Yaki Udon is stir-fried Udon noodles. Unlike Yakisoba this stir-fried noodle sauce is based on soy sauce. It mixed with sesame seed oil, sugar, sake and oyster sauce. I am going to show you how to make this Yaki Udon successfully in under 20 minutes.
What is Yaki Udon?
As I have explained in basic Japanese food terms, “Yaki” means fry or grill. Udon is a Japanese noodle made out of wheat flour. Udon is a very popular noodle in Japan because it is cheap, delicious and easy to cook in many different ways. So Yaki Udon is a lovely udon dish where the udon noodle is fried in a frying pan.
Special homemade Yaki Udon Sauce
What makes this noodle dish so delicious lies in the special sauce. Unlike Yakisoba sauce, Yaki Udon sauce recipe calls for Japanese condiments and seasonings. I mix soy sauce, sake, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil. That’s it! That’s all you need. Easy right?
FAQ About Udon Noodles
Q: Where can I get udon noodles?
A: I buy my frozen udon noodles in Asian grocery stores. Also, I find dried udon noodles in the international aisle of my local supermarket.
Q: How to cook frozen udon noodles?
A: Just drop it into a pot of boiling water and cook for a couple of minutes and drain the cooking water.
Q: Which is the best udon noodle for Yaki Udon?
Personally and also if I have a choice, I would get “Sanuki Udon” which is made in the Sanuki region of Japan on Shikoku island.
Yaki Udon Toppings
Classic and staple toppings are bonito flake and Beni Shoga (Red pickled ginger). Bonito flake adds more umami flavour to the noodle dish and red pickled ginger cleans your pallet and gives a fresh taste. Also, it adds some crunchy texture. And that is why both toppings are often used for authentic Japanese street food such as Takoyaki, and Okonomiyaki. Chopped green onions are a great option too.
2 Tips to make Yaki Udon successfully
- Season thinly sliced meat with sake, soy sauce and ginger in order to avoid the dish flavour become blunt.
- Use sanuki udon if possible and only parboil the Udon noodle and drain the cooking water well.
Other Udon noodle dishes
As I mentioned before in this post, You can cook Udon noodle in many other ways. That’s why Japanese love Udon noodles. So don’t forget to check out Tempura Udon, Curry Udon, and Cold Udon noodle salad as well. And Please rate and comment below which one you liked.
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Ingredients
- 2 batch of Frozen Udon Noodles or 440g
- 200 g thinly sliced pork fillet
- 1 tsp sake
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 150 g cabbages
- 1/4 carrot
- 1/2 large onion or 60g
- 1/4 green capsicum or 80g
- 1 tbs sesame oil
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs oyster sauce
- 1 tbs sake
- 1 clove garlic finely chopped
- 5 g ginger finely chopped
- 1 tbs sesame oil
- Bonito flakes and red pickled ginger for garnish
Instructions
- Slice the pork fillet thinly and place in a mixing bowl.
- Add sake, soy sauce and ginger into the mixing bowl to marinate the pork for 10 minutes.
- Cut all the vegetables into bite size pieces and set aside.
- Mix all the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, sake, mashed garlic, and grated ginger) in a small bowl and set aside.
- Cook the udon noodles in boiling water for a couple minutes and drain the cooking water well.
- Heat sesame oil in a large frying pan over high heat and add finely chopped garlic and ginger till it aroma.
- Add the pork fillet and cook till it's colour changed to grayish colour.
- Add the vegetables and stir fry for a couple minutes.
- Add the udon noodle and toss all together.
- Pour over the sauce mixture and mix them together well.
- Serve on a plate and top with bonito flakes and red pickled ginger.
Hello! I’m so excited to want to try this recipe ! But I’m using sliced chicken thigh so would you recommend marinating the chicken thigh before for more flavor? If so- what seasoning would you suggest ?
Hi Nitezstarm Chicken thigh is more flavourful so I don’t think you need to marinate, but if you want to I would marinate in Teriyaki sauce.
This recipe is amazing, so delicious! Is the sauce okay to make for many servings and then store in a fridge for later use?
(All the oyster sauce jars I can find at my local supermarkets say they need to be used within 7 days once opened – which is a lot of udon!)
Hi Sam, oh… 7 days. Why don’t you make the sauce and divide them into one uses and freeze them? I am sure oyster sauce can be frozen 😀
OPPS! Didn’t mean to post twice. Sorry.
NO worries 😀
Clarifications PLEASE: The video and the photos show carrots, but the recipe Ingredients list does not list carrots. Quantity? How cut? (Julienne or half moons?) Also, the recipe Instructions say that “water” is one of the sauce ingredients, but it is not listed in the Ingredients list, nor does it show up in the video. Please clarify. Lastly, in Step 4 of the Instructions, it says to: Mix all the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, sake, water, mashed garlic, and grated ginger) in a small bowl and set aside.” but in the video and the photos it clearly shows the garlic and ginger being added to the oil in the pan before frying the pork. Which is it? THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KIND REPLY.
Hi Terri, Thank you for bringing my attention to the recipe. I have just added carrot to the ingredients list. You need about 1/4 of med carrot and cut half moons. You don’t need water in the sauce. You add garlic and ginger in the sauce, as well as cook and fragrant, they are listed twice in the ingredients list 😀
Its very delicious and yummy.. I cant wait to try this.
Thank you! you will love Yaki udon 😀
Perfect for my daughter. We just skipped the toppings. She loves these noodles!
Fantastic 😀
Oh yum! I have never tried Yaki Udon! This Japanese stir fry is something I am very eager to try now! You presented it so nicely!!
Thank you Tisha 😀
This noodle dish is just what I’ve been craving!
I am glad you found this 😀
I’m so happy I branched out of my comfort zone with this recipe. It’s totally delicious and the entire family loved it!
Thank you Renee 😀 I am glad that your family loved it 😀
Tried it tonight. Really tasty 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Trevor, I am glad to know Yaki Udon turned out tasty 😀 I have just updated YakisobaYakisoba recipe as well. Check that out too ;D
amazing I wanna try it!
Thank you! hope you like it 😀