For chewy Japanese noodles, borrow an Italian technique

Japanese udon noodles are all about the chew, but it’s hard to replicate the texture with what’s available in American markets.

Even after reheating the noodles in the cooked sauce, they retained that pleasant toothsome quality that makes this vegetarian dish feel so hearty.

With the texture settled, we opted for an umami-rich sauce of soy sauce, dried shiitake mushrooms and the semisweet rice wine mirin, all balanced by a little sugar.

12 ounces dried udon noodles.

3 small dried shiitake mushrooms, broken in half.

8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, halved if large, thinly sliced.

Bring to a simmer, stirring, then add the dried mushrooms, pushing them into the liquid

Remove the mushrooms from the soy sauce mixture, squeezing them to allow any liquid to drip back into the pan

Add the fresh mushrooms and cook, stirring, until lightly browned and slightly shrunken, about 3 minutes

Set the now-empty skillet over medium and add the udon, gently tossing with tongs

Cook, tossing constantly, until the noodles are heated and have absorbed most of the liquid, about 2 minutes