Yaki-udon (焼きうどん, stir-fried udon)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large pot
• •Bamboo or metal colander (zaru)
• •Wide frying pan, teppan, or wok
• •Long cooking chopsticks (saibashi), or tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the sauce

   In a small bowl, stir together the dashi, shōyu, mirin, usutā sōsu, and sugar until the sugar disappears. Keep it beside the stove. Once the noodles go in, this dish moves quickly, and a sauce mixed late usually becomes a sauce poured too heavily.

   The sauce should taste a little too strong by itself. Udon and cabbage soften it, and the pan will carry off some water.
2. 2

   Cut for speed

   Cut the pork into short pieces, the onion into narrow wedges, the carrot into thin matchsticks, and the cabbage into pieces wide enough to keep some bite. This is not decoration. The cut makes everything cook at the pace of the noodles, so the udon doesn't wait in the pan while thick vegetables catch up.

3. 3

   Boil the udon

   Bring a large pot of plain water to a full boil. Do not salt it, because dried udon already carries salt. Add the dried udon and cook until just tender with a faint firmness, usually 1 minute less than the package says. Drain, rinse under cold running water, rubbing lightly to wash away surface starch, then drain until the noodles no longer drip. Toss with 1 teaspoon oil so they wait without clumping.

   For frozen udon, blanch only until the blocks loosen, about 1 minute, then drain very well. The goal is separation, not extra cooking.
4. 4

   Brown the pork

   Set a wide frying pan, teppan, or wok over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Lay in the pork and let it sit for a moment before tossing. You want the edges lightly browned and the fat beginning to render, because that fat seasons the vegetables before the sauce ever arrives.

5. 5

   Fry the vegetables

   Add the onion and carrot and toss for 1 minute. Add the cabbage and scallion whites and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, just until the cabbage turns bright and begins to soften at the edges. Stop before it goes limp. The last minute with the noodles will finish it, and cabbage with bite gives the dish its clean shape.

6. 6

   Glaze the noodles

   Add the drained udon and toss for 30 seconds so the noodles pick up the pork fat and meet the vegetables. Pour the sauce around the hot edge of the pan, then toss and spread the noodles for 1 to 2 minutes, until no liquid pools and the udon is glossy. The sauce should cling like a thin lacquer, not sit at the bottom.

   If liquid remains after 2 minutes, the pan is too crowded or the noodles were too wet. Let it reduce briefly, and next time drain harder or cook in two batches.
7. 7

   Finish and serve

   Take the pan off the heat and fold in most of the scallion greens. Divide the yaki-udon into two shallow bowls, building a little height rather than spreading it flat. Finish with katsuobushi, aonori, the remaining scallion greens, and beni shōga if using. Add the katsuobushi at the end, because its aroma is brief and best kept for the table.

Chef Tips

• •If you want the Kokura character, start with dried udon. It cooks firmer and takes sauce without turning soft. Frozen udon is a sensible weeknight stand-in, but call it that and drain it like you mean it.
• •Choose cabbage with a bright cut face and leaves that feel crisp, not tired. Spring cabbage is sweeter and softer at its shun; winter cabbage is firmer, so slice it a little thinner.
• •Use a wide pan. Crowding makes the sauce pool, and pooled sauce softens the noodles. Two small batches beat one soggy heap.
• •Don't reach for powdered dashi for three tablespoons. Keep a small jar of real dashi in the refrigerator, or use the last spoonfuls from yesterday's miso soup stock. The difference is quiet, but it is there.
• •For a meatless table, use konbu-shiitake dashi and replace the pork with sliced fresh shiitake and aburaage. That is a vegetable yaki-udon, not Kokura's pork version, and the distinction is honest.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be mixed 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Stir it before using, because the sugar settles.
• •Dashi keeps 2 days refrigerated. Make a small batch from konbu and katsuobushi, then use the extra for miso soup or a clear broth.
• •The vegetables can be cut the morning of cooking and kept covered in the refrigerator. Keep the scallion greens separate so they stay fresh.
• •Dried udon is best boiled just before frying. If you must work ahead, boil it 1 minute shy, rinse, drain hard, toss with a few drops of oil, and refrigerate up to 4 hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 380g)