THE BEST Yaki Udon - Vhira Virginia

These yaki udon noodles will make a delicious and simple weeknight meal for the whole family! The recipe is easy to prepare and it’s packed with fresh vegetables and Japanese flavors. 25 minutes is all you need for this easy stir-fry!

I love that this recipe is fresh, colorful, and comforting at the same time! Don’t miss out on the crispy tofu. Besides, it’s a great recipe to use up leftover vegetables in your fridge!

 

Yaki udon is a Japanese dish that consists of thick and chewy udon noodles, vegetables, and a soy-based sauce. Besides, it often contains pork or other meat. However, it’s also great with tofu.
Yaki udon is very easy to make and is very versatile. You can use many different kinds of vegetables, so it’s a great dish to get rid of leftover vegetables in your fridge.
There are stories that the popular Japanese stir-fry dish was first made after World War II when food was scare.
The sauce that is used for yaki udon is very easy to make. All you need is a bit of sugar, black pepper, Japanese soy sauce, and mirin.  Mirin is a condiment essential to the Japanese cuisine.
It’s a sweet rice wine that is used for cooking. It enhances the flavors of the dish and it is an essential part of yaki udon.
“Yaki” is Japanese for “grill” or “fry”, so you could loosely translate the name to fried udon noodles.

These yaki udon noodles will make a delicious and simple weeknight meal for the whole family! The recipe is easy to prepare and it's packed with fresh vegetables and Japanese flavors. 25 minutes is all you need for this easy stir-fry!

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• Course: Entrées, Main Dish


• Cuisine: Japanese


• Keyword: yaki udon, yaki udon noodles


• Prep Time: 10 mins


• Cook Time: 15 mins


• Servings: servings


• Calories: 293kcal


• Author: Sina


• Ingredients

For the noodles:

• 1 shallot, finely chopped


• 14 oz precooked udon noodles


• 10 oz pak choi


• 4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms


• 2 cups broccoli


• 1 red bell pepper


• 7 oz firm tofu


• 1/3 cup corn starch


• sesame oil


• 2 green onions


•   sesame seeds

For the yaki udon sauce:

• 3 tablespoons Japanese soy sauce


• 2 tablespoons vegan Worcestershire sauce


• 1 teaspoon brown sugar


• 1 teaspoon mirin


•  cayenne pepper, to taste

Instructions

•     Prepare the udon noodles according to the instructions on the package. Set aside.


•     Wash the vegetables and cut the red bell pepper, the shiitake mushrooms, and the pak choi into thin strips. Divide the broccoli into small florets.


•     Cut the tofu into cubes. In a small bowl add two teaspoons of soy sauce and 1/3 cup of corn starch. Make sure all of the tofu cubes are covered.


•     Heat some sesame oil in a large pan and pan-fry the tofu cubes for about 5 minutes on high heat or until they're golden and crispy. Set aside.


•     In the same pan, heat some more sesame oil and sauté the shallots for about 3 minutes or until they're translucent. Then add the red bell pepper, the shiitake mushrooms, the broccoli, and the pak choi. Cook for about 8 minutes until the vegetables are tender.


•     Then add the cooked udon noodles.


•     Make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, the Worcestershire sauce, the brown sugar, the mirin, and the cayenne pepper.


•     Add the sauce to the vegetables and the udon noodles together with the tofu and stir well. Cook for another 2 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle some sesame seeds and chopped green onions on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

•     Make sure to use firm tofu for this recipe. You want the tofu cubes to be really crispy. This does not work with silken tofu or very soft tofu.


•     Are you having a hard time finding pak choi, mirin, and udon noodles? Then check out the Asian section of your supermarket. Or make a trip to your local Asian market. It's the best place to buy Asian products. You will have a larger assortment and you will probably pay less than at your regular supermarket.


•     I used a package of pre-cooked udon noodles for this recipe, which works best.  Packages of pre-cooked udon noodles are very common to find. Sometimes you can also find frozen udon noodles in Asian markets. Just cook them for a couple of minutes in boiling water.


•     If you use pre-cooked noodles and they stick together, just loosen them under running water.


•     If you can't find pre-cooked udon noodles, you could also use dried udon noodles. However, they are usually lower in quality and are thinner and shorter. Besides, they don't absorb the flavors as well as fresh udon noodles do.


•     The recipe is pretty versatile when it comes to the vegetables. You could also use other vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, green beans, or asparagus.

•     Make sure to use Japanese soy sauce for this recipe. It has a different flavor than Indonesian or Chinese soy sauce and makes this Japanese stir-fry more authentic.


•     If you want to make this yaki udon a bit spicier, you can add some sriracha sauce on top if you want.

RECIPES ADAPTED FROM https://veganheaven.org