Chicken Yaki Udon
This flexible Japanese noodle dish is jammed with colorful vegetables and chunks of chicken, pulled together with a quick flavor-packed sauce.
Servings: 6 People
Ingredients
- 10 ounces dried udon noodles (or use 1 pound fresh udon noodles)
- ½ cup chicken or vegetable stock
- ¼ cup soy sauce (or more to taste)
- 1 tablespoon mirin (rice wine for cooking; see Note)
- 2 teaspoons honey (or agave or brown sugar)
- 1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce (or more to taste; or use another hot sauce)
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ cup vegetable or grapeseed oil (any neutral oil)
- ½ cup sliced trimmed scallions (white and green parts)
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup sliced mushrooms (any kind; shiitake are especially good)
- ½ pound ground or finely diced chicken (white or dark meat)
- ½ cup sliced bok choy
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- Toasted sesame seeds (to garnish)
Instructions
- Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- While the noodles are cooking, make the sauce. In a small bowl, mix together the vegetable stock, soy sauce, mirin, honey or other sweetener, chili garlic sauce or other hot sauce, and sesame oil.
- In a wok or a very large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the scallions and stir fry for 1 minute, then add the garlic and stir fry for 30 more seconds. Add the mushrooms and stir fry for 3 minutes until the mushrooms start to brown. Add the chicken and stir fry for 3 minutes, until it starts to turn white. Then add the bok choy and sauté for another 2 minutes until it starts to wilt. Add the cooked, drained udon noodles and the sauce and stir fry until the noodles are hot throughout and the sauce has coated the noodles and vegetables evenly, about 3 minutes. Add the bean sprouts and toss. Top with the sesame seeds and serve hot.
Notes
- Instead of ground or diced chicken, you can use pork or beef, or even lamb. Or, try diced shrimp instead, which will cook a bit faster.
- You can also switch up the vegetables — instead of bok choy, try broccoli, for instance.
- Play around with different hot sauces; Asian or otherwise.
- I love the bean sprouts at the end, but you can try other types of sprouts or even slivered water chestnuts for crunch.
- You can definitely explore the wide world of mushrooms in this dish — enoki would be a fun choice.
- If you don’t have mirin, which is available at Asian markets and well-stocked markets, as well as online, you can use dry sherry, dry sake, or 1 ½ teaspoons of rice vinegar.
- And try this vegetarian yaki udon if you're looking for a meat-free version.
- Use a wok or a large skillet for this recipe. Make sure the sides are high and the pan is large because a lot of ingredients will be added to this pan.
Nutrition
Calories: 342kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 33mg | Sodium: 1326mg | Potassium: 331mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 348IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg