Seafood Yaki Udon is a high protein Japanese recipe that can be made very easily at home! Packed with vegetables, an easy to whip up sauce, thick udon noodles and succulent mixed seafood, you will make it again and again.
Recipes like my Shrimp Yaki Udon, Shrimp Yakisoba and Salmon Noodle Stir Fry are all about the seafood noodle yum combo!
My Beef Yakisoba, Chicken Yaki Udon and Soy Sauce Noodles give us high protein or vego combos of stir fry heaven.
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Recipe Highlights
Everything you will come to know and love about this recipe is summarised in points below. Let me know if you find some more reasons!
- Quick and easy: you may think cooking Japanese at home is complicated, however it really isn't!
- Dinner in 30 mins: from start to finish you will get this recipe done in less than 30 mins. No slaving away for hours on work nights.
- Versatile and adaptable: you can use the same veggies as me or switch it up and use your favourite. My substitutions and variations have some suggestions that you might like to try.
- Texture and flavour: enjoy the experience of using chopsticks to pick up slippery, slurpy noodles and crispy fried vegetables. The seafood is juicy, succulent and so tender it melts in your mouth.
- Seafood Yakiudon is like your favourite takeout recipe but made in the comfort of your home and kitchen! No dialing in or waiting for delivery.
Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the recipe. For exact measurements, scroll to the printable recipe card.
As you can see, the recipe calls for:
- Raw seafood: I use and recommend marinara mix for this. Fresh or frozen and thawed. It has a good array of mixed seafood such as fish, mussels, squid (calamari) and prawns (shrimp). This is also handy to use as there is no chopping various fish and or seafood pieces to get the bits you want.
- Udon noodles: these are the thick white noodles you see in the photo above. On their own they are bland without flavour. Covered in sauce, stir fried and mixed with veggies they taste amazing with their texture a stand out!
- Cabbage: this is a great ingredient to add bulk to stir fry recipes. Finely shred it with a knife and chopping board. It will take around 2 to 3 mins to cook.
- Green onions: we use the white onion bits for this. If you want to use the green bits, they are great to pop on top as a garnish.
- Carrots: these are one of the vegetable components of the dish. Simply peel and chop into thin pieces like the photo above.
- Onions: I like to add these to Yaki Udon as it adds a fourth vegetable to the mixture and the texture suits the noodle combination very well.
Top Tip: each version and brand of Udon noodles will have different cooking instructions on the packet. Be they frozen, fresh vacuum packed. Read these and follow accordingly.
Sauce Ingredients
- Oyster sauce: this is thick, salty and unique to Asian cooking. You can use hoisin sauce as an alternative.
- Soy sauce: this is the regular, most common form of soy sauce, eaten with sushi.
- Dark soy sauce: we use this ingredient to get the fantastic orange brown colour on the noodles. A little of this goes a long way. If you don't use this ingredient, the dish will be a light tan colour as it is only through the use of this that the colour of the dish turns out as such.
- Rice wine vinegar: this adds flavour to the dish and can be found in the Asian foods section of the supermarket.
- Mirin seasoning: another ingredient that adds flavour and can found in the Asian foods section. It adds sweetness to the dish and is very common in Japanese recipes.
- Brown sugar: we only need a little bit of this, but it too adds a sweet flavour to the sauce and helps to balance out the saltyness from the soy and oyster sauces.
- Peanut oil: we use this to begin the cooking as we cook the beef. It holds up well at a high temperature and is perfect in Asian recipes.
Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by whisking together the sauce. I find a small jug handy for this step!
- Gather the sauce ingredients (Photo 1)
- Use a mini whisk to combine (Photo 2)
- Add oil and mixed seafood to the pan and cook (Photo 3)
- Add the vegetables and stir fry for 2 to 3 mins (Photo 4)
How to Make Seafood Yaki Udon
Start to make the recipe by whisking together the sauce ingredients. Then set this aside until needed.
Add the peanut oil to a large pan and allow it to heat. Then add the mixed seafood. It will take between 5 to 8 mins to cook. Use a high heat and keep things moving in the pan as you do.
Once the seafood is cooked (you can take a piece out to test it) remove it from the pan, set aside.
Add the vegetables to the hot pan and stir fry them until they have a wet sweaty look. It will take 2 to 3 minutes for the vegetables to cook.
You can use the time that the veggies are cooking to also cook the noodles. Read and follow the instructions on the packet. Drain, don't rinse and get ready to add them in the following steps.
- Add the cooked noodles to the vegetables (Photo 5)
- Then add the cooked seafood back to the dish (Photo 6)
- Pour the sauce over the noodles (Photo 7)
- Stir fry till heated through (Photo 8)
Seafood Yaki Udon Sauce
Pouring the sauce over the noodles instantly transforms them from bright white into golden yellow brown luscious noodles. (Also known as seriously yummy!!).
This is largely due to the use of the dark soy sauce in the recipe. It is of a similar consistency to regular soy sauce, but adds the colour component to the recipe.
As the dish comes back to all ingredients being heated through again, you will be ready to serve it.
If it is not quite dinner time, you can pop the lid on the pan, turn the heat off and leave it a little bit until it is dinner time.
Then simply heat when ready to eat! There is a slick deliciousness to the dish that I know you are going to love. The taste is quite different to ramen dishes with often not as much sauce coverage of the noodles.
Serving Suggestion
Chopsticks and served in a bowl is my favourite way to serve this dish!
If you want to serve a starter try my Air Fryer Frozen Spring Rolls with sweet chilli sauce, they are too easy!
How to Guide
How to Store
Once cooked you can store the dish in a sealed air tight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
How to Freeze
Let the dish cool, portion into air tight containers and freeze for up to 3 months.
How to Reheat
Always reheat any leftovers from thawed not frozen. Reheating leftover frozen noodles has mixed results, so I don't recommend it.
Substitutions and Variations
Regular readers know that I like to give you options to suit you personal preferences or knowledge. Here are some ideas to try:
- Use vegetables that are long and stringy rather than small bits and pieces which are notoriously difficult to pick up with chopsticks.
- Switch up the protein and try this dish with beef, chicken, pork, salmon or tofu.
- Switch in mushrooms, buk choy, snow peas or your favourite vegetables in place of the carrot, cabbage, green onions and or onions.
- You can use white sugar if you prefer it to brown sugar. (To the equivalent amount).
- Sprinkle thinly sliced green onions or bonito flakes over the dish to serve.
- If using meat in the recipe, opt for thinly sliced not chunky pieces of meat.
Top Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks so that you can master the recipe from the get go:
- Prep everything to start. Once we begin cooking, we want to keep things moving at a fast pace.
- Use high heat: this is the best way to stir fry as everything cooks quickly!
- Keep things moving in the pan: don't let any ingredient sit in the pan for too long frying before using a utensil to keep the dish moving and cooking.
- Prep the sauce the day ahead and place in the fridge to save time cooking the next night.
- Use a non stick wok or frying pan with the recommended oil quantity to ensure nothing sticks as it cooks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between udon and yaki udon?
Udon is the name for the thick white Udon noodles. Be it fresh, frozen or sealed, they are all types of udon noodles.
Yaki Udon refers to stir frying the noodles. This differs from Japanese recipes like Udon soup where the noodles would be added and cooked in the broth.
What does yaki udon have in it?
Yaki Udon often has a protein such as beef, shrimp, pork or chicken. It then has a mixed of assorted vegetables, a soy based sauce and Udon noodles.
What is yaki udon sauce made of?
Yaki Udon sauce has:
- Soy Sauce
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Oyster Sauce
- Mirin
- Rice Wine Vinegar
- Brown Sugar
What's the difference between yakisoba and Yaki Udon?
Yakisoba and Yaki Udon are both stir fried Japanese dishes.
The main difference between the 2 is the type of noodles used.
Yakisoba uses thin, wheat based noodles which are yellow in colour.
Yaki Udon on the other hand uses Udon noodles which are thick white noodles.
Related Recipes
Whether you are a seafood lover, stir fry lover, Japanese food fan or noodle eater, I have you covered. Here are some more of my recipes that you might like to try:
- Beef Yakisoba
- Prawn Stir Fry Noodles
- Chilli Garlic Noodles
- Chicken Mince Stir Fry
- Pork Mince Noodles
- Chicken Noodle Stir Fry
Lip smacking, juicy and delicious, this dish is perfectly Oishi my friends!!
Adrianne xx
📖 Recipe
Seafood Yaki Udon
Equipment
- 1 Large fry pan
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Small jug
- 1 Mini whisk
- 1 Large Heatproof Bowl Or sauce pan (to cook the noodles)
- 1 Colander To drain the noodles
- 1 Chopsticks To separate the noodles as they cook.
Ingredients
- 500 grams mixed raw seafood Note 1
- 1 cup carrots peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 cups cabbage shredded into long strips
- 4 green onions ends and tips trimmed and cut into 4 sections
- 400 grams udon noodles cooked according to packet instructions, Note 2
Yaki Udon Sauce
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce Note 3
- 1 ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce Note 4
- 1 tbs mirin
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
Instructions
- Make sauce: use a small jug to combine and whisk the sauce ingredients. Set aside.
- Cook seafood: heat 2 tbs peanut oil in fry pan at high heat, add seafood and cook till heated through, then remove from pan.
- Cook vegetables: use the same pan to stir fry the vegetables for 2 to 3 mins.
- Cook noodles: according to the packet instructions, drain, then add to the cooked vegetables.
- Add seafood: add cooked seafood back to the pan, pour sauce over and stir fry till dish is heated through.
- Serve: portion into bowls, garnish with chopped green onions (optional) and serve with chopsticks.
Notes
- Note 1 - Seafood: I use marinara mix purchased from the deli or frozen section of the supermarket. Thaw, drain, don't rinse and pat dry prior to cooking.
- Note 2 - Udon Noodles: these will be in the fridge section or Asian food aisle (sometimes even the freezer at the Asian grocery store). Try a few different brands to find your favourite and cook according to the instructions on the packet.
- Note 3 - Oyster Sauce: You can use hoisin as a substitute if you have it but not oyster.
- Note 4 - Dark Soy Sauce: this is a different ingredient to regular (sushi style) soy sauce. It is what makes the noodles turn the colour they end up. We only need a little as a little goes a long way. It will be sold where you find soy sauce and have written on the label 'dark soy sauce'. It is not transparent at all, whereas sometimes regular soy sauce looks to be light brown.
Belinda says
We love all of your recipes Adrianne and this looks to be another great one!! Will give it a go and enjoy it no doubt for sure.
Adrianne says
Thank-you Belinda. That is very kind of you to say.
I enjoyed reading your comment.