For such a flavorful and fulfilling meal, the udon noodle recipe can be made with everyday Asian ingredients that you might have in your pantry or find in nearby Asian grocery stores. I have wanted to share this recipe for a very long time, and finally, I could put this up. One word to describe and relive our experiences is – umami, and this udon noodles recipe has loads of that. A lot of that comes from the soy sauce-based sauce used here, and I feel this is quite versatile too. I can easily substitute the noodles, protein, and veggies, yet anything else would taste equally good with this sauce. Ground pork is commonly used in yaki udon, giving it a savory flavor and sweet taste. The sauce enhances its flavor, and ground/minced pork mixes well with the noodles, distributing evenly. We can also use chicken or beef instead but in ground/minced form. For other ground meat recipes, check out – Spicy Pork Ramen, Ground Beef Bowl – a comforting bowl of savory ground beef served with rice; and Healthy Ground Beef Vegetable Skillet – another stir fry recipe with ground beef and a versatile choice of vegetables. If you want to serve pork dishes, look at my favorite way to cook pork chops – Skillet Pork Chops With Sour Cream. It can in the skillet and has a yummy sauce. For a more tender cut from the animal – pork tenderloin, you can bake it in the oven with a spicy rub and a flavorful BBQ glaze, all in 30 minutes – Baked BBQ Pork Tenderloin. Soy sauce, made from fermented soybeans, is the integral ingredient of this sauce. Dark soy sauce, or “koikuchi shoyu” as it is called in Japan, is widely available. It has a slightly sweeter flavor profile than light or Chinese soy sauce. For more premium quality, get the organic varieties. This stir-fry sauce also has oyster sauce, mirin, rice wine vinegar, and sugar to increase the depth of flavor. The oyster sauce makes the sauce taste savory, while mirin and rice wine vinegar add sweetness and a tangy taste. We use brown sugar here to balance all the salty sauces. For its umami flavor, soya sauce is widely used in Asian dishes. I have great recipes with lots of umami from similar sauces – Honey Soy Baked Chicken Drumsticks, Chicken Broccoli Stir Fry, and Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs. If you are using udon cakes, pour boiling water on the cakes and then leave it for 10 minutes. The noodles would be cooked. Next, you will have to separate the noodles. Do so with a light touch so as not to break the noodles. For the veggies, chop them into juliennes which means cut into short, thin strips. Juliene-sized veggies mix well and can be easily picked up with the noodles.
Make the sauce
In a medium-sized bowl, add all the ingredients and shake the contents well or stir them gently. Add minced garlic and sliced onion and cook for another minute or two until the garlic turns aromatic. Add the cooked udon noodles, bok-choy, and the rest of the sauce to the wok. Toss everything well for 2-3 minutes until the noodles get hot and are coated with the sauce and meat base. Switch off the flame. While serving, garnish with chopped green onions and toasted sesame seeds. Make a note of these points to have fuss-free stir-fry:
Stir-frying is always done on high heat. It might start with medium-high heat to cook the meat, but the other stuff, like noodles and veggies, must be tossed around frequently in high heat for a few minutes. That is because the noodles are already cooked earlier, and veggies need to get tender but retain crunch. Use a large wok or skillet; We will toss all the ingredients, including noodles, veggies, and meat. That will add up to some volume. So use a large wok which will have enough space left that you can safely toss things around. As things happen fast in a stir-fry, you will hardly get time to do other stuff parallelly. Ensure you have the noodles cooked, the veggies chopped, and the sauce prepped before you start the stir-fry. If you notice, there is no salt or pepper used. We have used generous amounts of soy sauce-based sauce containing soya and oyster sauce. These sauces are quite salty enough to bring out the flavor of ground pork and veggies. Taste after cooking the pork and add more salt if you want more. Keep stirring the contents in the wok. Leaving it on longer will result in noodles steaming and sticking to each other. We are giving each portion of the noodles and veggies a quick fry.
You can reheat them in the microwave or, better still, heat a little oil and give a quick stir fry. You can also serve it as a side dish to dishes like Sushi, Miso soup, or teriyaki. Pickled vegetables on the side as a cleanse the palate.
