Teriyaki Chicken Udon Noodles

When I was in University, a meal I had at least 3x a week was Teriyaki Chicken Udon Noodles from Teriyaki experience. It's a complete meal for me. You've got sweet umami teriyaki sauce with the chewy udon noodles, tender chicken breast and veggies for balance. This dish is both comforting and versatile, making it a great choice for a quick weeknight dinners.

Here's how to make Teriyaki Chicken Udon Noodles

The base of this dish is the udon noodles, which are thick, soft wheat noodles commonly used in Japanese cuisine. Their chewy texture and neutral taste makes them the ideal companion for the teriyaki chicken. While udon noodles are my favourite base to soak up the delicious teriyaki flavour, you could also serve this over jasmine rice.

The star of this recipe is the sweet teriyaki sauce- here's what goes in it:

Soy sauce, Chicken broth, White sugar, Rice vinegar, Garlic, Onion powder, Sesame oil, Sriracha, White pepper, Oyster sauce

These ingredients are simmered together briefly to make a delicious sweet salty and slightly zingy sauce. I like to transfer the sauce to a squeeze bottle (makes you feel like you're cooking in a really legit restaurant). Squeeze it over everything to your hearts content.

The chicken is fried in a hot wok (this is my favourite wok for stir-fry). Add Salt & pepper once the chicken is lightly golden. Then squeeze teriyaki sauce all over and cook for another 30-60 seconds. The reason you don't want to marinate the chicken in teriyaki sauce or add it in too early is because the sugars in the sauce will burn at higher temperature and that's not very yummy.

Once the chicken is golden, use the leftover flavour in the wok to stir-fry the veggies. This should take about 2-4 minutes depending on how crunchy or soft you like the vegetables. I prefer taking them out at 1.5-2 minutes for an extra crunchy bite.

Stir-fry the chicken and veggies together briefly at the end with even more teriyaki sauce so all the flavours can get to know each other. Optionally you could stir-fry the udon noodles in the wok with this mixture. I usually just place them in salted boiling water until al dente and use that as a base for the teriyaki chicken.

How do I prevent my chicken from getting dry?

Tenderizing chicken breast with baking soda is a simple technique called Velveting that produces moist chicken for stir-fry every time. To do this, massage a small amount of baking soda (about 1/2 teaspoon per chicken breast) into the raw chicken. Make sure it’s evenly coated. Let the chicken sit for about 10-15 minutes, as the baking soda breaks down the protein fibers in the meat. This helps to soften the chicken and retain moisture during cooking. After the resting period, rinse the chicken thoroughly with cold water to remove any excess baking soda. This is necessary step for me when making any sort of stir-fry or cooking chicken breast at high temperatures. Especially because it tends to be much less forgiving than its dark meat counterparts.

Can I make changes?

This is one of those recipes that you can customize to suit your preferences. You can easily customize the vegetables to your liking or based on what's available. Swap the chicken for tofu or beef for a different twist. Adjust the teriyaki sauce to suit your taste, adding more sweetness, saltiness, or tang depending on your preferences.