Udon noodle dough calculator
Thick, chewy udon from flour, water and a lot of salt: a stiff dough rested twice and cut 3 mm wide.
Udon is flour, water and a surprising amount of salt: 10 g on 200 g of flour, dissolved in the water before it meets the flour. The salt tightens the gluten, which is what makes a thick noodle chewy rather than soft, and most of it leaves in the cooking water.
How it works
Salt water first
Just One Cookbook dissolves 10 g of salt in 90 ml of water (5% and 45% of the flour) and works it into 200 g of all-purpose flour. RecipeTin Japan uses 100 ml and 8 g on the same flour, half plain and half bread flour; Chopstick Chronicles 140 ml and 15 g on 300 g. Three kitchens, one dough: 45–50% water, 4–5% salt.
Kneaded by foot
The dough is too stiff to knead by hand for long, so it goes into a bag and is stepped on, folded and stepped on again, five rounds with a 30-minute rest after the first, until it is as soft as an earlobe. Then it rests two hours on the counter, three in winter, or overnight in the fridge.
Cut thick
Roll to 3 mm, fold the sheet and cut 3 mm strips. Boil about 10 minutes in plenty of unsalted water, the noodles are salted already, and rinse in cold water. Raw portions of 150 g freeze well and cook in 12 minutes straight from the freezer.
Sources & methodology
Every percentage in this calculator traces to the published sources below — nothing is invented. Where respected sources disagree, the default sits inside the documented range.
- Just One Cookbook — Homemade Udon Noodles — The anchor: 200 g all-purpose flour / 90 ml water (45%) / 10 g salt (5%) dissolved in the water, two 150 g portions, rolled 3 mm and cut 3 mm.
- RecipeTin Japan — Home-made Udon Noodles — The wetter, less salty end of both bands: 100 ml of water and 8 g of salt on 200 g of flour (50%, 4%), half plain and half bread flour.
- Chopstick Chronicles — Udon Noodles — The third reading of the same dough: 140 ml and 15 g on 300 g of flour (47%, 5%).
FAQ
Which flour?
All-purpose, around 10% protein. Chopstick Chronicles puts the ideal at 8–10% and calls all-purpose good enough; RecipeTin Japan cuts hers with bread flour for chew.
Why so much salt?
Just One Cookbook says it outright: the amount looks like a lot, but some of it is released into the boiling water, and you do not salt that water.
Can I shorten the rest?
The recipe’s own minimum is 30 minutes after the first kneading and two hours after the last; only then is the dough relaxed enough to roll. An overnight rest in the fridge is fine.
How much per person?
150 g of raw noodles, which is what 200 g of flour makes for two.