On the top of my long, long list of foods I thought I would never make, (that I have since decided to try making,) stood udon noodles, ramen noodles, and hand-pulled rice noodles. Well, I haven’t gotten to the others yet, but it turns out making udon noodles is pretty easy (and fun!) Stir frying is just one way to prepare delicious udon. I’d like to try a soup next! Enjoy these stir fried udon noodles with kimchi and pork– fair warning, it makes a LOT of food. Don’t forget you can adjust the number of servings on the recipe card below! And extra udon noodles can be frozen.
A word to the wise: stir frying is a quick-paced, high heat adventure! When stir frying anything, be sure to have your sauce made and all of your ingredients prepped and ready to go. In my experience, stir frying is thee most important time to have your mise en place on lock.
As for the high heat, crank up your burner as high as it will go and keep it there– you won’t regret it, just keep stirring!
Stir Fried Udon Noodles with Kimchi + Pork Recipe
Stir Fried Udon Noodles
Servings: 6 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 2 inch piece ginger minced or grated
- 5 garlic cloves grated on a microplane, very finely minced and crushed with a knife, or pressed
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 3 tbsp mirin
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp of canola oil or other high smoke point oil
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 eggs
- 8 inch scallions white and light green parts cut into 1pieces
- 3 + 1/5 cups cored and large chopped (1-2” pieces) savoy cabbage about half a small head
- 1 + 1/2 cups large chopped (1-2” pieces) kimchi
- 1 batch cooked + rinsed fresh udon noodles see recipe below
- toasted sesame seeds for serving
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water and stir until dissolved. Whisk in the sesame oil, ginger, garlic, chicken stock, mirin, and soy sauce and set aside.
- Heat a large cast iron pan (at least 12” diameter) over medium-high heat. Add the canola oil and the pork, and season with the salt. Break up and allow to brown undisturbed 3-4 mins at a time, continuing to break up as the meat browns. When well browned and cooked throughout, transfer to a plate or bowl.
- Fry the eggs in the cast iron pan to desired doneness, and transfer to a plate.
- Add the scallions, cabbage, and kimchi to the pan, and cook while stirring until bright green, slightly wilted, and crisp-tender, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the sauce and the noodles to the pan and toss to coat with tongs. Cook while tossing, until the noodles are heated through.
- Serve immediately, topped with the pork, fried eggs, and toasted sesame seeds.
Udon Noodles Recipe
Homemade Udon Noodles
Pre-cooked udon noodles can be divided into portions and frozen for up to a month. To cook, boil from frozen, and add a minute or so to cooking time.
Servings: 6 -8 Servings
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp warm water plus more if needed
- 4 tsp salt
- 3.5 cup all purpose flour
- cornstarch for dusting
Instructions
Make The Dough:
- In a large bowl, combine the warm water and salt and stir until completely dissolved. Add the flour to the bowl and use your hands to mix into a shaggy dough and form into a ball. The dough will be dry and rough. (If you cannot form the dough into a ball, or if there is flour left in the bowl, sprinkle in a little more warm water 1 tsp at a time.)
- Transfer the dough to a gallon sized zip top bag and press out all of the air before sealing. Place the bag between two kitchen towels, place on the floor, and knead with your feet for 2-3 minutes. Remove the dough from the bag and fold into a ball. Place the dough back into the bag, and repeat the kneading process two more times (for a total of three times.)
- After the final round of kneading, fold the dough into a ball one more time, return to the bag, and press out all of the air before sealing so it doesn’t dry out. Leave the dough to rest at room temperature for 3 hours, or rest in the refrigerator overnight.
Roll + Cut The Dough:
- Remove the dough from the bag and dust with cornstarch. Divide the dough ball into sections: cut the dough once down the center, then twice the intersecting direction to create 6 rectangular pieces. Dust each section of dough with cornstarch. Return 5 of the pieces back to the bag and seal, working with one piece of dough at a time for rolling.
- The dough can be rolled out with a rolling pin, but a pasta roller makes the process much easier. To use a pasta roller, begin by pressing one section of dough flat with the heel of your hand until it is thin enough to fit into the roller on the widest setting. Roll the dough through the widest setting twice. Adjust the roller to the next widest setting, and roll through twice more. The dough should be a little less than ⅛ inch thick.
- If needed, dust the dough with more cornstarch. Fold the dough into thirds crossways (like folding a letter for an envelope.) Use a very sharp knife to slice the dough into noodles a little less than ¼ inch wide. Fluff the noodles apart with your finger tips and dust with more cornstarch, then move the completed noodles back into the bag while you work. (You may also use a cutting attachment on your pasta roller to cut the noodles if you have one!)
Cook The Noodles:
- Cook the noodles in boiling, unsalted water for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent any sticking. Drain the noodles and immediately rinse well with cold water to remove any excess starch. (Unlike pasta, udon noodles need to be rinsed.) Use right away in your favorite recipe!
Tell me what you think in the comments below!
