Fried Udon Noodles

These noodles are my favourite. Udon noodles are thick, slightly chewy noodles. I think they hail from Korea, but correct me if I'm wrong. When I was in backpacking in Australia at 18 I stayed in Melbourne for a couple of months and there was a small Asian restaurant down the street from our hostel. My friend Liz and I would go there once in a while when we were feeling flush (which was not often when backpacking, to be honest) and I would always order the udon noodle dish with chicken. Liz would order vegetarian. Either way it was delicious. This is my attempt to recreate it. It's close. I think. It's been 10 years.

I've had a hard time finding udon noodles here. They finally carry them at Zehrs (aka Loblaws for other folks) and they were on sale a few weeks ago for $1.00 each. Score! One package will serve one of me, perhaps two of you if you don't eat as much as I do, which is entirely possible since I eat a lot.

One Year Ago: Broccoli Salad 
Pasta with Pea Pesto

FRIED UDON NOODLES

Serves 1

Adding some chicken, shrimp, tofu, beef or pork would be delicious and make this a more filling meal for dinner- I made it for a quick lunch here so I didn't use any of that. The vegetables can be whatever you have available.

• 200 g udon noodles
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 2 cremini mushrooms, sliced
• handful shredded cabbage (I shredded 2 brussels sprouts which I had in the fridge)
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 green onion, sliced
• sesame seeds, for serving

Pour boiling water over noodles, let sit for 1 minute, then drain and set aside. This is to loosen them from being vacuum packaged.

Mix together soy sauces, sugar, vinegar, sesame oil in a small bowl. Set aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Add vegetables, stir fry for a couple of minutes. Add noodles, fry a couple more minutes. Add sauce, fry 1 minutes until sauce thickens slightly and is bubbling. Serve sprinkled with green onion and sesame seeds.