Black Pepper Udon

I guess most of you are familiar with the two most popular varieties of Japanese noodles. Udon, being the thick wheat type usually served hot with noodle soup in a mildly flavored broth and the other is Soba, which is a thin type made from buckwheat flour usually served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup as well. Anyway, Udon are also great for stir-frying and can be eaten hot or cold. Here, I have prepared a Black Pepper Yaki-Udon cooked with shrimps. The noodles were full of flavor from the shrimps, cabbage, carrot, mushrooms, black pepper, and dashi. Dashi is a Japanese soup stock that’s made from dried kelp and bonito flakes. The dashi used in this recipe is easily available at most Asian grocers. I urge you to try making this delicious Udon dish.



*This is an updated post with a video cooking guide. (Previously posted on 08/10/10)


Black Pepper Udon-Yaki

Ingredients

200 to 250 grams Fresh Udon Noodles
2 Cloves Garlic, peeled and chopped
200 grams Chinese Cabbage, sliced
1 small Carrot, peeled and sliced
2 Fresh Shitake Mushooms, sliced
3 to 4 Tbsp Store-Bought Dashi Soup Stock
½ tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper
100 g Shrimps, peeled, chopped
2 Tbsp Peanut or Vegetable Oil

Method

Heat peanut oil in a large wok or pan over high heat. Add shrimps, seared all sides. Then remove and set aside. Cook the garlic briefly, mix in Chinese cabbage, carrot, mushrooms and stir and cook for about a minute.

Add udon noodles, mix well and season with Dashi stock, black pepper and sea salt, if necessary.

Stir-fry until all the ingredients are well combine and the sauce has thickened. Serve immediately.