Yaki Udon is a stir fried udon dish. It's delicious and easy to make. Udon noodles, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and cabbage come together in a simple dish seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper. This is a very flexible recipe and makes a quick and flavorful lunch or dinner!
Why This Recipe Works
Yaki Udon! There are endless way to prepare this udon stir fry dish. That's the most fun part about this recipe. It is flexible and always delicious.
The foundation of this dish is udon noodles. I love all types of noodles and have an especially soft spot for udon. I love that it's so chewy, how thick and substantial it is, and how it soaks up flavor beautifully.
We eat a udon often in Hawaii and there are restaurants that make fresh udon daily (check out Marugame Udon TsuruTonTan in Waikiki).
We also keep plain udon noodles in the freezer. They come in handy for last minute meals...you know those moments when you're like, let's just get delivery? But if you just take 20 minutes to make these noodles, it's very much worth it. It's more tasty than delivery and you'll save money.
This recipe uses pantry items, nothing fancy. Start with the udon noodles. Boil it quickly to cook the noodles, then drain and set aside.
Stir fry all the vegetables. We use mushrooms, carrots, cabbage. Use what you have and skip what you don't.
We add the drained udon noodles into the vegetable mixture. Then season it with soy sauce and oyster sauce. Then toss so that the seasoning is evenly mixed into all the udon and vegetables. Add some ground pepper.
Then eat! That's all there is to it.
You can double the recipe for a larger group. This makes a substantial meal for one. If you're serving it with other dishes, then the recipe will serve enough for two (think of it as the starch portion of your meal).
Ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make Yaki Udon:
- Udon noodles - frozen or fresh
- Carrot, julienned
- Shiitake mushrooms, sliced - you can use different types of mushrooms if preferred, but we love the flavor of shiitake mushrooms for this dish.
- Cabbage leaves, julienned - we use napa cabbage, free free to use any type of cabbage.
- Soy sauce
- Oyster sauce
- Black or white pepper (optional) - somehow ground pepper and udon go especially well together.
Step By Step Directions
Let's get cooking ^_^
Cook the udon noodles.
Bring a small pot of water to a boil, cook the noodles according to package directions (it will vary depending on if you are using fresh or frozen udon noodles).
Quickly drain, rinse under cold water water (to stop the cooking), and set aside.
Stir fry mushrooms.
Add a little oil to a large pan. Place the mushrooms in the pan. Turn the stove to medium high heat and let the mushrooms brown. Don't touch the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes (we want that nice golden char). Then stir fry for another 2 minutes.
Stir fry carrots and cabbage.
Add the carrots and stir fry for 1 minute. The add the cabbage, stir fry for another 2 minutes. You want the cabbage just lightly wilted.
Add the udon.
Add the udon noodles, gently toss to mix the noodles with all the vegetables.
Season the dish.
Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir fry for another 1 minute to mix and season everything evenly. Add the ground pepper, if using.
Plate, eat, and enjoy.
Turn off the heat, slide the noodles onto a plate. Eat and enjoy ^_^
FAQs and Tips
Looking to add some meat to this dish? Used thinly sliced pork belly. Cook the pork belly in Step 2 (do it right before you add the mushrooms).
You can also use ground pork, but thinly sliced pork belly is preferred.
It will keep 2-3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave.
The key thing about this recipe is that it is very flexible. We use shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and napa cabbage. You can use any other type of mushrooms and any other type of cabbage. You can also add different vegetables or omit any vegetable you don't have on hand.
You can also adjust the volume of things. For this recipe, we use a pretty high ratio of vegetables to noodles. You can use even more vegetables. Or add in another package of udon noodles to make the dish more noodle-y. The only thing you have to adjust is the amount of seasoning. Just add a more/less oyster sauce and soy sauce bit by bit till you reach the amount of flavor you want.
So do we! For another udon noodle recipe, make sure to try udon stir fry with Spam, cabbage, and lots of black pepper.
Yaki Udon Recipe
See below and enjoy ^_^
Yaki Udon
Yaki Udon is a stir fried udon dish. It's delicious and easy to make. Udon noodles, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and cabbage come together in a simple dish seasoned with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and pepper. It's a very forgiving recipe and makes a quick and flavorful lunch or dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 package udon noodles (frozen or fresh)
- 1 medium carrot, julienned
- ⅓ pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 5-6 cabbage leaves, julienned
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon black or white pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the udon noodles. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, cook the noodles according to package directions. Quickly drain, rinse under cold water water (to stop the cooking), and set aside.
- Add a little oil to a large pan. Place the mushrooms in the pan. Turn the stove to medium high heat and let the mushrooms brown. Don't touch the mushrooms for 3-4 minutes (we want that nice golden char). Then stir fry for another 2 minutes.
- Add the carrots, stir fry for 1 minute.
- Add the cabbage, stir fry for another 2 minutes, until the cabbage is lightly wilted.
- Add the udon noodles, gently toss to mix the noodles with all the vegetables.
- Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce, stir fry for another 1 minute to mix and season everything evenly. Add the ground pepper if using.
- Turn off the heat, slide the noodles onto a plate. Eat and enjoy ^_^
Notes
- Looking to add some meat to this dish? Used thinly sliced pork belly. Cook the pork belly in Step 2 (do it right before you add the mushrooms).
- We like to use napa cabbage, but you can use any cabbage you have on hand.
- If you love udon, also check out our udon stir fry with Spam, cabbage, and lots of black pepper.
Mahalo for Reading!