Stepping
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Getting Together
Let's bring the first-aged "soboro-like" dough together.
Divide
You divide the aged dough in two equally. Too big dough makes stepping operation difficult. One portion is equal to two dishes.
Stepping
You press this Udon ball with your foot in double cooking bag covered by towel. The double bag is recommended just in case (the bag is breakable). If you don't like stepping with your foot, you can press the Udon dough with a fist, palm or rolling pin. The thickness reaches about 1 or 2 cm, you take the dough out from the bag. This plate-like dough is folded as shown in the picture. Then , you bring the dough into the bag and press with your foot again. This stepping process is repeated 5 or 6 times. Too many presses make the Udon too hard. After this stepping process, the dough is uniformly moisted. It's OK. Eventually, you make the Udon dough good-shaped with your hand or foot after the last fold. Actually, the professional Udon master makes the Udon dough globe-like shape "Kiku-neri" (Kiku means chrysathemum in Japanese. Neri means "knead". The last closed point looks like a chrysanthemum. So, this process is called "Kiku-neri".). I tried the professional method, but I failed. So I adopt this plate-like shape.
the Second Aging
You enter the well-shaped Udon dough into a cooking bag (single) and tie the bag closed. Covering with a wet cloth instead of a bag is also acceptable, but this cooking bag is simple and easy. You store the Udon dough in shade. If you mind the temperature, you can enter the Udon dough in a refigerator. Half a day is recommended for the second aging. If you don't have time, however, you can go next step soon.
