bits and pieces

When I first bought a package of Hakubaku organic udon, there was a recipe for “yaki udon” on the back of it. I tried making it at the time, and it turned out fairly well, but as I wasn’t cooking all that much then, I didn’t end up making it again.

In my recent attempts to cook more at home, I bought some more of the same brand of udon, but the recipe was no longer included on the package. It wasn’t on the company web site either, but I was able to find it on this Asian food store, and have been making some variations of it.

I started with the straight recipe, but since then I’ve excluded and added various ingredients. I dropped the chicken and swapped in canola oil for the olive oil. I’ve been trying various other veggies and ingredients, including shiitake mushrooms, baby corn, garlic powder, and even water chestnuts. So far, the best combination seems to be onion, cabbage, carrot, mushrooms, a little baby corn, plenty of garlic powder, and sliced snow peas.

Here are some photos of tonight’s version, which included minced garlic, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots:

I think I’ll stick with my good combination, but I want to see if there are other ingredients that would work well. Bok choy? Different mushrooms? Maybe some zucchini?

Just in case the original recipe is ever removed from the site I found it on, here it is:

Yaki Udon
(Serves 5)

• 9.5 oz Hakubaku Udon Noodles
• 7 oz chicken breast (finely sliced)
• 1/2 medium onion (finely sliced)
• 1 carrot (finely sliced)
• 2.5 oz cabbage (finely sliced)
• 3 spring onions (cut on angle)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• pinch of salt
• ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook Udon Noodles for 5 minutes.
2. Drain, rinse well under cold water.
3. Put olive oil into fry pan and heat up.
4. Cook chicken thoroughly then cook onion, carrot, cabbage and noodles lightly.
5. Once everything is warmed up, add spring onion, pinch of salt, pepper and soy sauce.
6. Toss in pan and serve.