Yaki udon is a Japanese stir-fried noodle dish — thick, chewy udon noodles tossed in a savoury, slightly sweet sauce with pork belly, vegetables, and whatever heat your setup can produce. The key word is heat. This is proper wok cooking — high temperature, fast movement, smoke. The char you get from a screaming hot wok is not replicable at lower temperatures, and it is a significant part of what makes the dish taste the way it should.
The sauce here is built around dark soy, oyster sauce, and peanut butter. Peanut butter is not traditional, but it adds a richness and depth that the dish feels flat without. The MSG is optional in the sense that you can leave it out. It is recommended in the sense that it makes the sauce noticeably better.
Ingredients
- Sauce
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Peanut butter
- 1 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Dark brown sugar
- 0.5 tsp MSG, optional — see pro tip
- Noodles and stir fry
- 400 g Udon noodle sachet
- 250 g Pork belly, sliced widthways into roughly 4x4cm squares, 3–5mm thick
- 120 g Savoy cabbage, sliced into 2–3cm strips
- 100 g Carrot, cut into matchsticks
- 150 g Chestnut mushrooms, thickly sliced
- 0.5 White onion, finely sliced
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 80 g Spring onion, cut into 1cm slices
Equipment
- Wok
- Wok spatula
- Wok burner
- Mise en place bowls
Method
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth. Prep all the vegetables. Season the pork belly slices with salt. Loosen the udon noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain and set aside.
Place the seasoned pork belly slices in a single layer in a cold wok and set over medium heat. Allow the fat to render slowly for around 5 minutes, then increase the heat and cook until the pieces are crisped and coloured on both sides.
Remove the pork belly to a bowl and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the wok. Increase to medium-high heat, add the mushrooms, and cook for 2–3 minutes until they begin to colour without releasing much moisture. Remove and add to the pork bowl.
Add the onion and garlic to the wok and stir constantly on high heat for about 30 seconds until lightly cooked and beginning to char at the edges. Break up the minced garlic as you stir to prevent it clumping and burning in one spot.
Add the carrot matchsticks and cabbage strips to the wok and stir fry on high heat for 1 minute. Keep everything moving.
Add the drained noodles, spring onion, pork belly and mushrooms back to the wok. Stir fry on high heat for 30-60 seconds on high heat until the noodles are slightly scorched and everything is combined.
Pour the sauce around the rim of the hot wok and fold through using the wok spatula until fully combined. Stir fry on high heat for 30–60 seconds — you want the sauce to catch slightly on the wok and the whole dish to develop some char and smokiness.
Serve immediately, straight from the wok into warmed bowls.
Notes & Substitutions
MSG: Listed as optional, recommended in practice. MSG is monosodium glutamate — a naturally occurring compound found in tomatoes, parmesan, and soy sauce. It enhances savouriness without adding a detectable flavour of its own. The stigma around it is not supported by science. Half a teaspoon in the sauce makes a noticeable difference to the depth of the finished dish.
Pork belly: Look for belly with clearly defined alternating layers of fat and meat. The fat renders during the initial cook and becomes the flavour base for everything else in the wok. Lean belly with minimal fat layering will not give the same result.
Udon noodles: Vacuum-packed fresh udon sachets are available in most supermarkets. Dried udon works but needs cooking fully before going into the wok rather than just loosening. Frozen udon is an excellent option if you can find it.
Wok setup: This dish is best on an outdoor gas wok burner. An indoor gas hob works with good ventilation. Electric hobs struggle to maintain the temperature required — the dish is still edible but the char and smoke that defines proper yaki udon will be largely absent.
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Pork Belly Yaki Udon
Yaki udon is a Japanese stir-fried noodle dish — thick, chewy udon noodles tossed in a savoury, slightly sweet sauce with pork belly, vegetables, and whatever heat your setup can produce. The key word is heat. This is proper wok cooking — high temperature, fast movement, smoke. The char you get from a screaming hot wok is not replicable at lower temperatures, and it is a significant part of what makes the dish taste the way it should.
The sauce here is built around dark soy, oyster sauce, and peanut butter. Peanut butter is not traditional, but it adds a richness and depth that the dish feels flat without. The MSG is optional in the sense that you can leave it out. It is recommended in the sense that it makes the sauce noticeably better.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp Honey
- 2 tbsp Peanut butter
- 1 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp Sesame oil
- 1 tbsp Dark brown sugar
- 0.5 tsp MSG (optional — see pro tip)
- 400 g Udon noodle sachet
- 250 g Pork belly (sliced widthways into roughly 4x4cm squares, 3–5mm thick)
- 120 g Savoy cabbage (sliced into 2–3cm strips)
- 100 g Carrot (cut into matchsticks)
- 150 g Chestnut mushrooms (thickly sliced)
- 0.5 White onion (finely sliced)
- 3 cloves Garlic (minced)
- 80 g Spring onion (cut into 1cm slices)
Equipment
- Wok
- Wok spatula
- Wok burner
- Mise en place bowls
Method
Mise en place
Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth. Prep all the vegetables. Season the pork belly slices with salt. Loosen the udon noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain and set aside.
For this step: 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp Light soy sauce, 2 tbsp Oyster sauce, 1 tbsp Honey, 2 tbsp Peanut butter, 1 tbsp Rice vinegar, 1 tbsp Sesame oil, 1 tbsp Dark brown sugar, 0.5 tsp MSG
Render and crisp the pork belly
Place the seasoned pork belly slices in a single layer in a cold wok and set over medium heat. Allow the fat to render slowly for around 5 minutes, then increase the heat and cook until the pieces are crisped and coloured on both sides.
For this step: 250 g Pork belly
Remove the pork and cook the mushrooms
Remove the pork belly to a bowl and set aside, leaving the rendered fat in the wok. Increase to medium-high heat, add the mushrooms, and cook for 2–3 minutes until they begin to colour without releasing much moisture. Remove and add to the pork bowl.
For this step: 150 g Chestnut mushrooms
Cook the onion and garlic
Add the onion and garlic to the wok and stir constantly on high heat for about 30 seconds until lightly cooked and beginning to char at the edges. Break up the minced garlic as you stir to prevent it clumping and burning in one spot.
For this step: 0.5 White onion, 3 cloves Garlic
Add the carrots and cabbage
Add the carrot matchsticks and cabbage strips to the wok and stir fry on high heat for 1 minute. Keep everything moving.
For this step: 120 g Savoy cabbage, 100 g Carrot
Return the noodles, pork, and mushrooms
Add the drained noodles, spring onion, pork belly and mushrooms back to the wok. Stir fry on high heat for 30-60 seconds on high heat until the noodles are slightly scorched and everything is combined.
For this step: 400 g Udon noodle sachet, 80 g Spring onion
Add the sauce
Pour the sauce around the rim of the hot wok and fold through using the wok spatula until fully combined. Stir fry on high heat for 30–60 seconds — you want the sauce to catch slightly on the wok and the whole dish to develop some char and smokiness.
Serve
Serve immediately, straight from the wok into warmed bowls.
Notes & Substitutions
MSG: Listed as optional, recommended in practice. MSG is monosodium glutamate — a naturally occurring compound found in tomatoes, parmesan, and soy sauce. It enhances savouriness without adding a detectable flavour of its own. The stigma around it is not supported by science. Half a teaspoon in the sauce makes a noticeable difference to the depth of the finished dish.
Pork belly: Look for belly with clearly defined alternating layers of fat and meat. The fat renders during the initial cook and becomes the flavour base for everything else in the wok. Lean belly with minimal fat layering will not give the same result.
Udon noodles: Vacuum-packed fresh udon sachets are available in most supermarkets. Dried udon works but needs cooking fully before going into the wok rather than just loosening. Frozen udon is an excellent option if you can find it.
Wok setup: This dish is best on an outdoor gas wok burner. An indoor gas hob works with good ventilation. Electric hobs struggle to maintain the temperature required — the dish is still edible but the char and smoke that defines proper yaki udon will be largely absent.
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