Sometimes when I’m too busy or come home late from work, at times like this I want something nice and quick. My husband cooks as well and he usually whip something up really quick. One time he cooked a stir fry udon dish or yaki udon. It was so good that I just couldn’t stop eating it. I asked him how to make it and he told me all the ingredients he put into it.
He usually doesn’t measure the ingredients so I decided to do a recipe test and add a couple of different ingredients. It was pretty delicious. The best part about this recipe is that you can make it with leftovers veggies and proteins in the fridge which is perfect for after Christmas when you have leftover turkey.
What is Yaki udon?
So what is yaki udon? It’s basically stir fried udon noodles in a sauce. Yaki is a Japanese word and means pan fried, grilled or broiled. This means that the udon is pan fried. Udon usually comes in frozen or room temperature, at least in Canada. I like the frozen type because the udon doesn’t break and texture is better.
This dish is very versatile and you can choose to different type of veggies and protein into the dish. You can also customize ingredients in the sauces as well.
Ingredient
There are only 3 main ingredients in this recipe which is a protein, vegetables and udon noodle. Now you can substitute any of the vegetables and protein as you wish but I think some type of cabbage or leafy greens are good choice. I used frozen beef briskets and thinly sliced pork (I also use them in hotpots) but you can use ground meat as well chicken or turkey.
The sauce is very simple to make, it’s basically soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, mirin (Japanese rice wine) and my homemade chili sauce. I used a lot of these sauces in my cooking and I love putting these combination of sauces into stir fry dishes.
How to make it
Prep all the veggies and protein and set aside. Make the sauce and set aside. This way once you start stir frying, the cooking goes quick. Boil some water to cook the udon and then put into cold water. Also parboil your carrots and napa cabbage (it will cook faster).
Once everything is prepped, add in some oil in a pan, fry the shallots and garlic together and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add in protein if your protein is raw or takes time to cook. Stir fry the protein for about 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and stir fry for another minute. Add in carrots and cabbage and then add in your cooked protein like turkey or thinly sliced meat (it cooks quickly).
Then add in the cooked udon and immediately add your sauce. Cook until the sauce is reduced. Top with some scallions and serve while it’s hot.
Pro-tip
- Prep everything before hand so it’s easier to cook as the cooking goes very quickly
- Make sure not to overcook the udon, only cook about 1-2 minutes in hot water, because it will be cooked with the veggies and sauce
- You can omit or substitute any protein you prefer.
Yaki Udon
Ingredients
- 1 pack of frozen udon
- handful frozen beef brisket or thinly sliced meat (any leftover cooked protein will work)
- ½ carrot
- 1 tomato
- handful napa cabbage
- ½ scallion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 shallot
Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- ½ tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp chili sauce optional
Instructions
- Prep your sauce and set aside
- Dice your garlic and shallots, slice scallions set aside
- Cut your veggies into bite size pieces.
- Parboil carrots and napa cabbage
- Boil some water and put your udon in for about 2 minutes, take it out and rinse. This will keep the udon's chewy texture.
- In a pan, stir fry the scallions, garlic on medium, add in tomatoes. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add in your uncooked protein (if using uncooked protein).
- Add in carrots, protein (if can be cooked very easily) and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes
- Add in cabbage
- Add your udon and let it simmer for another 1-2 minutes.
- Drizzle the sauce and mix. Once the sauce is bubbling and everything is mixed well, top off with scallions and it's good to go.
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