BA = Bon Appétit… one of my favorite food magazines/websites everrrrrrrrrr.
Several years back, I had a gift subscription to Food & Wine and my friend Holly had one for Bon Appétit, so naturally we swapped gift subscriptions and thus began my love of Bon Appétit!
My two other favorite food magazines are Food & Wine (obvi, see previous sentence) and Cooking Light. I love Cooking Light for quick, healthy weeknight meals. I love Food & Wine for their photography and delicious creations plus all things WINE. But Bon Appétit… I love for their ideas!! I get so much inspiration from their magazine. Every month, it’s new ingredients, techniques, takes on traditional foods, etc. Like this recipe, as they called it, Better-than-Takeout Stir-Fried Udon is an amazing take on asian noodle takeout that we all know and love BUT they made it BETTER. Guys! It really is better!
A coworker suggested this recipe to me back in March/April and I’ve honestly made these stir-fried udon noodles over TEN times. I love them! So of course, I decided to change them…
We eat pretty healthy during the week so pork isn’t normally on the menu. To make these stir-fried udon noodles a little healthier, I swapped the ground pork for ground chicken and added a TON more cabbage. You down? GOOD.
These stir-fried udon noodles start with lots and lots and lots and LOTS of chopped green cabbage (like I mentioned above), which we cook down by sautéing with vegetable oil until it’s soft and slightly charred in a few areas (#perfection). Then we have nice and tender and thick udon noodles drizzled with sesame oil (#drool). And finally, lean ground chicken that is cooked with hoisin sauce, minced fresh ginger, mirin, soy sauce, and red pepper flakes. Sounds like a recipe for some DELICIOUS asian noodles right?!
I KNOW.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
- 6 cups coarsely chopped green cabbage
- 3 (7oz) packages of instant udon noodles
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced, divided
- 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
- 1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1/3 cup mirin
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons hoisin
- 1-2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds + extra for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the cabbage: Heat one tablespoon of veggie oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, swirl to coat the pan then add cabbage and cook 6-8 minutes or until edges are starting to brown, tossing occasionally. Reduce heat to low then continue cooking the cabbage until thickest parts are tender, about 6-8 minutes more. Remove cabbage from skillet and place in a large bowl then set aside.
- Cook the chicken: Heat the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil in the skillet from above over medium-high. Add ground chicken and cook 6-8 minutes, or until cooked through and there’s no pink. Make sure to toss and break up the ground chicken into smaller bits as it cooks.
- Make the udon noodles: While the chicken is cooking, place udon noodles in large bowl and cover with boiling water (6-8 cups should do). Let sit 2-3 minutes then drain. Transfer noodles to the other large bowl with the cooked cabbage and toss it all together with the sesame oil.
- Finish it all up: Once the chicken is cooked, add half the sliced green onions, grated ginger, and red pepper to the skillet then stir to mix up ingredients. Continue to cook until green onions are softened, about 1 minute. Next, add the udon/cabbage mixture, mirin, and soy sauce then cook until noodles are coated with sauce (about 1-2 minutes), tossing often. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1-2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seeds and remaining green onions.
- Assemble: Divide stir-fried udon noodles between bowls, top with extra sesame seeds then EAT.
Notes
Recipe adapted from Bon Appétit
Doing anything fun this weekend?! We are hiking and camping up north with friends and the pups! Montana is very excited that she gets to come. See you guys back here Monday, unless I get lost or eaten by bears 🙂
If you try this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment or tag a photo #appetitesanonymous on instagram!! I’d love to see your bang bang chicken bowls in action. Peace, friends!
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Kirsten@humbledish
Oh wowwww! Maybe it’s just the 4pm talkin’, but that all just looks like everything I need in life. Putting this at the top of my must-try list! Cheers!
Adrienne
Ha ha I love it!!! It is totally everything you need in life 🙂
Hope you enjoy!! Thanks for stoping by!!