We continue to prepare dishes of Eastern cuisine, and this time we decided to work with udon β Japanese thick wheat noodles. It is quite versatile in cooking and serves as a base for many dishes. It is elastic, holds sauces well, and captures the aroma of spices. Therefore, we decided to prepare a popular variation with it β fried udon, or Yaki Udon.
Actually, Yaki Udon is a popular dish in Japanese cuisine. It consists of pre-boiled and then stir-fried udon noodles with vegetables, meat, or seafood. It is cooked over high heat using minimal fat (stir-fry technique). To give it rich flavors, Japanese cuisine uses rich sauces: oyster, unagi, soy, mirin, rice vinegar, etc. We chose the version with chicken, sweet pepper, carrots, and spices.
Time required: 45 minutes
Difficulty: 2 out of 5
Cost: average
We will need:
150 g of udon
350-400 g of chicken fillet
Β½ red sweet pepper
Β½ yellow sweet pepper
Β½ orange sweet pepper
1 medium onion
1 medium carrot
2 large cloves of garlic
5 g of fresh ginger root
20 ml of rice vinegar
20 ml of soy sauce
20 ml of mirin
10 ml of cooking oil
ΠΏΡΠΎΠ΄ΡΠΊΡΠΎΠ²ΠΈΠΉ Π½Π°Π±ΡΡ
Preparation
First, we will cut and marinate the chicken. We clean the fillet from the tendons, cut it into thin strips (about 5 mm wide, 4-5 cm long).
We transfer it to a marinating container. We grate the garlic and ginger and add them to the chicken. We add the liquid ingredients β soy sauce, rice vinegar, and mirin. We mix the fillet thoroughly and leave it for 5-10 minutes to soak in the spices.
Mirin (mirin) is a traditional Japanese sweet rice seasoning used in cooking to add aroma, sweetness, and shine to dishes. Mirin has a liquid consistency similar to white wine and a light sweet taste that develops during the fermentation process of rice.
While the chicken is marinating, we will prepare the vegetables. We clean the onion and carrot, remove the cores and seeds from the peppers. We cut the onion into thin half-rings, and the carrot and peppers into thin long strips (as in the photo).
At the same time, we put a pot of water on the fire, where we will boil the noodles.
We start preparing the dish. We heat the frying pan, add oil, and over medium (possibly even slightly higher) heat, we fry the chicken. We will fry it for 5-7 minutes until the moisture evaporates and the marinade begins to thicken.
Using a spatula, we remove the chicken from the frying pan, and in the remaining marinade and oil, we will fry the vegetables.
We add all of them at once and will cook for no more than 10 minutes. This way, they will retain their crunchiness. When 10 minutes of frying the vegetables have passed, we return the chicken to them, mix, and fry for 3 minutes.
We transfer the finished vegetable-chicken mixture back to a separate container using a spatula.
In the remaining oil, chicken marinade, and vegetable juices, we will fry the udon. First, we waited for the water in the pot to boil, placed the noodles in it, waited for it to boil again, and boiled for 3 minutes.
We fry the udon over medium-high heat for another 3 minutes, stirring very often and thoroughly to prevent it from burning.
After that, we return the chicken and vegetables to the frying pan and evenly mix all the ingredients. We will fry everything together for another 3 minutes.
We serve on a plate, sprinkle with green onions and toasted sesame seeds, and enjoy.
