Afterwards, my class and I traveled with our teacher to our scheduled lesson for the day, which involved subway rides and a lot of walking. If I remember correctly, this was a day where we found and passed several cool shops and explored the city before our lesson. These shops were filled with cookware, treats, and many delicious dishes. We even found a trading card shop full of Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Yes, I bought one. And yes, I still have it!
When we finally reached our destination, we learned that we were going to be taught how to make udon from scratch. We met our instructors, who then split us into pairs and proceeded to show us how to prepare the dough. We kneaded it, rolled it and even stomped on it (it was wrapped in plastic, I promise!). They then showed us how to properly cut it so that it could be boiled. Unfortunately, we didn't actually cook it, but the process of making our own noodles was so fun!
When the food was done, our instructors placed our noodles before us in a beautiful display of trays. In many Asian countries, a home-cooked meal is set up a bit differently than it would be in the U.S. Iinstead of a large plate of food with every dish on the plate, each food group is contained in its own bowl or plate, which the person is meant to place onto their own larger plate as they eat. Think of it like a holiday or Sunday dinner where you make your own plate, but you have smaller portions for each type of food.
Along with our noodles, we were given the special sweet and savory sauce to dip our noodles in, fried prawns (large-sized shrimp) and fried vegetables.
