Quick and easy

“Udon is a type of thick, wheat-flour noodle used frequently in Japanese cuisine. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions.”

I’ve always loved japanese food, it’s culture and country. Recently, since the start of 2020, I made a personal choice to focus on eating more vegetarian meals throughout the week the choice was to see whether my health would improve; such as sleep, energy levels. Before covid-19, I used to always talk about food and watch the club lounge chef prepare meals in our tiny back of house and decided to steal this easy to make recipe by chef Robert, a work colleague of mine at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. It’s a very healthy and fuss free meal which takes me back to my Japan travels.

You will need:

Sauce:
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon sugar

3 packet of udon
1 whole broccoli/broccolini
1 red capsicum
Roasted sesame seeds
2 sprig spring onion
1 knob of ginger
Handful of dry shitake mushroom
1 packet of firm tofu

Start by soaking the dry shitake mushrooms in a bowl with hot water, cover it with a lid and let it soak for 15mins. In a wok, pre-heat on medium to low, and stir fry your roughly chopped capsicum, broccoli, sliced spring onion. Grate the ginger and add it to the stir vegetables. Make sure the vegetables are still crunchy and firm in texture. Boil the udon noodles for 3mins then drain out the water into a colander. Drain out the water from the shitake mushroom and thinly slice. Prepare the sauce in a separate bowl, mix well to break up the sugar particles, adjust to taste if you’d like it sweeter or more salty. Dice the tofu and pan fry in oil till golden in colour and crispy. A faster alternative is using an airfryer. Place the udon noodles into a big bowl and mix the stir fry vegetables, sauce, sesame seeds, shitake mushroom and tofu.  Give it a good mix and serve right away.