Bulgogi Udon Noodles

How to make Bulgogi Udon, a sweet and savoury udon noodle dish with thinly-sliced marinated beef.

This is Bulgogi Udon, an easy, quick noodle dish of marinated thinly sliced beef with chewy udon noodles. Bulgogi is a Korean style of marinated meat, usually used for grilling. It’s a savoury, sweet marinade and is very easy to make! It requires minimal ingredients which are easy to find in an Asian pantry.

The Perfect Marinade for Bulgogi Udon

I adapted this from my bulgogi gyudon recipe. The ingredients required are minimal and easy to find!

• Light Soy Sauce
• Grated Ginger and Garlic
• Sesame Oil
• Apple Juice: The key ingredient here is using the apple juice for the sweetness. In my bulgogi beef recipe I used fresh pears or apples, grated into the beef. Juice is just a more convenient option.
• Brown Sugar: In this recipe, I used brown sugar to get as close to the authentic sweet bulgogi flavours. I’ll be honest though – I usually make this without the addition of of sugar! I prefer a more savoury bulgogi dish.

You can make good bulgogi with just these ingredients. In this bulgogi udon recipe, I added a few more ingredients to bump up the flavours even more.

• Dark Soy Sauce: I love adding this not just for flavour, but because it adds a more attractive colour to the dish.
• Oyster Sauce: For that all important ~umami~.
• Mirin: This adds more sweetness to the dish. Alternatively, you can use honey – but I find honey a bit overpowering at times.

This is an ultra versatile marinade! Don’t just use this for this udon noodle recipe; you can grill this as bulgogi, or even create a stir fry dish out of it!

How to Prepare Udon Noodles

I used fresh udon noodles for this. These usually come in blocks, and you will need to prep it before cooking.

To prepare the udon noodles, I like to just place it in a bowl, and pour warm water over it. Using chopsticks or tongs, gently wiggle it so that it comes loose. Be gentle – otherwise it can easily break. Once the noodles are loose, drain the liquid away.

Even if I’m making a soupy noodle dish, I like to prepare it this way first. I find that if I cook it straight in with the soup, it will tend to overcook and turn mushy.

If using any other type of udon noodles, such as frozen, follow the directions on the packet on how to prepare it.

More recipes like this:

• Spicy Yakiudon | Spicy udon noodle stir fry
• Black Pepper Beef Udon
• Soybean Milk Ramen

Bulgogi Udon Noodles

Recipe by Sha

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Recipes

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Servings of Udon

• 1 White Onion

• 1/2 cup of Water

• 1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce

• 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce

• A handful of Bok Choy

• 1 tsp Sesame Oil

• Cornstarch Slurry (1 tbsp cornstarch + 2-3 tbsps water)

• Spring Onions and Sesame Seeds for Garnishing
  

• Bulgogi Marinade

• 300 grams Shabu Shabu Beef (or thinly-sliced beef)

• 4 tbsps Apple Juice

• 2 tbsps Light Soy Sauce

• 1 tsp Sesame Oil

• 1 tbsp Mirin (optional)

• 2 tsps Brown Sugar

• 1 tsp Garlic, chopped

• 1 tsp Ginger, grated

• 1 tsp Oyster Sauce

• 1 tsp Dark Soy Sauce (optional)

• 1 tsp Black Pepper

Directions

• Combine marinade ingredients and add the beef. Marinade for about 10 minutes, overnight is best.
• Cook udon noodles according to instructions. For fresh udon noodles, simply add hot water to udon and gently wiggle noodles to break it apart.
• Add oil to sauce pan, and add onions. Saute until fragrant.
• Add the marinated beef slices, including all of the liquid marinade. Stir fry the beef and allow to cook.
• Once beef is almost cooked, add in the udon noodles, water, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and vegetables. Toss to combine.
• Stir in cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Once thickened, turn off the heat.
• Drizzle with sesame oil and stir through.
• Garnish with spring onions and sesame seeds.

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