Happy New Year! After taking a 2-month hiatus to heal & recharge myself, I’m back to recipe blogging! This 20-minute beef udon recipe is my first recipe of 2022. I love beef udon and it is definitely cost effective to make this dish at home, with a better cut & more generous servings of beef. I cooked the beef separately in the pan to use it for topping the udon noodles. In this way, the beef is more flavourful than thin slices of shabu shabu beef scalded in hot water. The same cooked beef also makes a delicious topping for salad or (simplified) gyudon.
The cut of beef is really important in this recipe. I bought this try of “gyudon beef” from Don Don Donki for S$10 (200g). This cut of beef curls beautifully when the beef is cooked, comes with a flavourful amount of fats and is less likely to overcook than other cuts of thinly sliced beef.
I am using Japanese scallion (leek). Cut the white section diagonally for frying and the green section thinly for garnish. You can also use yellow onion in place of Japanese scallion. Slice some ginger thinly for frying with the beef.
I am using only 100g of meat for taking the step-by-step photos. I’m saving the other half of the beef for another recipe.
Heat some oil & fry the scallions (white part) briefly until they start to soften.
Push scallions to the side of the pan. Fry ginger briskly until aromatic.
Add beef and stir-fry briskly until 70% cooked on surface.
Drizzle soy sauce, mirin (pictured), sake & water over the beef.
Mix the contents well, cover with lid and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Season to taste and the beef is done!
If you love thick and chewy udon, use frozen udon. Add frozen udon directly to a pot of boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes.
Make a 1-minute udon broth by boiling water with instant soba sauce.
Add cooked udon to serving bowl. Pour hot broth over the noodles and garnish with the cooked beef, green scallions, egg and Japanese 7-spice chilli powder.
I recommend the “gyudon beef” cut for this recipe. I bought mine from Don Don Donki (SG). The right cut of beef curls up beautifully after cooking & is less likely to overcook than other sliced beef.
Besides udon & noodles, the cooked beef also makes a delicious topping for rice (to make simplified gyudon) as well as salad.
Check out the ingredients and step-by-step photos on the previous page.
Cooking Note(s):