I love udon noodles so much that Mike and I went on a udon pilgrimage to the birthplace of udon. It did not disappoint. Nor did it do anything to ease my intense craving for udon noodles. Udon noodles are the best: thick and chewy, infinitely slurpable, and so so easy to cook and eat.
An udon master at work
If you’re looking for a new weeknight staple, it should be udon. We always have a pack (or five) of frozen udon bricks in the freezer. Of course, you could use those instant udon packs, the pre-cooked ones that come shrink-wrapped, but if you want udon on another level, head to your local Asian grocery store, take a peek in the freezer and do yourself a favor and buy the frozen udon. They taste infinitely better than the shelf-stable cryovac udon.
Frozen udon is sold in bricks, with usually 5 bricks in a package. They’re super easy to prepare: just thaw and go. And best of all, most of the frozen udon that’s sold in North America is actually imported from Japan. We often see brands sold here that are the same as what we see the grocery stores in Tokyo. Frozen udon is the best: it’s practically instant and takes on all the flavors of whatever you’re cooking it with. We’ve done kimchi udon, spicy beef udon, bacon and egg udon, even cacio e pepe udon. Udon is the great blank noodle canvas, just waiting for your flavor creativity.
Speaking of flavors, this recipe is ideal for weeknight cooking: huge flavors, minimal chopping, and a quick cook time. We’re developing a huge hit of flavor from store bought curry paste, which if you’re buying the right brand (we like Aroy-D), has a pretty simple ingredient list: chili, garlic, lemongrass, shallots, salt, galangal, kafir, lime, coriander, and cumin. No weird preservatives or colors or names that you can’t pronounce. Curry paste is one of those things that lasts practically forever in the fridge and can be stirred into just about any sauce or soup for a bit of extra warmth and oomph.
Once you have all your ingredients assembled, everything goes really quickly. Thaw the udon in a bowl of hot tap water, mix all the sauce ingredients together, brown the pork, add the snap peas, then add the udon, sauce, and toss. Boom. It’ll take you longer to find something to watch on Netflix than it’ll take you to stir fry these noodles. Happy noodling!
Weeknight Thai Curry Stir Fry Udon Noodles
Ingredients
- 2 bricks frozen udon find this in the freezer section in most Asian grocery stores
- 1-2 tbsp Thai red curry paste depending on spice level
- 2 tbsp coconut milk or chicken stock
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1 cup sugar snap peas
- 3 green onions cut into 1 inch pieces
- chopped cilantro to serve
- lime wedges to serve
Instructions
- Place the brick of udon in a bowl of hot tap water to defrost and loosen. When soft and loose, drain well.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the curry paste, coconut milk (or chicken stock), brown sugar, and 2 tablespoons water. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
- Heat up a bit of oil in a skillet over medium high heat and cook the pork, breaking up pressing down into the pan. Let cook, without moving, until pork is golden and browned, about 3 minutes. When browned, flip and break up in to small pieces, cooking until no longer pink, about 1 more minute.
- Turn the heat down to medium. Add the snap peas. Cook for 1 minute, stirring until snap peas are bright green. Add the udon and sauce and cook, stirring, until the noodles are coated and glossy. Garnish with the green onions, cilantro and lime if desired and enjoy!
16 Comments
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-Steph & Mike
Yummmmmmm. Thank you. Definitely going to be making this. I think I could sub tofu, if making for vegan friends.
definitely! i love tofu and that would be an awesome sub :)
I’m going to use turkey mince for this. My teenage son will be cooking it!
When I’ve cooked with curry paste, the recipe usually calls for frying it in oil for a bit to bring out the flavors (not that it needs more flavor!). Have you seen/used/recommend this method?
absolutely, i didn’t do it here because it’s a 15 minute easy weeknight recipe, but if you want to take the time to do the extra step, go for it.
Did you use curry paste? Or chili garlic sauce? Your picture shows chili garlic sauce, but I don’t see it in the recipe?
hi erin,
the recipe uses curry paste – the chili garlic sauce is in the photo as a condiment. hope that helps!
Is there a particular brand of udon you recommend?
any brand that’s from japan is pretty good, the kind they keep in the freezer section :) hope that helps!
We had this for dinner and it was great! Such a simple and easy recipe. Very satisfying! Thank you
When you say two “bricks”, how many grams per brick?
they’re 250 grams/8 ounces each :)
Do you think I can use green curry?
absolutely!
Oh my gosh you are so right. I will never go back to supermarket/store bought Udon now.
This was super good and super fast. I really like the infinite possibilities with this. Thanks for sharing your recipe.