Chicken yaki udon
Thick, chewy udon noodles stir-fried with chicken, cabbage, carrots and mushrooms in a savory-sweet soy glaze.
- 30 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 2
- About $3.66 a serving
- 490 calories
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 2 udon noodles
- ½ lb chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 4 oz white mushrooms, sliced
- 2 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced
- ½ cup shredded carrots
- 2 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
Each serving has about 490 calories, 35 g protein, 61 g carbs and 11 g fat, and costs about $3.66 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken breasts? Boneless chicken thighs or chicken tenderloins work.
- No green cabbage? Red cabbage or coleslaw mix works.
- No shredded carrots? Carrots work.
- No green onions? Chives work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Cook the udon in a pot of water as the package says, usually 2 to 3 minutes, until the noodles loosen. and with cold water.
Boil. Boiling means heating a liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. It’s the fastest way to cook pasta, potatoes and eggs, because it’s as hot as water gets.
How you’ll know: Bubbles are breaking across the whole surface, not just at the edges, and steam is rising.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
High heatTimer: 2 min 30 sec
the chicken into thin strips and wash your hands and board.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Food safety: Wash your hands, the board and the knife with hot soapy water after touching raw meat, and don’t rinse raw chicken in the sink.
the soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce and sugar together in a cup.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Heat the oil in a large over high heat and the chicken 3 to 4 minutes, until the thickest strip reads 165°F.
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
High heatTimer: 3 min 30 sec
Food safety: Chicken and turkey are done at 165°F in the thickest part. A thermometer is the only sure check. Without one, cut into the thickest piece: it should be white all the way through, with no pink.
Add the mushrooms, cabbage and carrots and 3 minutes, until the cabbage .
Stir-fry. Stir-frying means cooking small pieces fast over high heat in a little oil, stirring almost constantly. It moves quickly, so have everything chopped and ready before the pan gets hot.
How you’ll know: It sizzles loudly the whole time, and the vegetables turn bright and tender-crisp in minutes.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
High heatTimer: 3 min
Add the noodles, sauce and green onions and with tongs 1 to 2 minutes, until the noodles are glossy and hot.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
High heatTimer: 1 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Toss gently. Udon are thick and soft, and they break if you stir hard.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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