Vegan yaki udon is a dish of chewy udon noodles stir-fried with cabbage, mushrooms and a sweet and sticky sauce. This dish is super simple and takes just 20 minutes to prepare. This makes it perfect for a midweek meal. Yaki udon is a Japanese dish traditionally made with meat. I, however, have tweaked the recipe to make it 100% vegan!
Is yaki udon vegan?
Ground pork is usually an ingredient in yaki udon. Furthermore, the sweet and sticky sauce contains oyster sauce. However, I’ve added some extra veg to replace the pork and replaced the oyster sauce with vegan mushroom stir fry sauce. This makes the dish 100% plant based!
Vegan yaki udon sauce
The yaki udon sauce has just 5 simple ingredients:
- Dark soy sauce – dark soy sauce is saltier and has a more intense flavour than light soy sauce. It also gives your noodles a deeper colour.
- Mushroom vegetarian stir-fry sauce – this sauce is very similar in flavour and texture to oyster sauce. However, it’s vegan! Mushroom sauce will give your noodles a delicious umami flavour.
- Mirin – mirin is a Japanese rice wine. Mirin adds sweetness to the yaki udon.
- Rice vinegar – adding rice vinegar to your sauce creates a delicious tangy flavour.
- Brown sugar – dark brown sugar brings extra caramel sweetness to the sauce.
Fresh or frozen udon?
I ALWAYS use frozen udon noodles instead of straight-to-wok noodles. I find that the straight-to-wok noodles are too thin and fall apart easily. Frozen udon, however, are thicker and chewier and will elevate your noodle dishes to the next level.
Unfortunately, frozen noodles are usually more expensive and often only found in specialist Asian supermarkets. Therefore, straight-to-wok udon may be your only option. But don’t worry, the addictive yaki udon sauce is so delicious you will still end up with an amazing dish!
Extra ingredients
I have kept this recipe very simple by just adding in mushrooms and cabbage. To bulk up this dish, however, there are a few other ingredients you could add in:
- Vegan chicken pieces
- Sliced bell peppers
- Sliced carrots
- Grated firm tofu
- Vegan ‘beef’ mince
Tips and tricks
- Fully prep all of your veg and sauce before frying! For the most authentic taste, you must cook everything quickly over a high heat. Prepping all of your ingredients will help make this process as smooth as possible.
- Cook your noodles over a gas stove using a wok. This will help develop what is called ‘wok hei’. Wok hei describes the flavours of the wok which are imparted into the dish. If using an induction stove, you may need to heat your oil for a little while before frying.
- Open your windows and turn on the oven vents! Cooking at high temperatures means things can get smoky very quickly. Opening your windows will reduce the risk of your smoke alarm going off.
What does ‘yaki’ mean?
The word ‘yaki’ is prefix to many Japanese dishes. Yaki describes the way the food is cooked over direct heat. Essentially, yaki can mean grilled, boiled or pan-fried.
Vegan yaki udon: similar recipes
If you liked this recipe why not try my other noodle recipes? These are some of my favourites:
- Vegetarian japchae noodles
- Asian tofu noodle salad with tofu and mango
- Vegetarian Korean army stew
- Vegan rice noodle salad
Vegan Yaki Udon
Ingredients
Method
- Mix together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cook your udon according to package instructions, drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a stir fry pan, or wok, over a high heat.
- Once the oil is very hot, add in your onions and mushrooms. Fry, stirring or tossing constantly, until the onions have browned and are almost crispy, around 2-3 minutes.
- Now add in your cabbage, spring onions and garlic. Fry, stirring or tossing constantly, until the cabbage is starting to brown but is still slightly crunchy, around 2-3 minutes.
- Add in the udon noodles and stir fry for 2 minutes.
- Add in your sauce and stir fry for 1 more minute.
- Serve topped with the extra spring onion and sesame seeds.
these were amazing!