Accounting for Taste

According to “The Woks of Life” cookbook, this Yaki Udon with pork and vegetables is a tasty one-pan meal that’s also very open to adaptation and interpretation. You can replace the pork with chicken, beef, or tofu, and use whatever vegetables you have on hand. Just don’t skip the first step of the recipe, which you might not find in other versions!

This dish is similar to yakisoba, differing only in terms of the type of noodle used. While udon noodles are often served in soup, their thickness makes them great for stir-fries as well. And there is no need to buy frozen udon noodles if you happen to have a dry-packaged variety on hand.

Before stir-frying anything, you’re going to melt together butter, garlic, and dashi powder. Then, you let the udon noodles fry in the garlic/dashi butter until they crisp up a bit on the outside. Then you proceed with the regular steps to put together the recipe. We garnished with diagonally sliced scallion.

Not familiar with dashi powder? Neither were we. But don’t omit the the Japanese soup stock because it makes the dish taste very authentic. We ordered it online and received within 2 days. The umami profile consists of shiitake mushrooms, kombu kelp, dried flying fish, dried sardine and dried bonito flakes.

*While the original instructions suggest you can use a large Dutch oven, non-stick pot, or large cast iron skillet, we highly recommend a non-stick vessel. We used our large Le Crueset braising pot and the ingredients crusted to the bottom of the pot which was difficult to remove.

Yaki Udon

Servings: 4
Time: 40 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1 lb. frozen or dry-packaged udon noodles
2 Tbsp. butter
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. dashi powder
1 Tbsp. oil
4 oz. pork shoulder, julienned; can substitute chicken, beef, seafood, pressed tofu, or more vegetables
4 oz. oyster or shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. mirin
2 cups cabbage, shredded
1 medium carrot, julienned
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 Tbsp. water
3 scallions, 2 julienned; 1 diagonally sliced for garnish

Directions

Start by bringing a large pot of water to a boil. Add the udon noodles. Boil for 30 seconds – 1 minute to loosen them. If using dried noodles, cook according to package instructions. Drain, rinse in cold water to remove excess starch, and drain thoroughly again. Set aside.
Place a large Dutch oven, non-stick pot, or large cast iron skillet* over medium heat. When the pan is heated, add the butter. Once partially melted, stir in the garlic and dashi granules. Cook for 30 seconds, until the dashi partially dissolves. At this point, the butter should be a light brown color.
Add the drained noodles and toss to coat them in the butter. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, until the noodles have dried out and are slightly crisped. Remove and set aside.
Add a tablespoon of oil to the pot, along with the pork shoulder. Brown the pork until crisp on the edges. Add the mushrooms and mirin, and cook until caramelized.
Add the cabbage, carrot, pepper, soy sauce, and water. Stir-fry until the vegetables are wilted, and add the noodles back in, along with the scallions. Stir-fry for another minute. Serve!

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Adapted from a recipe in The Woks of Life cookbook

In this quick and spicy weeknight noodle dish, sizzling hot oil is poured over red-pepper flakes, orange peel, crunchy peanuts, soy sauce and sesame oil. While you brown the ground pork, the mixture sits, and the flavors become more pronounced and fiery.

Tossed with soft noodles and browned pork, the bright chile-peanut oil shines. For something green, throw in a quick-cooking green vegetable like baby spinach when you break up the pork in Step 3. You can also swap the pork with ground chicken, turkey, or beef, or crumbled tofu.

It is suggested not to use the entire amount of chili oil. Therefore, I found it easier to strain the peanut chili oil over a bowl. This way you can toss the peanuts, noodles and ground meat together, adding additional oil to taste. And it was easier to toss it all in the larger pot as opposed to the skillet.

Spicy Sesame Noodles with Ground Pork and Peanuts

Servings: 4
Time: 30 min
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1½ Tbsp. red-pepper flakes
1½ Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1½ tsp. toasted sesame oil, plus more as needed
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
Kosher salt and black pepper
½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. neutral oil, like grapeseed or vegetable
6 Tbsp. roasted, salted peanuts, coarsely chopped
Rind of ½ orange, peeled into 2- to 3-inch strips
1 lb. ground chicken
5 oz. baby spinach
10 to 12 oz. ramen or udon noodles, preferably fresh
3 Tbsp. finely chopped chives

Directions

In a medium heatproof bowl, stir together the red-pepper flakes, soy sauce and sesame oil. Set next to the stovetop.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium heat, cook the ½ cup oil, peanuts and orange rind, shaking the pan occasionally, until the peanuts are golden and bubbling, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately pour the contents of the skillet over the red-pepper mixture (be careful of splattering!) and set aside.
Meanwhile, in the same skillet, heat the remaining tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add the pork and press it down with a wooden spoon into a thin layer. Season with salt and a generous amount of black pepper and cook, without stirring, occasionally pressing the layer of meat down, until the bottom is browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain excess oil from pan.
Add minced ginger and garlic to the pan with browned meat. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Break the pork up into small pieces, add the spinach, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes more.
While the pork cooks, cook the noodles according to package directions, until chewy but not soft. Drain and toss with a bit of sesame oil; return to pot.
Remove and discard the orange rind from the chile oil. Strain the peanut-chili oil over a small bowl.
Off the heat, add enough chile oil to coat the pork and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the pan. Add the meat mixture and peanuts to the pot with noodles and toss, adding more chile oil to fully coat the noodles and pork. (If you don’t use all of the chile oil, you can store it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks in an airtight container.) Top with chives and serve at once.

http://www.lynnandruss.com

Loosely adapted from recipe by Ali Slagle for NYTimes