A recipe for Hiyashi Tanuki Udon (冷やしたぬきうどん, Japanese Chilled Tanuki Udon)! Chewy udon noodles are served in a cold broth with tempura flakes and vegetables for a refreshing summertime meal.

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Hiyashi Tanuki Udon (Japanese Chilled Tanuki Udon) in a bowl with noodles, tempura flakes, tomatoes, cucumber, green onion, and egg.

Literally translating to Raccoon Dog Noodles, this noodle dish doesn’t have Tanuki, but the name in the Kanto region (including Tokyo) actually refers to the addition of the Tenkasu (tempura flakes) over the top.

Other than the necessary Tenkasu to make it Tanuki Udon, the other toppings may vary.

I added a combination of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, daikon, wakame, green onions, and a soft boiled egg for a fun variety of color and flavors to pair with the thick noodles and cold broth.

I have also seen edamame, pickled ginger, nori, and/or kamaboko.

A Few Tips

Add the Tenkasu to the noodles right before you are about to eat. They get soggy and start to lose the notable crispy texture the longer they sit in the broth.

Aerial view of Hiyashi Tanuki Udon (Japanese Chilled Tanuki Udon) in two bowls with tempura flakes, vegetables, and eggs.

Notable Ingredients

Udon (うどん) are long, thick noodles with a smooth and chewy texture. For this recipe, I prefer the frozen Sanuki Udon found in the freezer section of grocery stores with Japanese items and some larger supermarkets.

They provide a nice contrast in texture to the vegetables and are usually packaged in individual portion (8.8 ounce, 250 gram) bricks. If not available, you can also make your own Homemade Udon Noodles.

Tenkasu (天かす, 揚げ玉, Agedama, Tempura flakes) are crisp little pieces of fried batter and the by-product of frying tempura. You can collect the leftover after frying a batch of tempura or buy prepackaged crumbs.

They are available in some grocery stores specializing in Japanese food or you can get them on Amazon: Tenkasu.

Mentsuyu (めんつゆ, Tsuyu, つゆ) is a noodle soup base made by simmering together soy sauce, sake, mirin, kombu, and katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes). This base can be refrigerated for up to a month, then diluted in water to serve with the noodles.

I used store-bought Mentsuyu (from Nijiya Market for those in the Los Angeles area). Just One Cookbook also has a great recipe for Homemade Mentsuyu.

Wakame (わかめ) is an edible seaweed with a slightly sweet and salty flavor. In Japanese cuisine, it is often added to soups and salads.

You can find it larger grocery stores or markets with East Asian/Japanese ingredients. It is also available on Amazon: Emerald Cove Silver Grade Wakame (Dried Seaweed).

Japanese cucumbers are long and slender with less seeds than garden cucumbers. If you are unable to find Japanese cucumbers, you can also use Persian or remove the seeds and peel the garden or English cucumbers.

Looking for more recipes with udon noodles?

Try my:

Close up of Hiyashi Tanuki Udon (Japanese Chilled Tanuki Udon) with tomatoes, tenkasu, daikon, green onion, cucumber, egg, and seaweed.

This recipe was originally posted in July 2015 and updated June 2022.