An easy Japanese stir fried udon noodle recipe, Yaki Udon, that’s ready in 20 minutes. This Stir Fried Udon Noodles with Bok Choy is made with ground pork and a 5-ingredients sauce.
My husband is not a fan of Asian food. I know it is hard to believe; it’s like saying I don’t like European food, but it is what it is. He must have had a number of bad experiences and I am going to change that. Trying to wean him over, so we can enjoy ‘Asian food’ together. This Stir Fried Udon Noodles with Bok Choy is a first step.
The main ingredients of the Yaki Udon are
- Udon noodles – I used the dry ones, but fresh or frozen are also fine
- Bok Choy and spring onions
- Ground pork
- Sauce made from: soy sauce, fish sauce, water, brown sugar, mirin
- Sprinkles: spring onions and toasted sesame seeds
You see: nothing scary, fancy or out of this world. Well, may be the fish sauce, but I didn’t tell him that. All kidding aside, this recipe is made from readily available ingredients and comes together quickly.
Many stir fry recipes are healthy as they provide protein (ground pork), carbs (from the noodles and the vegetables), fiber (vegetables again), fat (oil, pork).
For this easy and quick Stir Fried Udon Noodles with Bok Choy recipe there is not much that can go wrong. There are 2 notes I need to make to ‘guarantee’ the quick and easy part:
- Cook the noodles close to al dente and then rinse with cold water. After that, toss the noodles with a little bit of oil to make sure they don’t clump together.
- Putting a stir fry together is fast, so you’ll need to have your veggies wash and cut, before you start with the recipe. I don’t know about you, but I often start cooking and washing and cutting at the same time. In case of a stir-fry in which you like crunchy parts, you better start prepped.
In general, stir fry recipes are quick to make, fun to eat; try practicing eating with chop sticks. They are filling because vegetables are not fully cooked, and there is so much variety possible.
Varieties in this Stir Fried Udon Noodles recipe
- Instead of ground pork, use ground chicken or turkey, or chicken breast, seafood
- Instead of, or additionally to bok choy, try cabbage, carrot, bell peppers
- Add mushrooms
- Udon noodles are no must, you can also use other rice noodles, chow mein, or even spaghetti
When my husband and I finished dinner, he said: ‘Darling, let’s put this back on the menu again’. Mission accomplished.
If you like bok choy, try this Bok Choy Cabbage Soup with Rice Noodles.
Stir Fried Udon Noodles with Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 4 ounces udon noodles
- 1.5 tablespoons oil neutral, peanut,sesame
- 4 ounces ground pork
- salt and pepper
- 12 ounces bok choy
- 1 teaspoon ginger fresh of paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic fresh of paste
- 5 spring onions white part
For the Sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon mirin
Sprinkles
- 1/4 tablespoon sesame seeds
- spring onions green parts, cut on bias.
Instructions
- In a skillet toast the sesame seeds over medium heat until they are golden brown and fragrant. Every now and then swirl the pan. The toasting time is a few minutes. Remove the seeds from the pan and allow them to cool. (NOTE 1)
- Cook the udon noodles in water with salt. Cook shorter than the advised cooking time; you want them just under al dente. (NOTE 2) Drain them in a colander, rinse with cold water. To avoid sticking, toss the noodles with 1/2 tablespoon of the oil you use in this recipe.
- Make the sauce by mixing all ingredients and set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil to the skillet and add the ground pork. Cook over medium-high heat. Allow the ground pork to brown on one side, before you start mixing it, like you do with beef. Pork browns better when worked less.
- When the ground pork is cooked, add the garlic, ginger, and the white parts of the spring onion and the white part of the bok choy until the vegetables start to soften. (The green parts are used later in the recipe). Transfer to a plate.
- Add the udon noodles to the skillet, (no need to add oil, because they were tossed with oil). Then add vegetable-meat mix and the sauce. Also add green parts of bok choy. Mix until warm and bok choy wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer to serving bowls and sprinkle with sesame sees and green part of the spring onions (NOTE 3)
Notes
- You can also decide to toast just half of the sesame seeds, so you have golden and light seeds to sprinkle over your dish.
- Cook the udon noodles shorter than indicated on the packaging. They will go back in the pan with the sauce and the vegetables to warm us and cook during that time a little more. If you start that process with al dente noodles, they will be mussy after warming up.
- Cut the green parts of the spring onions on a bias.
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