comment icon 101 more comments So what happened was: I fell into a bit of a takeout habit. On a whim, I added the veggie udon to our order from our sushi place (treat yourself) and a love story was born. I found myself unable to stop thinking about the thick (and I mean really, really thick) chewy udon noodles, slicked in an umami-rich sauce and speckled aggressively with freshly ground black pepper, stir-fried with a nice medley of veggies for color and, like, health, I guess? and I realized I needed to figure out how to make this at home. Well, not MAKE them make them. This is the SOS series, as you may remember. More of like, put some pre-cooked things in a pan and “make them.” Which actually works perfectly because I learned that a lot of grocery stores sell PRE-COOKED UDON NOODLES that are just vacuum-packed, waiting to be taken to your house and added straight to a sizzling skillet. And I also learned that the sauce used for yaki udon (stir fried udon) is actually relatively simple – just 4 main ingredients.
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Our Ingredient List For This Stir Fried Udon Is Simple
Here is what we are working with for our short and friendly ingredient list:
udon noodles a bag of stir fry vegetables dark soy sauce oyster sauce rice vinegar garlic
This is assuming you already have oil and brown sugar and black pepper. Just you wait. YUMMM. Okay. If I’m speaking honestly, I was very skeptical of the taste and texture of pre-cooked noodles in a plastic package. I really was. Pre-SOS-times, I may have even just said no thanks, that’s gross, I don’t want to eat noodles that are just vacuum-packed in plastic and somehow shelf-stable? But I’m happy to report what many of you probably already know which is that they are, in fact, so totally delicious.
There Are Lots Of Options When It Comes To Udon Noodles
We tried several varieties of udon noodles in our testing for this recipe. Here’s the breakdown:
Refrigerated (fresh) udon: we were able to find these at a mainstream grocery store, near the tofu in the refrigerated / produce section. Technically, these are soup packages so they come with a flavor package that we discarded. The noodles were totally thick and chewy. Would definitely recommend.
Okay, last thing: I think this would be incomplete if I didn’t tell you that my favorite thing about this whole recipe is that when you let the noodles rest in the pan for a few minutes as you cook them, they get a little bit caramelized and browned on the outside and the contrast of that pan-fried goodness with the thick, chewy, slippery noodles is just texturally so wonderful. I mean… look at it. Do you want to live in this pan of noodles with me? Check yes or no. Source notes: Yaki Udon is the Japanese name for this recipe – although I don’t claim this to be anything other than myself taking a stab at a homemade version of the noodles I’ve fallen in love with from the strip mall sushi-and-noodle place we love here in little old Roseville, Minnesota (Kyoto Sushi for those who are local). They LOAD UP on the black pepper in their udon stir fry and I love it so much. Yaki Udon is, according to Wikipedia, often served in Japan at pubs as a late-night snack, which is so fun and makes me love it all the more. I’ve eaten and appreciated udon but never actually made it before now, so I used Jamie’s 5-star yaki udon recipe from Drive Me Hungry as a sauce springboard, which was just as awesome as I expected. I upped the amounts just slightly because, well, too much of a good thing is sometimes… a good thing.
More Asian-Inspired Noodles We Love
Coconut Curry Ramen (golden broth and rich flavor? yes please!) Spicy Peanut Soba Noodle Salad (peanutty, noodley, and sooo delish) Chili Garlic Instant Pot Noodles (just 3 minutes in the Instant Pot!) Spring Roll Bowls with Sweet Garlic Lime Sauce (your new fresh and completely meatless friend)
Time To Show You Off!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our simple slurpable noodles page. Check it out! 4.9 from 40 reviews Udon Stir Fry:
a little bit of neutral oil 2 cups of stir fry veggies (I use about half of a bag of a frozen stir fry veggie blend) two 7-ounce packages of udon noodles (the cooked, fat, squishy ones, like this – see post for more noodle options)
Finishing Touches:
1–2 cloves fresh garlic, minced a ton of freshly ground black pepper
There is sugar in the sauce which can burn so don’t leave your noodles sitting undisturbed in the hot pan for too long or your caramelization will turn to burning. If you’re using dry udon noodles, cook them for a shorter amount of time than recommended on the package, the equivalent of an al dente, so they can finish cooking as they stir-fry in the pan with the sauce.
