Yaki Udon (One-Pan Stir Fried Udon Noodles)

If you purchased premade frozen or fresh udon from the store, follow the cooking instructions on the bag to prepare your udon noodles.

You can also follow my recipe for udon noodles from scratch. To cook noodles from scratch, fill a large pot with at least eight cups of water and bring to a boil. Add the salt and stir until it dissolves. Add one serving of udon noodles in the pot and swirl to prevent sticking. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes or until the noodles are evenly cooked throughout and still chewy.

Remove the cooked noodles and dunk straight into an ice cold water bath for a minute to stop the cooking process. Remove from the water and place in a bowl until you’re ready to stir fry the noodles. Repeat this for the next batch of noodles.

Prep all your ingredients by washing and cutting your vegetables: mince the garlic, cut the pork belly into ½ inch by 2 inch slices, julienne the carrot, cut mushrooms in ⅛ inch thick slices, separate the bok choy stalks/leaves and cut them in half, and cut the green onions on a thin bias cut.

In a large saute pan over medium heat, add the vegetable oil and the minced garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds until it is fragrant, but before it begins to brown.

Add the pork belly strips and cook for about three minutes or until it starts to crisp and brown. Stir occasionally. When the pork belly is cooked, remove excess oil carefully from the pan with a spoon.

Add the carrots, mushrooms, and bok choy in the large pan and stir.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, and dark brown sugar. Drizzle this sauce in the large pan and stir until all the vegetables and meat are fully covered in the sauce. Lower to medium-low heat, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for two to three minutes. Remove the lid and check to see if the vegetables have softened.

Stir in the cooked udon noodles and cook for another minute so that the noodles can warm up. Sprinkle the green onion over the yaki udon.

Serve immediately.