Garlic Udon Noodles

5 from 2 votes

These chewy garlic noodles come together in just 15 minutes for a super savory takeout style dish at home. Serve them as a lunch or light dinner, or pair them with other Asian favorites like dumplings and General Tso’s chicken for a more satisfying meal.

Servings servings

Prep Time 8

Cook Time 7

Total Time 15

Equipment

Ingredients

3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1½ tsp sesame oil
1½ tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp chili oil
½ tsp oyster sauce
½ tsp powdered ginger
1 tbsp butter
1 head garlic minced, about 4 tbsp
14 oz Japanese udon vacuum sealed
1 pinch salt
1 pinch white pepper
2 scallions sliced thin

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

First, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, rice vinegar, chili oil, oyster sauce, and powdered ginger. Whisk thoroughly until fully combined.
Preheat a wok over medium-high heat, then add the butter, swirling it around to help it melt.
Once the butter is fully melted, add minced garlic to the wok and cook until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes, moving it around to prevent sticking. If you hear a lot of sizzling right away, you may have to lower the heat so the garlic doesn't burn.
Pour the sauce into the wok and stir or swirl to incorporate the minced garlic and butter evenly with the sauce. Then add the udon and stir fry until steaming and noodles are warmed through, about 3 to 5 minutes.
Season with a pinch of salt and white pepper, tossing the noodles to combine. Then stir in sliced scallions and remove from heat. Serve immediately.

Notes

Mise en place: Having all your ingredients ready to go before you start cooking is the best way to create more efficiency (and less stress) in the kitchen. This is important for a recipe like these garlic noodles, since they cook so quickly - and you won’t want to leave the garlic unattended in the wok, or sitting for too long before you can deglaze the pan. Make sure to mix up the sauce ahead of time, unpack your noodles, and have everything within arm’s reach before you start cooking. To learn more about this concept, read our article about what mise en place is and why it’s important.

Japanese udon: Look for the cooked, prepackaged udon in vacuum sealed packs at the store. These chubby noodles are the perfect vehicle for this savory, garlicky sauce! If you can't find them, this recipe also works well with Chinese lo mein noodles. Simply cook your choice of noodles according to the package directions before adding to the wok and stir frying.

Fresh garlic: This recipe absolutely needs a fresh head of garlic. Mincing a whole head of garlic can feel like a lot of work, but we guarantee it's worth it! We tried making this dish with jarred minced garlic and found it wasn't sticky enough to incorporate well with the sauce and noodles - more than half of it ended up in the bottom of the wok and there wasn't nearly enough garlic flavor in the final dish.

Cooking with a wok: Use a burner that’s properly sized for the bottom diameter of the pan. A wok flares out to a much wider diameter at the top, so if you use an oversized burner the pan will get too hot and you’ll risk burning the garlic. Applying heat to just the bottom surface of the wok gives you greater control over the heat level during cooking, so you can easily adjust as needed if your pan is too hot or too cold.

Author: Nicole & Alex Langdon

Calories: 446kcal

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Asian, Fusion

Nutrition