Yaki udon
Thick udon fried in a soy and dashi seasoning rather than a sauce, and dried before it goes in.
Pork, Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish, oyster sauce, pork.
Ingredients
- 800 g cooked udon noodles
- 200 g pork belly, sliced
- 150 g white cabbage, in pieces
- 1 carrot, in fine strips
- 1 onion, sliced
- 100 g beansprouts
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dashi
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon katsuobushi
Method
- SEASONED WITH SOY AND DASHI, NOT WITH SAUCE. The yakisoba on this site is coated in a thick brown fruit-and-vinegar sauce; this is a clear seasoning, barely two tablespoons of liquid, and the noodle itself is what you taste. Using yakisoba sauce here makes yakisoba with the wrong noodle.
- DRY THE NOODLES BEFORE THEY GO IN. Cooked udon is wet and water in a hot pan means the noodles steam and break instead of catching. Drain them, spread them out, and pat the surface.
- Separate them with oiled hands first. Udon sticks in a block and a block will not fry.
- THE PAN AS HOT AS IT WILL GO, and work in two batches if it is a domestic hob. Udon is heavy and cools a pan faster than anything else here.
- Pork in first, rendered until the edges crisp, and leave the fat in the pan.
- Hard vegetables next, 2 minutes, kept moving.
- NOODLES IN AND THEN LEAVE THEM ALONE for 30 to 40 seconds at a time before turning. Constant stirring means nothing ever touches the metal long enough to brown, and the browned patches are the point.
- Beansprouts last, with the pan still fierce -- they need under a minute and go limp if they go in early.
- SEASONING ROUND THE EDGE OF THE PAN, not onto the noodles, so it hits hot metal and caramelises on its way in.
- Katsuobushi over at the table, where it moves in the steam.
Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.
Filed under Japan · All recipes