An umami and flavour-packed Stir-Fried Spicy Garlic Udon Noodles with minced tofu ‘meat’, mushrooms, lots of garlic, and scallions, coated in a spicy savoury sauce with a hint of sweetness.
The ingredients you’ll need for this udon noodle recipe:
What I love about using instant fresh udon cakes is the super easy prep.
I simply run my udon noodle cakes (as I like to call them) through water or soak these it in some hot water to separate them.
You have to be careful when handling the noodles and don’t force them apart cause they can easily break!
Soaking them in hot water really helps to help loosen the noodles.
THE SAUCE
The sauce for this udon noodle recipe is a simple mix of the following:
- Gochugaru or other chili powder (see recipe notes)
- Vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce, or stir-fry sauce
- Soy sauce
- Sugar, or to taste
- Sesame seeds
- Sesame oil
- Water
TOFU AND MUSHROOMS
I used extra firm tofu to create a tofu minced ‘meat’ to give this stir-fried noodles recipe more texture and extra protein, too!
To prepare the tofu, simple wrap your block of tofu in a towel and place a weighted surface on top. You can also use a tofu press if you have one. This is to help drain out some of the moisture.
You can leave the tofu pressed for 5-10 minutes before mashing or crumbling the pieces with a fork or your hands.
For the mushrooms, I simply sliced my shiitake mushrooms. You can use other mushrooms of your choice, too.
Though I used tofu and mushrooms for this recipe, what I love about a stir-fried noodles recipe is its versatility.
You can opt to use any other vegetables or protein of your choice to cook with the sauce.
Time to Stir-Fry!
See how to make the noodles in the video below or here.
I started with the tofu minced ‘meat’.
I simply heated a large non-stick pan. This way, I can use less oil. But you can opt to use a wok and add more oil to prevent the tofu and noodles from sticking.
Cooking the tofu mince:
- Leave the tofu untouched over medium heat for 3-4 minutes for it to lightly crisp and brown at the bottom.
- Season the tofu with the dark soy sauce. Mix well.
It’ll also start to dry up and resemble minced ‘meat’ as it cooks and the water evaporates.
Stir-Frying the rest of the ingredients
Sauté the garlic.
Add in the scallions and sauté as well. Then mix with the tofu.
Add in the mushrooms.
Stir-fry the mushrooms until tender.
Mix it well with the tofu to cook down.
Afterwards, add in the separated udon noodles into the pan.
The noodles are still very chewy at this point so you can cook it down with a bit of water.
Pour the sauce into the pan and over the udon noodles.
Leave the noodles to cook for a few minutes.
Add more water to cook down the udon noodles, if needed
Taste the noodles and then adjust the seasoning if needed. Mix in some chopped scallions, if you’d like!
Serve while hot!
Enjoy! You’ll find the recipe for these stir-fried spicy garlic udon noodles below. 🙂
Find the recipe for these stir-fried spicy garlic udon noodles down below. Enjoy!!
Other stir-fried noodles recipes you might like:
- Thai Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)
- Kimchi Noodle Stir-Fry
- Mie Goreng (Indonesian Fried Noodles)
- Yaki Udon
Stir-Fried Spicy Garlic Udon Noodles
Ingredients
Noodles
- 14 oz instant fresh udon noodles (I used 2 packets, see notes)
Sauce
- 1 tbsp gochugaru or other chili powder (see notes)
- 1 tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce or stir-fry sauce
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar or to taste
- 1 tsp sesame seeds
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp water
Minced Tofu
- 2 tbsp neutral oil
- 1/2 lb extra firm tofu 1/2 lb, mashed or crumbled (see notes)
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
Stir-Frying
- 1 tbsp neutral oil
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 green onions or scallions thinly sliced and divided
- 3.5 oz shiitake mushrooms or other mushrooms of choice sliced
- 2-4 tbsp water to cook down noodles (see notes)
To Serve
- Chopped green onion or scallions for garnishing
Instructions
Noodles
- If you’re using instant fresh udon noodles or 'cakes' in packets, you can simply soak them in hot water for a few minutes or run them through hot water to carefully separate them. These noodles can also easily break apart so don't force it when they're clumped together.
Sauce
- Prepare the sauce by mixing everything together. You can see the notes below and adjust the spice level according to your reference. Set the sauce aside.
Minced Tofu
- Heat a large wok or non-stick pan over medium high heat. Add in the oil.
- One hot, add in the tofu. You can continue to crumble this as needed, especially if there are big chunks.
- Leave the tofu untouched over medium heat for 3-4 minutes for it to lightly crisp and brown at the bottom. It’ll also start to dry up and resemble minced ‘meat’ as it cooks and the water evaporates.
- Season the tofu with the dark soy sauce. Mix well.
- Leave the tofu to cook for another 3-4 minutes until it completely dries up and resembles minced meat. Afterwards, move the tofu to the side of the pan.
Stir-Frying
- Add 1 tbsp oil into the pan. Over medium heat, sauté the minced garlic.
- Afterwards, add in half of of the chopped scallions or green onions. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the shiitake mushrooms and then stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until tender.
- Once the mushrooms are cooked to your liking, add in the noodles.
- Pour the sauce over the noodles and mix well.
- Leave the noodles to cook over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes.
- Add in some water to cook down the noodles, if needed. You can start with 1-2 tbsp and mix well. You can see the notes below.
- Taste the noodles and feel free to season with some salt and upper, if desired. Once the noodles are cooked to your liking, turn off the heat.
- Top the noodles with more chopped scallions or green onions. Serve and enjoy while hot!
WATCH Video
Notes
Noodles
For the noodles, I use these instant fresh udon noodles that I get in vacuum-sealed pouches. I store mine in the fridge but these can also be stores at room-temp if room temp where you live is below 25C. I’d really recommend storing them in the fridge for a longer shelf life. If you’re using instant fresh udon noodles or ‘cakes’ in packets, you can simply soak them in hot water for a few minutes or run them through hot water to carefully separate them. These noodles can also easily break apart so don’t force it when they’re clumped together. These noodles are also technically already cooked so when stir-fried later on, you can just add some more water to cook them down a bite more. If using dried udon or other noodles, cook them according to package instructions. I would suggest cooking them 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions so they’ll still be chewy after stir-frying.Chili powder
For the chili powder, I used gochugaru or Korean chili powder/or flakes. Gochugaru is bright red in colour but has a mild spice with a hint if sweetness. If you’re using other chili powder that’s much hotter, you can opt to start with 1/2 tbsp and adjust from there. You can also of course add more or less chili powder and adjust to your desired spice.Pressing the Tofu
For the tofu, you can opt not to press it and just mash it since the water will evaporate during cooking. But if you prefer to press the tofu, you can simply wrap your block of tofu in a towel and place a weighted surface on top. You can also use a tofu press if you have one. This is to help drain out some of the moisture. You can leave the tofu to press for 5-10 minutes.Water to cook down the noodles
I added 4 tbsp total of water to cook down my udon noodles since I just simply ran my noodles through cold water to separate them so they were still very chewy when I added them to the pan. If you’re using freshly cooked udon or other noodles, you can opt to skip the water if they’re already cooked down to your liking.NUTRITIONAL INFO
You can pin these images:
This Post Has 23 Comments
Did you use firm or extra firm or medium tofu? Would have liked the video to show the sauce & tofu preparation!
Hi! I used extra firm tofu. Sorry just realised it was missing ‘firm’ in the ingredients list. I’ll be sure to edit that part and include tofu prep steps as well! Thanks!
Amazing! Topped with peanuts and added some rice wine vinegar to the sauce! Will be making this often! Thank you.
Thank you so much Sarah! Happy you liked it 🙂
Seriously so good! A keeper recipe for sure
This is restaurant quality good, and so fast!!! I used a can of seitan that I finely minced, and some kale from the garden. Amazing!
THANKS AMY! 🙂
Delicious! Left out the mushrooms and added a little white pepper and some chili garlic sauce, and it was perfect. Thanks!
Hi Barry! Glad you liked it ◡̈
So so so good!!!
Thanks Anoushka!! ❤️
this was so delish! Am adding more veg days and by far one of my favorite ways to eat tofu
Yay! Thank you Sapna! ◡̈
This recipe is absolutely fantastic! 10/10
Thank you Pam! ◡̈
Delicious! Loved this Udon noodles with tofu recipe. I appreciate the notes especially about separating the noodles since I always end up breaking them to separate. Thank you.
Will definitely be making this recipe more often.
Thanks so much Ana, glad you liked it! ◡̈
Really good. Used kashmiri chili in place of the gochugaru as that’s what i had on hand…and cremini in place of the shiitake (tho I like the texture of shiitake better in noodle dishes). I think i mashed the tofu a little too fine. Next time will dice, and let fall apart as I make the rest of the dish. Sprinkle of fresh cilantro leaves with the scallions at the end!
Hope you enjoyed it Howard! Thanks for giving it a try ◡̈
I tried this for the first time on Saturday, and have already made it a second time this week. This is so freaking good. I’ve had blocks of extra firm tofu sitting in my freezer for a while, but I don’t have too many tofu recipes in my repertoire that I love and that are also quick. The texture of the tofu is phenomenal. The flavors are amazing. We used dried shitakes – highly recommend saving the soaking water for deglazing. The second time around, we added freshly minced ginger and gai lan (Chinese broccoli). Sooo good. This is going to become a regular weeknight meal for us since we almost always have the ingredients around.
Hey Lauren, thanks so much for leaving this review. So happy you enjoyed the udon! 🙂
I’ve made this recipe many times and it never disappoints! It has become a regularly requested meal by my boyfriend who is a cook and not a big fan of tofu as this is one of his faves! Easy recipe to follow and delicious flavors – love it!
So happy to read this, Anna! Glad your boyfriend likes it!! 🙂