Spicy Udon Noodles
Udon (うどん) are thick, white, wheat noodles originating from Japan. Antoine discovered them during his year in Japan and fell in love with all the different ways they were accomodated there (in a curry broth, stir-fry with soy sauce, stir-fry with curry...). During a visit at Tian Phat Asian Grocery in Halifax, he discovered that they were also available fresh in Nova Scotia. Excited, we bought two packs of udon noodles.
Antoine prepared the present recipe inspired from the japanese Yaki-Udon (焼きうどん) style which is a stir-fry using soy sauce as a base and traditionnally cooked on top of an iron griddle. This was also the perfect occasion to incorporate Cavita's new discovery: vegetarian pepperoni ! By no means inferior to its meat brother. So, if you are looking for a culinary melting pot in-between Japan, Canada, Trinidad and France, here is our tasty, zingy, flavorful Spicy Udon Noodles.
The ingredients are given for 2 medium servings.
INGREDIENTS
-
400g of udon noodles (2 packs of 200g)
-
60g of vegetarian pepperoni
-
1/2 a sweet pepper, sliced
-
1 carrot, peeled and cut in julienne
-
1 cup of green beens, washed and cut in half
-
1 shallot, peeled and sliced thinly
-
1/4 cup of a white onion, chopped finely
-
1 thai chili, washed, de-seeded and chopped finely
-
2 tbsp of soy sauce
-
1 tbsp of sesame oil
-
1 tbsp of neutral, cooking oil
-
2 tbsp of chives, chopped
-
Salt
-
Pepper
DIRECTIONS
-
Wash and slice your half pepper. Peel and cut in julienne (thin sticks) your carrot. Wash and cut in half your green beans. Peel and slice thinly your shallot. Peel and chop finely your onion. Wash, de-seed and chop finely the thai chili.
-
In small cups, prepare pepperoni, the soy sauce, the sesame oil and the cooking oil. When you stir-fry something, you need to have all your ingredients fully ready as when the frying pan is hot, you run the risk of burning everything if you still have some preparations to do.
-
Remove the fresh udon noodles from the pack. Just rinse them quickly. They should be quite stiff and this is normal. Do not try to unravel them yet.
-
To stir-fry, you will need a pan that can stand high-heat like stainless steel, cast-iron or copper. Do not use non-stick pan as at high-heat the non-stick coating will start smoking going into your food and your lungs ! Start your pan on very high heat. Drop some water droplets in it until you see them levitating and gliding over your pan. This means the pan is ready. Reduce the heat by half. Let's start the stir-fry ! Just so that we are 100% clear, stir-frying means that you will need to keep stirring the ingredients inside your pan so that they don't get stuck and start burning. For the stirring, use either an ustensils or the move the pan so that the ingredients get tossed around frequently.
-
Add the cooking oil to the pan. Coat the whole pan with the oil. Add immediately the onion, the carrots, the thai chili, the pepperoni and the shallot. Stir-fry them for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the sweet pepper and the green beans and stir-fry for 3 more minutes. Add the noodles and coat them with the juices before adding the soy sauce and the sesame oil. Using an ustensil, unravel the noodles while coating them and tossing all the ingredients all over the pan. Once everything is properly coated and the soy sauce has fully mixed with the ingredients, your stir-fry is finished !
-
Plate the dish immediately and sprinkle some chopped chives on top for some freshness. Enjoy !
