Easy Yaki Udon

A Japanese chicken stir-fry dish, this easy yaki udon, takes less than 30mins to make, including the prep time. So, obviously it's become a weekday favourite that is both delicious and easy to chuck together when worn out by a gruelling day. It's equally easy to turn into vegan or pescatarian versions.

I feel like chicken tonight

This easy yaki udon, a popular chicken stir fry dish in numerous parts of Japan, was something a Japanese friend Emiko taught me way back in the mists of time. There is actually very little about it that is "authentically" Japanese, nor is the dish in its origins, and most certainly not in this version.

There are a lot of claims as to where the dish originated, just as there are in most food origin myths, something that always attracts my interest (and pugilistic skepticism). But, the one thing that all versions seems to agree upon is that it is a dish emerged after WWII as a kind of pub grub in Japanese taverns when food was scarce. The thing I find vaguely ironic is that it didn't seem that shortage was about pork (the original) or chicken so much as the right kind of noodle. Yep, udon was apparently the ersatz noodle of post-WII Japan. Somehow this makes me love this dish even more.

Similarly this was Emiko's "make do and mend" version of a comfort food from home that she created while doing her PhD in London at a time before online shopping even existed and the proliferation of pan-Asian supermarkets was a sci-fi dream for the future.

Her recipe dates from when there were about two Japanese food retailers in Soho and before the British public developed a taste for lifting from the Japanese kitchen at home. And here's the funny thing: even though my evolution of her recipe includes more, now readily available Japanese ingredients, I've clung to some of the frauthentic items from the original recipe that really make this dish work; things you'll readily find in a dodgy "urban" supermarket in many parts of the world...

Tastes like chicken

The Japanese seem to a have an endless number of ways to fry chicken and they are all delicious. But, what I really like about this particular recipe is that you get a hint of those more indulgent and mouthwatering tori katsu dishes and other forms of panko-encrusted fried chicken without the fuss and bother. That's because in this dish the marinade with its cornflour, puts the slightest hint of crispness on the chicken without you needing to use loads of oil—I love deep fried food but can't bear dealing with how you get rid of of the oil afterwards—or going through the whole multi-process of actually coating something with panko crumbs when you don't have the time or energy.

As a dish that was born out of the relatively limited options for finding Japanese ingredients in London back in the day, feel free to mix 'n match. I'm using shemeji mushrooms because I love them. But, back in the 80s we certainly cooked this dish with sliced chestnut or white closed cup mushrooms, because that was the only offer in London supermarkets at the time apart from the occasional oyster mushroom for the yuppie market.

If you can't get yuzu ponzu, add a dash of lime. And, why would you try to find shottsuru or ishiri, sought-after traditional Japanese fish sauces? They have become so hard to get hold of and expensive that today, even in Japan, millions have taken to using Thai fish sauce, the world leader in common and garden fish sauces. I've even cooked this dish with Italian anchovy sauce and, to be honest, I couldn't tell the difference.

The reason I am saying salt is optional in the recipe is that I never add it to Japanese (and most Asian) dishes. Soy is the salt of Asia. So, I really don't understand adding salt additional to this.

This version is for 2 diners, but you do the math if you want to cater for a larger group. It scales up in a fairly prosaic way.

3 top tips to get this recipe right:

• I'm using the vacuum-sealed type of "easy" udon noodles here, mainly because I find them the most effective. But, you can use fresh or dried, just so long as you cook them appropriately first and rinse under cold water to prevent sticking together as they cool. Vacuum-sealed udon that you will find in many supermarkets merely need to be microwaved or boiled for about 2mins before being rinsed in cold water. Always allow noodles to cool fully before adding to a hot wok

• Do NOT ever buy anything in a supermarket called "stir fry vegetables". I don't need to repeat the words of top Asian chefs, do not need to bang on about the "wok clock" or how a wok is not a democracy. This is a dish of relatively few ingredients and they are cooked in a specific order because that's how they taste optimal. Deal with it.

• With this dish, it's important to not marinade the chicken too long or else the cornflour can begin to clot when you add the chicken to the wok. Again, this makes it the perfect quick meal because you only need to marinade the chicken for 15 to 20min; never longer than 40.

Shopping list

for the chicken marinade

• 1tbspn garlic & ginger paste

• 1tbspn light soy sauce

• 1tbspn mirin

• 1tbspn cornflour

• ½tbspn honey

for the stir fry sauce

• 1tbspn sweet soy sauce (or kicap manis)

• 1tbspn (Thai) fish sauce

• 2tbspns sweet chilli sauce

• 1tspn yuzu ponzu

• 60ml boiling water

for the easy yaki udon

• Approx. 450g of skinless, boneless chicken breast or thighs; cut into bite-sized pieces

• Approx. 300g udon noodles

• ½ a hispi (or small white) cabbage; sliced vertically and pulled apart

• 2 carrots; peeled and sliced vertically into thin strips

• 3 echalion shallots; peeled, quartered vertically, and pulled apart

• A generous handful of shemeji mushrooms

• Approx. 4tbspns sunflower oil

• 2tspns sesame oil

• 2tspns dark soy sauce

• 3 spring onions, chopped

• 2tspns sesame seeds

• salt to taste (optional)

optional condiments

• pickled daikon (mooli)

• pickled Japanese cucumber

Cooking Method

1. Cook your udon noodles by the appropriate method (e.g. boiling, microwaving) rinse under cold running water to ensure the noodles won't stick, then drain. Allow to cool fully. You can even do this up to 12 hours before and store in the fridge

2. Create the marinade first by mixing all of the ingredients together thoroughly in a suitably deep container. Add the chicken pieces and fold in so that they are fully coated in the marinade. Cover and place in the fridge while you do the rest of your prep.

3. Create the stir fry sauce by mixing together all of the ingredients then diluting with approx. 60ml boiling water. Don't worry if it tastes rather bitter: the flavours will balance out in the cooking

4. When all your ingredients are prepared and the chicken marinaded for at least 15mins, heat half of the sunflower and sesame oils in a wok on a high heat. When hot, add the chicken pieces using a sieve spoon or tongs i.e. do not pour the excess marinade liquid into the wok. Cook, turning constantly with tongs, until the chicken turns golden on all sides. Remove using a sieve spoon and place to one side

5. Add the remainder of the sunflower and sesame oils to the wok (or enough to ensure it is coated on all surfaces, but not "pooling" in the base). Add the cabbage and carrots together, stirring constantly (or tossing the wok if you prefer). Contrary to bad Western notions that wokked vegetables should be basically raw but burnt on the outside, the Japanese preference is for vegetables to be fully cooked, but a little al dente. Cabbage is the perfect vegetable to teach the difference between "charred but raw" and "cooked but crunchy" because there is an undeniable change in flavour. Don't rush it. Add dashes of soy to keep the wok moist. I find this part usually takes at least 5 or 6mins

6. When the carrots and cabbage seem about half-cooked, add the shallots and stir in. From this point onwards, add the stir fry sauce in little dashes to keep the ingredients moist and gaining in flavour

7. When the shallots become "glossy", add the shemeji mushrooms (slightly earlier if using sliced closed cup mushrooms), still constantly stirring. After about 2mins (NB, shimeji mushrooms don't turn dark when cooked, so taste to see if they're done), add the udon noodles

8. A great trick taught to my father in Japan was never to add cold udon noodles and immediately start stirring them in. Rather, leave them sitting atop the hot ingredients for about 30secs or so. The rising heat and steam makes them separate more easily when you start mixing them in. Mix the noodles through the dish thoroughly, using tongs or a spatula (or proving you're a really good tosser), adding the remaining stir fry sauce as you cook

9. When the noodles are piping hot, add the cooked chicken pieces back into the wok and fold in, ensuring they are also heated until piping hot. As soon as everything is a minute away from being optimally cooked, sprinkle over the sesame seeds and stir in, allowing them a mere minute or so to unleash their flavour, but not long enough to toast

10. Remove from the heat, garnish with the spring onion, and cover to keep warm for a minute or so as you prepare to serve

11. Plate and take to table with traditional pickled condiments

Alternatives

This dish is very adaptable. The only things that make it not vegan are the chicken and the fish sauce. You can remedy this by substituting the former with bite-size tofu (if you want it to feel more "Japanese") and treating it exactly as the chicken is in the recipe, though I advise using one of the firmer versions of tofu. Or, opt for Quorn "not chicken" cubes if you don't have a conceptual problem with faux animal flavours.

Substitute the fish sauce with rice vinegar and a smidgen of miso.

Pescatarian versions of this dish are fantastic, especially with squid, octopus, king prawns or the humble fish ball (sliced). When doing pescatarian versions, I always double the amount of cornflour, bring it closer to a batter than a marinade. This protects the seafood, which cooks very quickly.

Seemingly, carnivore versions with pork were the original iteration of this dish. I've actually never tried it because I'm not in love with (unsmoked) pork about 90% of the time. But, I don't see why you wouldn't give it a go, using something like cubed pork loin beloved in many Japanese recipes, and cooking it long enough to get a slightly crisp external finish in the wok.

Pairings

This has only ever been a beer dish for me, probably sticking too closely to nostalgia. And, part of that nostalgia is to usually consume it with a beer from the great Japanese beer canon: Kirin, Suntory, Sapporo, Asahi, etc. These are the "old reliables" and a deep-seated memory of being a kid and interrogating my father and uncle about all these bottles and cans of beer with their curious and (then) unintelligible branding that fascinated me in a child's deep dive into Japan.

Of course, I can also see how it would work with numerous dry white wines and, perhaps a little less obviously with one of those medium-dry German Rieslings with a suggestion of sweetness, especially in counterpoint to the bitterness of the pickled Japanese cucumbers and daikon, cabbage and the undertow of fish sauce and ginger. I don't know. I haven't done it yet. You tell me....