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–+ servings

Easy Spicy Garlic Beef Noodle Stir Fry

Explosive flavour! Spicy Garlic Udon Noodles: umami-rich with tofu, mushrooms & a sweet-spicy sauce. Quick, satisfying & utterly delicious!
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 1
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
Calories: 486
Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

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 1/2 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

Method
 

Noodles
  1. If using instant fresh udon noodles, soak them in hot water for a few minutes or run them through hot water to carefully separate. Do not force clumped noodles to avoid breakage.
Sauce
  1. Prepare the sauce by mixing all ingredients together. Adjust spice level as desired (refer to notes). Set the sauce aside.
Minced Tofu
  1. Heat a large wok or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the oil.
  2. Once hot, add the tofu. Crumble as needed, especially if there are large chunks.
  3. Leave the tofu untouched over medium heat for 3-4 minutes to lightly crisp and brown at the bottom. Allow it to dry up and resemble minced meat as water evaporates.
  4. Season the tofu with dark soy sauce. Mix well.
  5. Cook the tofu for another 3-4 minutes until completely dry and resembling minced meat. Afterwards, move the tofu to the side of the pan.
Stir-Frying
  1. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan. Over medium heat, sauté the minced garlic.
  2. Afterwards, add half of the chopped scallions or green onions. Cook for 1 minute.
  3. Add the shiitake mushrooms and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes until tender.
  4. Once mushrooms are cooked to your liking, add the noodles.
  5. Pour the sauce over the noodles and mix well.
  6. Cook the noodles over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes.
  7. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water, if needed, to cook down the noodles. Mix well (refer to notes).
  8. Taste the noodles and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Once noodles are cooked to your liking, turn off the heat.
  9. Top the noodles with more chopped scallions or green onions. Serve and enjoy hot.

Nutrition

Calories: 486kcalCarbohydrates: 61gProtein: 21gFat: 19gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 1895mgFiber: 6gSugar: 14g

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.

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