Full version: ingredients for two
One form of thin-noodle Sara Udon tops fried noodles with a thickened mixture of meat and vegetables. The Ministry of Agriculture's local-cuisine recipe also stir-fries meat and vegetables, including shiitake, before saucing the noodles. This home version lets mushrooms take a larger role.
- Fried thin Sara Udon noodles, 2 servings; sliced pork, 120 g.
- Fresh shiitake, 3 caps (about 60 g); shimeji, 1 pack (about 100 g).
- Cabbage, 120 g; carrot, 40 g; kamaboko fish cake, 30 g; cooking oil, 1 tbsp.
- Sauce base: water, 400 ml; chicken-stock powder, 2 tsp; soy sauce, 2 tsp; sake, 1 tbsp; a little salt and pepper.
- Slurry: potato starch, 2 tbsp, mixed with water, 2 tbsp, in a separate bowl.
1. Prepare the mushrooms and mix the sauce
Remove the tough shiitake stems and slice the caps. Trim the firm base of the shimeji and separate the clusters. Cut cabbage into bite-size pieces; slice carrot and fish cake thinly; cut pork into manageable pieces. Mix the sauce-base liquid and seasonings. Mix the starch and water separately.
Check the noodle packet and place one serving on each plate. Fried thin noodles usually need no further boiling, but follow the product directions. Keep them away from steam while cooking to preserve their crunch until plating.
2. Cook the pork, then add the mushrooms
Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. Spread out and cook the pork until no pink remains and it is cooked through. Add shiitake, shimeji and carrot. Once the mushrooms soften, add cabbage and fish cake; stir-fry until the cabbage begins to soften. Spreading the mushrooms out and letting moisture evaporate, instead of steaming them for a long time, makes the sauce's liquid easier to judge.
If the pan is too small for two servings, cook pork and mushrooms first and take them out; stir-fry the vegetables, then return them. Avoid overcrowding so you can see how the ingredients are cooking. Do not use chopsticks that touched raw meat for serving without washing them.
3. Boil, thicken, then serve over the noodles
Pour the prepared sauce base into the pan and bring everything to a boil. Check that the ingredients are fully cooked; taste and add a little salt or pepper if needed. Reduce the heat, stir the starch slurry again and pour it in while stirring the pan. Return to a boil to stabilize the thickness.
If the sauce is thin, add a little more slurry; if too thick, add hot water gradually. Our guide to Sara Udon sauce thickness explains how to avoid lumps. While the toppings and sauce are still hot and combined, spoon them into the center of each noodle plate, leaving a little fried edge. Compare that edge with the softer center.
Shortcut for two: ready-cut vegetables and packet sauce
Use a two-serving kit containing fried thin noodles and powdered or liquid sauce mix. Add one bag of ready-cut vegetables (about 250 g), one pack of shimeji (about 100 g), 120 g sliced pork and 1 tbsp oil. Use exactly the water quantity on the kit. Do not add the full version's chicken stock, soy sauce or potato starch.
First trim and separate the shimeji and dissolve the included sauce mix in the specified water. Cook the pork through, then add shimeji and vegetables and cook them. Finally add the mixed sauce, boil as directed and spoon it over the centers of the noodles once thickened. There is less chopping and measuring. The mushroom aroma is simpler than in the version with both shiitake and shimeji, but the mushrooms still add bite.
Adjust the next plate after tasting this one
If it seems watery, next time check whether the pan was overcrowded with vegetables or the starch went in before the liquid boiled. If mushrooms disappear into the dish, slice shiitake a little thicker and leave the shimeji in larger clusters. If a packet sauce tastes too salty, check the ingredient amount and product directions before changing its specified water quantity.
Fried noodles change after saucing. Pour the sauce just before serving for someone who loves crunch, and serve soft-noodle fans while it is still hot too. Neither version assumes that prepared sauce can sit at room temperature for a long time.
