"Feel Better" food - Udon Noodle Soup Artwork

Talk to Me About Food

A podcast about the news and trends that impact the choices we make around getting, preparing, and disposing of our foods and drinks, seen through the lens of a consumer researcher...consumer...human...me. The podcast covers a range of topics related to the cycle of consuming food. DISCOVERY of new foods and cuisines. PLANNING what you're going to make and eat. SHOPPING for food and beverages. PREPARING meals and snacks. DISPOSING of what doesn't get eaten. EATING OUT when you want someone else to work. The goal is to entertain and inform you so I muse about what's trending in the food world: new products, up-and-coming cuisines, food chain sustainability, "smart" kitchen stuff, digital shopping, and more. The recipe for each episode is simple: 1) A good handful of observations. 2) A couple of spoonfuls of insight from experts. 3) A thimbleful of first-hand experience. 4) A dash of whimsy. 5) Simmer until a story emerges.

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Talk to Me About Food

"Feel Better" food - Udon Noodle Soup

April 16, 2023 • Ali Tadlaoui

This episode is one in a mini-series about a range of soups and simple foods from different food traditions that are suggested, prescribed, maybe sometimes even foisted on someone feeling under the weather.

I consider a basic udon soup. Where it’s the bounty of the land that nourishes a chicken, it’s the bounty of the ocean and sea washing up on every millimeter of Japan’s coastline that infuses udon noodle soup with its curative power.

Marc Matsumoto talks me through how to make dashi; the basic fish stock at the heart of a good bowl of udon noodle soup and okayu, a rice porridge.

Marc is a private chef, culinary consultant and TV host with a base of clients around the world. He grew up and worked for a time in the US, but is now based in Tokyo. He has a website, norecipes.com, that teaches you basic cooking techniques but also offers a range of recipes from different cuisines, with a skew to Japanese food, including a basic dashi and udon noodle varieties.