi is resistance with elasticity, not toughness, and the surface is smooth and faintly glossy. Eaten kamatama, the residual heat of the just-boiled noodles half-cooks a raw egg into a silky coating; eaten kake, the noodle stays firm in clear iriko-and-kombu dashi. A good strand has spring through the center; an overcooked one goes slack and pasty and loses the point.

Koshi is gluten engineering. Wheat flour holds two proteins — glutenin, which is elastic and springy, and gliadin, which is sticky and extensible; mixing the flour with salt water binds them into a gluten mesh, and a higher-protein flour and a generous 40-percent-plus water level build a stronger network than ordinary udon. Treading the dough underfoot intertwines that mesh far more than hands can, while the salt tightens the gluten and slows the enzymes that would otherwise slacken the dough during resting. Resting the dough relaxes the tensed gluten so it can be rolled and cut without snapping back, and the squared edges come from cutting the rolled sheet into even strips.