Beef Udon Stir Fry - Khin's Kitchen Yaki Udon Recipe (2024)

Delicious Beef Udon Stir Fry, super fast and easy noodle recipe that you can make in 20 minutes! This udon recipe is simple but not bland, packed with Japanese flavour. Perfect dinner idea for busy weeknights!

This dish is also known as Beef Yaki Udon, one of the most popular Japanese stir-fries. Yaki Udon recipes are basically made with a choice of protein, vegetables, and thick chewy udon noodles.

Cooking method is very similar to other stir fry udon noodles recipes. I've already shared my Yaki Udon with Chicken and Prawn Noodles recipes a few months back, for my friends who want to make it with chicken or prawns.

Ingredients you will need

This is a very straightforward recipe, you will only need 4 basic ingredients. Beefsteak, udon noodles, a choice of stir fry vegetables, and quick homemade stir fry sauce. Most of the sauce ingredients are pantry staples, except Japanese cooking wine.

• Beef: Use beef steak like, ribeye, sirloin, tenderloin, rump, or any of your favourite tender steak cut.
• Noodles: Udon is a thick chewy Japanese wheat noodles. You can buy staright-to-wok udon at most supermarket Asian aisle or fresh/frozen udon at Oriental Chinese and Korean grocery stores.
• Vegetables: I add pak choi, mushroom, and onion in this recipe. Pak choi is widely available in UK supermarkets and groceries.
• Stir Fry Sauce: Japanese mirin, light soy sauce and sugar are 3 key sauces to make the sauce. I add dark soy sauce for more colour and sesame oil to bring some toasty flavour. A dash of cornstarch is to thicken the sauce.

See the recipe card for detailed quantities.

How to make beef udon stir fry

• First blanch the udon noodles with hot boiling for 1-2 minutes to loosen up. Drain water out, rinse with cold water and set it aside.

• Gather all ingredients, cut the meat and vegetables. Whisk all the stir fry sauce ingredients in a bowl.
• Season the beef slices with a tablespoon of stir fry sauce mix, mix well and set it aside.

• In a large wok/pan stir fry the beef slices for 2-3 minutes then push the beef to one side. Add garlic, onion, and stir for 1 minute. Follow with the mushroom and cook for another 1 minute. Next add the pak choi and stir it well for few seconds.
• Place the udon in the middle of the pan, pour the sauce in. Toss well, continue cook for another 1-2 minutes, until sauce and everything combine evenly.
• Turn off the heat and sprinkle chopped spring onions.

Variations and substitutes

• Udon - instead of ready-to-fry udon, you can use other noodles like Shanghai, Hokkien, or any thick egg/wheat noodles. Even ramen or yakisoba noodles goes well with this recipe too.
• Pak Choi - it can be substitute with bok choy, choy sum, kai lan, or your choice of stir fry vegetables.
• Add-ons - other stir fry vegetables like bell pepper, snap peas, carrots, baby corns, cabbage, etc, goes well with this dish. Japanese red picked ginger gives fresh taste to the dish too. If you have it in hand you can add this as a toppings or garnish.
• Steak - Instead of tender steak, you can swap with chicken, pork, or prawns. For vegetarians, swap with firm tofu or Quorn meat.
• Mirin - Japanese mirin has a unique taste and flavour but if you cannot get it, use Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry instead. For non-alcochol version, substitute mirin with rice vinegar and a dash of sugar for some sweetness.
• Chilli - Authentic Japanese yaki udon dishes are mild flavour in general. If you love to bring some heat to the dish, add some fresh chilli pepper slices in the stir fry or a tablespon of chilli oil in the sauce mixture. See my homemade chilli garlic oil on my website.

Cooking tips

1. Cut the steak against the grain for tender result. If you are using cheaper cuts like chuck or flank steak, add a teaspoon of corn starch and half teaspoon of baking soda, together with a tablespoon of stir fry sauce. Let it sit aside and marinade for 15 minutes. This is the simple trick to keep the meat moist and tender in your fry dishes.
2. You can blanch the udon noodles with hot water or prepare by the packet instructions but it's important not to overcook them. Rinse with cold water and drain the water out after boiling/blanching.
3. Use large pan or wok to give enough heat to all ingredients evenly.

Frequently asked questions

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