Udon Stir Fry

We love udon noodles in Hawaii! This popular stir fry udon dish is simple and full of flavor. There's Spam, cabbage, and lots of black pepper. It's easy to make with pantry ingredients and very flexible. Feel free to switch up the meat and veggies. Hope you enjoy ^_^

Why This Recipe Works

Ready for udon stir fry? ^_^

This is one of my favorite easy lunch or dinner dishes to make. It's so simple but hearty and feels like a complete meal.

Udon stir fry is very satisfying and packed with different textures from the chewy udon noodles, crunchy cabbage, and the Spam, of course!

This recipe calls for common pantry ingredients and can be prepared in 15 minutes.

It's also flexible - feel free to change up the meat and vegetables. If this is your first time making udon stir fry, I recommend preparing the recipe according to directions. Then the next time, you can adjust the sauce proportions and change anything else you like. You can even make vegetarian udon by omitting the meat.

It's a forgiving recipe and open to endless adaptations. The main thing is that you enjoy making and eat this dish!

P.S. This dish is similar to Yaki Udon (which has different sauce flavoring and ingredients). You'll find both dishes in Hawaii.

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need for the dish:

• Udon noodles
• Green cabbage, thinly sliced - Green cabbage works best for this recipe, but you can substitute any other cabbage. We sometimes make this with napa cabbage.
• Spam - sliced into matchsticks. Use regular or low sodium Spam. Don't use any of the flavored Spam options (there seem to be so many different flavors now).
• Garlic, minced
• Oyster sauce - Make sure to get the premium oyster sauce and not the flavored oyster sauce.
• Soy sauce - Aloha (less salty) and Kikkoman (more salty) are the two most common brands in Hawaii.
• Sesame oil
• Rice vinegar
• Black pepper - I LOVE black pepper and use a lot of it for this recipe. Feel free to use less (though its really good with lots).

Udon Noodles

Udon noodles are thick round noodles made with wheat flour. They can be found at all Japanese markets. If you're in Hawaii, you can find udon at pretty much every supermarket (and even local drugstore) in town.

You can use fresh or frozen udon for this recipe. We love to keep several packages of frozen udon in the freezer, it often comes in handy for last minute meals.

For this post, we used fresh udon noodles from Sun Noodle.

Tip: you can buy udon and other noodles straight from Sun Noodle factory warehouse if you are in Honolulu, it is super neat! Here's a look from our visit.

Step by Step Directions

Ready to start cooking?

Prepare the udon noodles.
Heat a bowl of water for 2 minutes in the microwave. Remove and place the udon in the bowl of hot water for 1 minute to help loosen the noodles. Drain the water and set aside the udon.

Prepare the sauce.
Next, make the sauce. Mix together the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and black pepper in a small bowl. Set aside. We will use this sauce for seasoning the dish in the last cooking step.

Cook the cabbage and Spam.
In a pan over high heat, add the cabbage. Stir fry the cabbage for 4-5 minutes until the cabbage has softened and is charred in spots.

Add the Spam and garlic, and then stir fry for 2-3 more minutes.

Add the udon noodles and sauce.
Then add the drained udon noodles and the prepare sauce mixture. Turn the heat down to medium.

Cook and toss for 1 more minute, making sure that the sauce evenly coats all the noodles. Then it’s ready to eat.

Time to eat!
Slide the finished dish onto a plate (or bowl) and enjoy. I like it best piping hot from pan, but it's already very good at room temperature.

FAQs and Tips

Udon Stir Fry Recipe

See below and enjoy ^_^