how to make yaki udon (favorites)

this was intended to be part of my oct-dec favorites, which will be posted in january, but i wanted to put this up for one of my friends. ~Lin-chan ^.~

 

i'm not sure why, but i've been on a super udon-kick lately. i got the first pack of frozen noodles to try it since it's probably better for you than instant udon (see here) and because, months ago, i bought soba sauce for who knows what reason...well i do have dry udon noodles that i've been neglecting to cook and try. anyway.....and it's getting cold out; it's hot beverage season. so, tea time!

• frozen udon noodles, soba sauce, stir fry; these can be found at your local asian *cough*korean* grocery store; this brand of udon comes with 5 individually wrapped bunches for $6 and this bottle of soba sauce was $3 at the store near our apartment. i've been really liking it either alone with some soba sauce, or as stir fry (yaki udon).

1. boil some water and cook the noodles, drain, and shock them in cold water so they don't stick together and get mushy.
2. either put them in a bowl and pour on some soba sauce (1 serving, left photo--in a cereal bowl)
3. OR 2 servings (right photo--in a 1.5qt bowl): stir fry some vegetables (bite sized), sliced mushrooms, cooked meat (bite sized), crushed red pepper (to taste), and 1 tbsp garlic in sesame oil (enough to coat pan) while the noodles are boiling. add the noodles to the vegetable pan when they're done. then stir fry the noodles and vegetables together for a few minutes until they are evenly mixed. pour in some soba sauce, toss to coat and serve.
• ingredient ideas/alternatives: pre-packaged frozen stir fry mixed vegetables or fresh vegetables of your choice; chinese roast pork, plain or teriyaki chicken (marinate chicken in teriyaki sauce for 20-30 minutes and pan fry/grill--we've been using zea's thai sauce), beef; jar of minced garlic vs. fresh, dry vs. frozen udon
• if you buy too many fresh vegetables, you can always cut them up into bite sized pieces, and put them in a zip-lock to make your own frozen stir fry blend for next time!

• zhena's gypsy tea: vanilla chai herbal red tea (~$10 @ cost plus world market, 22 bags). with several heaping teaspoons of sugar--yes, i'm a sugar fiend, but...we've got dentists in my family so it's ok. =P i'm not sure if all cc's coffee has red tea like the one in lsu's library, but i think this tastes just like it...and the library is really annoying to get to from all my other classes and my apartment and i haven't checked at the other ones around yet......so yeah. ^^;