A yaki udon recipe with thick & chewy udon noodles that absorbs all the flavours of the lightly sweetened maple curry & provides a satisfying chewiness! Great use of leftover meats or go meatless!
Noodles are one of my ultimate favourite foods. There’s always something so comforting and satisfying about eating them so it’s no surprise when I have to make it at least once a week.
I find myself making udon noodles more frequently than any other noodles because they are easy and quick to make and it’s a great way to clean out my fridge of old produce or leftover meats.
Normally, I would go the simple route and make the traditional yaki udon with soy sauce but today I had a random craving for curried Singapore rice noodles so I just transferred that craving to my udon noodles.
The end result did not disappoint 🙂 I had the flavours of curry, lightly sweetened with maple syrup with the slippery and chewy texture of udon noodles topped with an fried egg all in one easy to eat bowl on the couch with my sleepy pups and my tv shows. 🙂
INGREDIENTS
Most ingredients in this recipe should be available at your local grocery store.
Mirin and frozen sanuki udon noodles might be a bit trickier to find, but should be available at an Asian grocery store.
There are a few types of udon noodles in the market – frozen, vacuum packed and dried. I highly recommend using the frozen ones since they have a chewier texture and generally taste better.
I like to use leftover meats whenever I make a stir fried udon but this can also be completely meatless as well. Sometimes I’ll even throw in some deep fried tofu balls if I need a protein kick if I’m not using meat.
The vegetables are also very interchangeable in this recipe. You can use almost anything out there as long as it’s not watery (like tomatoes). I used cabbage because it’s easy to brown up when sliced thinly and it gives this dish a nutty flavour.
The dark soy is used to give the noodles a bit of colour so if you don’t have this you can omit it.
Whenever I cook, I always prefer to use maple or honey to sweeten my dishes – mostly because they are already in liquid form and very easy to incorporate into the dishes. I find when I use sugar, I need to take the extra steps to melt the sugars else I’ll get granules of it in the food.
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
This recipe is a simple one and can be whipped up quickly.
Preparation
- Soak the frozen block of sanuki udon in a bowl of hot water for 1 minute (or until the noodles strands defrost and become pliable. Once it is pliable, drain the water out and set it aside
- Chop up your vegetables and leftover meats and side aside. The thinner you slice them the quicker they will cook.
- Combine the maple, curry powder, both soys, and the mirin together in a small bowl and set aside.
- If you are using green onions as a topping, finely mince the green onions and set aside
Stir Frying Everything Together
- In a frying pan, set the heat to medium heat and add a bit of oil to it. Wait for it to get hot, watch for the oil to shimmer.
- Add in the leftover meats (if using), and cook it for about 2 minutes
- Add in the vegetables and cook it until it is soft and slightly browned (approximately 6 minutes)
- Add in the udon noodles and sauce and mix it together
- Top it with green onions and sesame seeds (optional)
- Enjoy! 🙂
Note: Don’t like curry? Omit it! 🙂 Then you’ll have the traditional stir fried yaki udon recipe!
Whenever I have a sauce noodle or rice dish, I love adding a fried egg on top. This is completely optional but a great way enjoy it as well.
Do you have a neat way of making noodles or enjoy them? Let me know! I am always open to more noodle ideas. 🙂 and follow me on Instagram show me all your yummy noodles with #pupswithchopstick 🙂
Hurray for chewy noodles with an egg on top! 🙂
Maple Curry Yaki Udon
Ingredients
- 1 brick sanuki udon (frozen)
- 1 1/2 cups leftover meat (optional)
- 1 carrot (cut into slivers, matchsticks)
- 1 1/2 cups cabbage (cut thinly)
- 1 small onion (sliced thinly)
Maple Curry Sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1/2 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Madras curry powder
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon mirin
Toppings (Optional)
- 1 stalk of green onion (finely chopped)
- toasted sesame seeds
- 2 eggs (pan-fried)
Instructions
Preparation
- Soak the frozen block of sanuki udon in a bowl of hot water for 1 minute (or until the noodles strands defrost and become pliable. Once it is pliable, drain the water and set it aside
- Chop up your vegetables and leftover meats and side aside. The thinner you slice them the quicker they will cook.
- Combine the maple, curry powder, both soys, and the mirin together in a small bowl and set aside.
- If you are using green onions as a topping, finely mince the green onions and set aside
Stir Frying Everything Together
- In a frying pan, set the heat to medium heat and add a bit of oil to it. Wait for it to get hot, watch for the oil to shimmer.
- Add in the leftover meats (if using), and cook it for about 2 minutes
- Add in the vegetables and cook it until it is soft and slightly browned (approximately 6 minutes)
- Add in the udon noodles and sauce and mix it together
- Top it with green onions and sesame seeds or a fried egg (optional)
- Enjoy! 🙂
Notes
- The curry powder I use for this recipe is Madras curry powder which is very similar to regular curry powder but it's spicier. This recipe can be made with regular curry powder as well.
- For the best udon noodle texture (chewy with a bit of springiness), buy the frozen udon noodle that comes in blocks in the freezer section.
- Don’t like curry? Omit it! Then you’ll have the traditional stir-fried yaki udon recipe!
Nutrition
Disclaimer: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. I provide affiliate links to make items easier to find if you cannot purchase this locally and I would never recommend anything I don’t own myself or highly recommend, but I would prefer you buy your items locally if possible to support your stores (and chances are they are cheaper locally as well!) 🙂
Hi Joyce,
Is the curry powder you use same as Indian curry powder? If not where can I find the Japanese version. Is there a particular brand you recommend?
Thank you.
Anna.
Hi Anna,
The curry powder I use is the Madras curry powder, which is very similar to Indian curry powder but a bit spicier. The brand I normally use is called D & D Gold and made in Singapore, which I couldn’t really find online. Here are my affiliate links for it to give you an idea how they look in the store (Madras Curry Powder In a Bottle and Madras Curry Powder in Small bag but they are currently out of stock but if you can find it locally, it would be way cheaper! 🙂
I have also used regular curry powder from my local grocery store too, which I find in the Indian foods section and those also worked too! The main difference is that it’s less spicy.
Hope this helps!
Joyce
I have learned about yum-yum sauce however did not know exactly what it had been. This somewhat resembles the sauce that they function within Spicy Susan beef, storing it this particular. Gotta watch make this!
woww.. Looks very good, I will try your recipe at home. My husband would have liked it
thank you
Hope he enjoys it! 🙂