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To me, there’s nothing more comforting that a steaming hot bowl of noodles. If you’ve ever watched Ratatouille (I love that movie!), you’ll recall this scene where the food critic is instantly brought back to childhood when he has a bite of ratatouille. My mom never made me stir fry yaki udon as a kid, but she did make bowls and bowls of other kinds of noodles. As a result, noodles (all kinds) are one of those extremely comforting foods for me.

When I’m looking for some fast comfort, yakiudon is one of my go to meals. It’s easy, flavourful, and takes no time at all. And you can basically chuck in any leftover meat or vegetables you might have lying around in your fridge and it’ll taste pretty darn delicious. Have it with meat, tofu, or even just veggies. Sometimes (most times) it’s the simple things in life that make me happiest of all.

Yakiudon Recipe
serves 2

• oil
• 1/2 small shallot, sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced meat of choice, if desired*
• 1/2 carrot, shredded
• 1 brick frozen sanuki udon
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dashi powder**
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 green onion, sliced
• dried bonito flakes, to garnish

Soak your frozen udon in a bowl of warm water making sure that all of the strands of noodles are separate. Drain and set aside.

Heat up a small bit of oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, meat (if using) and shredded carrot. Cook until the carrots and shallots are soft, but not overly brown, about 2-3 minutes. Add the drained udon noodles as well as the soy sauce, dashi powder, and sugar. Toss to coat the noodles and turn the heat to medium-high to slightly reduce the sauce, about 1-2 minutes. Turn the heat off, taste and season with freshly ground pepper to taste. Garnish with sliced green onions and bonito flakes. Enjoy hot.

*This udon tastes perfectly delicious without meat, but if you’d like to add in some protein, go right ahead. In this version, I added some leftover roasted duck that I had on hand. Just cut your cooked meat into strips (or shred it) and add it in.

**If you haven’t heard of dashi powder, it’s basically instant soup stock. You can find it in Asian grocery stores in the Japanese section. It definitely adds so I don’t recommend skipping it – but of course cooking is all about being flexible!

PS – If you love the Finex skillet featured in this post, don’t forget to enter the giveaway!

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