This noodle dessert makes our brains malfunction.

When it comes to Kagawa, udon is king. Not only is the climate ideal for growing wheat – udon is a wheat noodle – but locals in Kagawa eat more udon per person than anywhere else in Japan, leading it to be dubbed Japan’s “Udon Prefecture”, a moniker that Kagawa proudly stands by.

We were reminded of just how strong the links are between noodles and the prefecture when, on a recent trip to the area, we spotted a sign outside a beautiful old shop along the approach to Kompirasan, one of the region’s most famous shrines.

▼ The sign, posted at the Konpira Udon Sando Store, read: “Onsen Egg Bukkake Udon-style Soft Serve”.


Having travelled to different parts of Japan, we knew that turning local specialties into ice cream has become something of a thing in recent years, but we were surprised to see udon being used this way. Making it even more unusual was the fact that the ice cream was based on onsen egg bukkake udon, one of our favourite noodle dishes. As fans of the dish, we were curious to find out how well the ice cream could replicate its look and flavour, so we decided to step into the shop and order a real onsen egg bukkake udon and the soft serve to see how they would compare.

▼ Onsen Egg Bukkake Udon at 730 yen (US$4.90) on the left, Onsen Egg Bukkake Udon-style Soft Serve (580 yen) on the right.

It only took about five minutes for both dishes to arrive, and when they did, we were charmed by how the shape and size of the bowls were almost identical.

▼ What wasn’t identical, though, was what was inside them.

There, on the right, was a bowl of white goodness that had a noodly look to it, and on top, a slice of lemon and the onsen egg, two ingredients you would usually find in a bowl of Onsen Egg Bukkake Udon.

▼ Look closely and you’ll see a splash (“bukkake” means “splash”) of sauce resembling soy sauce-based dashi within the “noodles”.

The presentation was so convincing in person that we momentarily forgot this was ice cream until we saw the dessert spoon there in place of chopsticks. Resisting the urge to gobble it down right away, we stopped to try the actual noodles on the left hand side of the tray.

▼ Absolutely delicious.

Kagawa udon truly is something else – the noodles had a wonderfully firm and slippery texture, and the balance of the dashi was perfect. After gently breaking the onsen egg apart and mixing it through the noodles, the flavour became smoother and richer, with the oil from the tempura crumbs and aroma of green onions adding just the right amount of texture and freshness to the dish.

▼ Time to try the Onsen Egg Bukkake Udon-style Soft Serve.

Releasing the yolk on this dish felt entirely wrong because, well…when would you normally break an egg over ice cream? Still, this is exactly how the dish is meant to be eaten, so we watched as the orange yolk slowly flowed over the white cream, creating an unorthodox, and sinful-looking, dessert.

▼ Gently mixing some of the yolk into the ice cream, we lifted a spoonful up for a taste, and…

▼ …what the heck is this?

The richness and saltiness of the yolk subdued the sweetness of the cream, shifting the flavour from something that felt like a dessert towards something more like a meal. We never imagined that egg yolk and ice cream would work so well together, but when we stopped to think about it, we realised that both custard and ice cream contain egg yolk, so perhaps the pairing makes perfect sense. Still, there was something entirely different about eating ice cream with a runny onsen egg oozing over it, and though it was odd, it wasn’t bad at all.

Curious to find out how lemon would affect the flavours, we first squirted some on the real noodle dish to get a sense of the taste.

▼ Yep, a classic combination that’s totally delicious.

We then  squeezed the lemon over our onsen egg ice cream, and…

▼… this worked surprisingly well too!

As soon as the acidity came into play, the finish became much lighter, lifting the sweet and salty richness of the dessert with a delicious freshness. It was genuinely a new and interesting kind of dessert, and so good that we could see ourselves becoming seriously addicted to it.

The flavour was so captivating that we interspersed the experience with mouthfuls of udon, which really broke our brain.

▼ Udon!

▼ Soft serve!


▼ Udon!!

▼ Soft serve!!!

Eventually, our taste buds started to become very confused, and at that point our brain malfunctioned and we wound up doing the unthinkable: we mixed the udon and ice cream together. This turned out be another surprise, as the two dishes worked together far better than expected, and we easily polished off the whole thing.

By the end of our very unorthodox meal, we realised two things. First, the Onsen Egg Bukkake Udon-style Soft Serve is an udon-inspired dessert that does a very good job of looking like a noodle dish. Secondly, we’ve rarely ever eaten a dessert with this level of attention to detail before.

From making it look like udon, which is no easy feat when you’re working with a soft ingredient, right through to the bowl and presentation, and the idea to include the onsen egg and lemon, which transforms the flavour while you eat, every element has clearly been carefully designed for the diner’s enjoyment.

Even when eaten alongside our beloved onsen egg bukkake udon, the soft serve held its own as a dessert, and we highly recommend trying it if you can. It’ll become a dessert to remember, and a nice way to reward yourself after climbing the shrine’s 785 stairs.

Restaurant information

Konpira Udon Sando Store / こんぴらうどん参道店
Address: Kagawa-ken Nakatado-gun Kotohira-cho 810-3
香川県仲多度郡琴平町810-3
Open: 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Website

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