By Naz Deravian
Published Dec. 7, 2023
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Prep Time
- 10 minutes
- Cook Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- 4(1,245)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Pleasantly chewy udon noodles are tossed with a mix of vegetables and meat, then coated in a salty-sweet combination of soy and oyster sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and sugar in this version of yaki udon, the Japanese stir-fry dish. Using precooked frozen udon noodles, available at Asian markets in vacuum-sealed bags, ensures that they don’t overcook and fall apart. Keep them on hand for a fast meal: Just give them a quick bath in boiling water before stir-frying alongside just about any meat and vegetables. While using dark soy sauce (see Tip) and oyster sauce is not traditional, this variation combines them for a thicker and slightly sweeter sauce.
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 2tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 2tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1tablespoon mirin
- 1tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1pound frozen udon noodles
- Toasted sesame oil, for drizzling
- 2tablespoons vegetable oil
- ½pound ground pork, or beef, chicken or turkey
- 1small yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 4ounces white or cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
- 1large carrot, scrubbed or peeled, cut into thin 3-inch-long sticks
- 1medium bok choy, sliced into ½-inch pieces
- 3large garlic cloves, chopped
- 3scallions, sliced into 2-inch pieces, plus more for serving
- Crushed red pepper, to taste
- Sesame seeds, furikake or chile oil, for serving (optional)
Preparation
Step
1
In a medium bowl, combine the dark soy sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and sugar. Taste a little and balance salty, acidic and sweet flavors, if needed.
Step
2
Bring a medium pot of water to boil over medium-high. Add the frozen noodles and cook, gently nudging them apart, until they separate and are pleasantly chewy, about 2 minutes. Drain, quickly rinse with cold water to stop the cooking, transfer to a medium bowl and drizzle with a little sesame oil (about 1 teaspoon) so they don’t stick to each other.
Step
3
In a wok or a large pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high. Add the pork and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the meat to a small bowl.
Step
4
Pour the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil into the wok. Add the onion and mushrooms, and stir-fry, tossing frequently, until fragrant and the vegetables take on a little color, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the carrot, bok choy and garlic; constantly stir until the vegetables cook but still have a crunch, about 3 minutes. Stir in the scallions and cooked pork; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the noodles and sauce, tossing until the noodles are coated and glossy. Taste and adjust any seasonings, if needed.
Step
5
Transfer yaki udon to bowls, and top each serving with chopped scallion and crushed red pepper, to taste. Serve with sesame seeds, furikake and chile oil, if you like.
Tip
- Dark soy sauce can be found at Asian markets, online and some grocery stores. If you can’t find it, you can use regular soy sauce and adjust sugar amounts, but the sauce won’t be as thick and glossy.
Ratings
4
out of 5
1,245
user ratings
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Cooking Notes
selah
as a japanese person who’s comfort food is yaki udon, this recipe is way too much. Just looking at it, it’s going to be too salty. All my family did was use the soy soup base, the same you would use to make udon soup or somen base soup. that’s all you need. and it is the best.
Dee
Really loved it as directed - using trader joe's vacuum packed udon noodles, which didn't need to be precooked. Don't have Asian grocery nearby. Next time I'd add pepper flakes early and maybe peanuts. I'd leave out the sugar. Too sweet.
Jeff
I didn't have frozen udon on hand so made it without as a stir fry and ate it over rice.. lol it was GOOD! I'm Japanese and I also think as written it's too salty. I would use a 1:1 ratio of soy sauce and mirin plus whatever amount of oyster/hoisin sauce you desire.
Jennifer S
Didn’t have time to go to the Asian grocery store for fresh/frozen udon noods so used dry and drained well before stir-frying. I wouldn’t hesitate to do the same again. Great Friday night option instead of take-out. Fast, easy, satisfying.
avery
Great recipe! Didn’t have frozen udon noodles so used dry udon noodles and it turned out great!
Tamago san
Tips from a lazy Japanese - if udon comes with dried soup packages, just dump half of the package as seasoning per serving of udon. Maybe add a teaspoon of soy sauce to taste. I like adding cabbage, carrots, onion, and protein. If you can get pickled ginger from a Japanese store, top the yaki udon with it before serving.
paul s
I remember being in a small, dark restaurant in Japan, and feasting on some delicious yaki udon. The one thing that made it extra memorable? The topping of some chopped pickled ginger, which cut so elegantly through the rich dish.
Christine
Leave out sugarTrader Joe’s vacuum packed udon
Tracey
FWIW, for those who are reluctant to purchase dark soy sauce just for this dish, it's nice to have dark soy sauce on hand of you ever make pad see ew. Pretty much a required ingredient for that dish.
Sandra
A pastry blender is a great tool for quickly chopping up eggs for egg salad. Takes just a few seconds to do it right in the bowl, and no messy cutting board to clean up!
Kees
My favorite dark (and sweet) soy sauce is Ketjap Manis. It's Indonesian, brand name "Conimex", Available at Amazon
Duane
For those who don't want to mess with six sauces, my Japanese host family always used tonkatsu sauce for their yaki udon and it was delicious. Easy too.
Pam from NJ
The sauce combo is perfect, making this a great recipe! I subbed TVP for the pork and sautéed it along with the onions and mushrooms; added a tbsp tomato paste and some paprika to the TVP also. Did not miss the meat. Phenomenal flavors and colors!
Amanda Rocha
I used the shelf stable, steamed noodles and it was perfect! We also added fish sauce and used beef stir fry cuts-- so rich and light but filling!
Allison
Not only for a Thai dish, if you would like to explore the world of Chinese cuisine then both dark and light soy sauce are essential ingredients.
Mike
I love this stuff and make it about once a week as it's perfect for cleaning out the vegetable drawer. I've put in everything from asparagus to zucchini and it's always delicious (the potato didn't work out so well) I also used the sauce to make marinade for the beef jerky I make on my smoker. Just added a TBS of brown sugar and a tsp of red pepper flakes. It was excellent.
Andie
Two packages of frozen udon were more than recipe called for; also added more bok choy and mushrooms. Three of us dusted it. (How could this feed 4-6???) Added few dashes more vinegar, too. Delicious! Will definitely make again!!
Andrew
Just made this as written except for using cabbage instead of bok choy. The sauce was a little aggressively one dimensional and masked the veggie flavors. If I made it again I wouldn’t just dump in all the sauce at once but would add in portions until the flavors balanced. Definitely worth trying again.
quaasam
Very nice. Did it with tofu slices and 1/2 cup sliced green pepper. Used Hoisin sauce instead. Used Chinese noodles. Cut the sugar.
Geoffrey
This is a great dish. It doesn't need much sweetness. The mirin is enough; cut the sugar.
Sarah Y
Made this with all low sodium soy sauce not a mix of dark and light, and about half the mirin. Really good.
Melissa
This is SO. GOOD. Not only that, it’s quick and easy to make. I make a lot of Asian food so I had all of the sauces on hand — I thought the sauce was delicious and not overly salty at all. It was salt-ED but not salt-Y. I did cut the sugar by about half though. Topped with scallions, chili flakes, and Furikake. We loved it.
Chris, Santa Fe
Made as a side dish with no meat. Replaced 1T of dark soy with hoisin, which has less than half the sodium, and added 1T sesame oil and 2T white wine to the sauce; no sugar. The sauce was completely absorbed by just 10 oz dried udon, which were boiled for 10 min., cooled and oiled. No bok choy so added celery and 4 scallions with greens. Stir-fried the noodles for a couple minutes to reheat them before adding the sauce. Put ground szechuan peppercorns on top as garnish. Very good as a side dish.
Andy in VT
Made this substituting jumbo scallops for the pork/chicken. Added 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes during initial cook of the scallops and the hint of heat carried over nicely. Because of the scallops and the fact that I salted them before the pan, substituted 1TBS of fish sauce for the 2TBS of oyster sauce. Also used 3TBS of dark Tamari instead of the 2/2 split on dark/low sodium. Came out fantastic. Tasting that sauce before adding it to the dish is key to dialing in your flavor profile.
Kathie
So there are recipes to follow and there are recipes which are good guidelines also. I live on a boat and didn't have all the ingredients. I used half regular soy and half low sodium, I used all rice vinegar instead of merin, I used Hoisin instead of oyster sauce. I put in brussels sprouts instead of bok choy. I added red pepper. It was fantastic. I rated the recipe 5 stars because I loved how you could adapt it.
Vanessa & Family
Very tasty and satisfying. We made this dish with very lean grassfed ground beef. We added some freshness to the dish by squeezing some lime over everything when serving. This helped make the dish a bit more zesty! Otherwise the beef may have needed additional seasoning.
Henry
I find this and other yaki udon recipes’ sauce too heavy and strong. I know many Chinese and Japanese sauces are. But here is my sauce for any interested. It’s almost a homemade teriyaki sauce with a few added ingredients:3 Tbs soy sauce (regular japanese)3 Tbs Saki1 Tbs Mirin1 Tbs Oyster sauce2 Tbs chicken stockLight but very flavorful!
colleen
Added snow peas and red pepper and less bok choy. Used sherry instead of mirin.
June Price
I made the recipe exactly as written and it was very dark, too salty, and a bit bitter. The sauce was overwhelming. If the author of this recipe made it exactly as written then the photo could not be real! I wish I could share a photo of what it really looks like. I will look for other, better recipes.
barb
Made with Brussels sprouts instead of Bok Chou. Excellent!!
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