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Yaki Udon with crispy broccolini, chicken and a tangy cilantro lime yoghurt

Yaki Udon with crispy broccolini, chicken and a tangy cilantro lime yoghurt

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We’ve had our first glimpse of summer this past week in NL, and so this week's recipe was consumed in ottimo happiness, on a sunny balcony and prefixed by a generous serving of gelato because sometimes you gotta make sure you get your dessert in before you get too full you know.

Let's talk business! I’ve been a solid player on team noodles as opposed to team rice all my life. There’s nothing wrong with rice, but there’s just so much more right with noodles. And I promise you, there’s a lot right with these noodles.

Ingredients #

Ingredients for 2:

Method #

  1. Turn up your oven to 250 degrees Celsius. No need to preheat it really, pop your broccolini on to a little baking tray and toss it with some olive oil and salt. Roast your broccoli crissssp in about 15 min. The time here will vary greatly depending on your oven so keep an eye on your broc bois.

  2. Blend together the yoghurt, cilantro and juice of one lime. Season with freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste. Put this mixture in the fridge for now.

  3. In a small bowl mix together two tablespoons of soy sauce, a tablespoon of rice wine vinegar, a teaspoon of mirin, and a teaspoon of MSG. Set aside for now.

  4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, if you’re using dried udon noodles start to cook them according to package instructions. If you’re using fresh noodz, keep the water warm on a simmer, but wait with cooking the noodles until everything else is ready because they’ll cook very fast.

  5. Heat up a wok over high heat and add some neutral oil as well as some sesame oil to the wok. Once your oil is shimmering hawt, add your ground chicken (or mushrooms) to the wok and fry until very very crispy.

  6. In the meantime finely chop a red onion and the garlic cloves. Once your chicken is super crisp add the onion and garlic to the wok and fry together for a few minutes. Once fragrant and your onion has started to soften and get some color take everything out of the wok and put it in a bowl, set aside for now.

  7. Take your crisssp broccolini out of the oven and chop it finely. Add it to the chicken mix.

  8. If using fresh noodles, add them to the boiling water for about a minute, or according to package instructions. Once your noodles are cooked, fresh or dried, take them out of the pot and rinse them in a strainer with cold water. Shake off as much water as possible and add them to your Wok over high heat with some extra sesame oil. Once you see some first signs of crispiness on your noodles, add back the broccolini/chicken mixture and toss everything together with the soy dressing you made earlier.

  9. You made it! Time to plate! Take your herby yoghurt out of the fridge and add a layer of it to a plate. Nest your noodles onto the sauce, and top with anything you see fit! Scallions! Crispy fried onions! Chile crisp! Cilantro! Sesame seeds! I trust you’ll figure this one out.

On the ingredients list you’ll find MSG. For the ones unfamiliar with this substance, monosodium glutamate is an ingredient commonly found in various Asian cuisines. MSG brings out umami flavor in dishes, and can be naturally found in things like tomatoes and seaweeds. There is widespread controversy around its safety to use in food. Some argue that the real fuel behind this controversy came from racist frustration towards Chinese immigrants successfully opening restaurants, and it is shown time and time again that there is no scientific ground for concern. Long story short: it truly makes your food taste absolutely delicious, don’t be afraid of it, and give it a gooo!