Mizusawa Udon (One of Japan’s Three Great Udon Styles in Ikaho)

Tracing an unbroken 400-year history back to the Azuchi-Momoyama period when monks of Mizusawa-dera Temple on Mount Haruna prepared handmade wheat noodles to sustain weary pilgrims climbing the rugged peak, Mizusawa Udon is enshrined as one of "Japan’s Three Great Udon Varieties" alongside Kagawa’s Sanuki Udon and Akita’s Inaniwa Udon. The steep mountain road leading to the temple is celebrated as "Mizusawa Udon Street," lined with sprawling historic timber eateries such as Osawaya. The supreme quality of Mizusawa Udon stems from strict simplicity: premium local Gunma wheat flour, natural sea salt, and pristine, ice-cold mountain spring runoff filtered through Mount Haruna’s volcanic basalt. The dough undergoes multiple cycles of kneading, stepping, and resting over two days before being sliced and plunged into boiling cauldrons, followed by an immediate shock in mountain ice water. This produces translucent, snow-white noodles with a slippery, glass-like throat feel ("nodogoshi") and a resilient, toothsome chew. Traditionally presented chilled atop round woven bamboo zaru trays, it is accompanied by crispy, golden tempura clusters of wild Gunma Maitake mushrooms. Diners plunge the chilled noodles into two distinct dipping broths: a classic smoky bonito-shoyu Tsuyu, and an intensely fragrant, creamy ground white-sesame sauce (Goma-dare). Set meals range from ¥1,100 to ¥1,800.