Garlic & Chilli King Prawn Yaki Udon
Quick garlic and chilli king prawn yaki udon with curry powder, mangetout, and baby corn.
Easy to make, quick to make, great for dinner, high protein & low calorie… what about that is not to love? Because all of that you’re going to be getting today with this Garlic and Chilli King Prawn Yaki Udon.
I’ve done a lot of food recipes on this blog. Seriously, just check some of my other recipes out here. But this one, this garlic and chilli king prawn yaki udon, might just be my favourite recipe so far.
If you love Japanese cuisine as much as I do then this is a must try. It helps that the ingredients are fairly cheap to pick up and really accessible. You don’t need to go to any specialist shops to find the ingredients required.
You should be able to pick everything up from whatever shop you usually do your shopping at.
But when we get down to it, yes its easy, quick, and healthy, but the thing that makes this dish so good is what really matters, its bloody delicious!
What Is Yaki Udon
Yaki is a Japanese word meaning to grill, or pan-fry, and udon is the type of noodles used.
Udon are thick noodles made from wheat flour. So Yaki Udon means fried udon noodles which is a Japanese stir fry dish consisting of thick, smooth, white udon noodles mixed with a soy based sauce, meat, and vegetables.
Usually, Yaki Udon would be made with pork, for this twist we are doing a garlic and chilli king prawn yaki udon which tastes absolutely delicious.
Super Quick & Easy Japanese Cuisine
Japanese cuisine has to be one of my favourites. It’s so damn delicious. Foods like sushi although fun to make and easier than you would think, tend to be quite time consuming. (if you’re interested in making sushi at home, check out my recipe here)
This dish will take a grand total of 15 minutes from start to finish, and yes, that includes the cutting of the vegetables.
Making it perfect for those days when you just really can’t be bothered cooking but also don’t fancy a microwave meal.
Speaking of microwave meals, a lot of the time they’re going to take longer then this yaki udon would once you calculate in the fact that microwave meals usually come out of the microwave boiling hot and take a good 10 minutes just to cool down to an eatable temperature that doesn’t scold the inside of your mouth.
Variations
I originally stumbled across Yaki Udon when I found a veggie yaki udon on bbcgoodfood. Tried it, loved it. Then when I was reading through the comments on that recipe a lot of people were talking about how they improved the recipe.
Which is where I came up with the idea to try garlic and chilli king prawns, they go really well in the dish and I had a real craving for garlic prawns so it was a win win.
I also took out a bunch of things that I wasn’t fond off, like pak choi and ginger, and added more of what I did like, such as the curry powder and onions.
So going forward, you can do the same thing with my recipe. Add whatever you want, take away whatever you want. This Yaki Udon is very forgiving, if you like something, add it in, it’s hard to mess up.
I don’t eat pork but I imagine it would go delightfully with this, or even duck. If you’re vegetarian try adding mock duck.
They’re just a few examples to hopefully encourage your creativity with this. Go as simplistic or crazy as you like, like I said, yaki udon is a very forgiving dish.
Healthy Japanese Dish
I’ve touched on this throughout this post, this garlic and chilli king prawn yaki udon is really healthy. The prawns make it high protein (great for all you gym bunnies and gym sharks) there’s carbs in the veggies and noodles but not enough to be fatty, instead it’s just enough to give you energy, and overall it’s high enough in calories to make you feel like you’re having a proper meal and fill you up, but low enough to make it perfect for anyone who wants to kick a few pounds.
Japanese food is extremely healthy
Generally speaking, Japanese cuisine is extremely healthy. Not just this dish but Japanese cuisine as a whole. The traditional Japanese diet is largely fresh and unprocessed, they use little sugar and lots of veggies.
Not to mention a large portion of Japanese diets are made up of fish. Fish is one of the healthiest meats you can have, most fish has little to 0 carbs and a lot of protein.
This dish in particular uses 75 grams of king prawns per portion. Which is about 60 calories, 0.3 carbohydrates and a whopping 13.8 grams of protein. And that isn’t unusual for Japanese cooking, a lot of dishes are made up of high protein, low carbs.
If you’re interested in more fish recipes, I have a whole section of fish recipes here on Smartblend you can check out.
Furthermore, there are a lot of pickled and fermented foods in Japanese dishes which packs a bunch of nutrients and probiotics.
Don’t forget the wok
You can make this recipe in any old non stick frying pan however, I’d highly recommend investing in a good Wok.
There is a reason wok’s are used in cooking stir fries and you wouldn’t just use it for Japanese cooking. Once you have a good wok you will find yourself using it all the time and here’s why…
5 reasons why woks are better then frying pans
Wok’s are healthier to cook in. They require a lot less oil because of the shape so your food becomes healthier.
They cook quicker. Once again due to that shape, woks cook food both quicker and more consistent. The shape means the heat is more evenly distributed so all the food gets heated and cooked evenly.
No splatter. When cooking on high heat you will be fully aware of those oily or sauces splatters that feel like acid rain when they hit your skin, all the while ruining your top. Because of the high sides woks stop the splatter from getting out.
They last a life time. A proper wok will be made from carbon steal which will last a lifetime, you can use it thousands of times without it ever deteriorating.
Lightweight. You’d think a wok is heavier then a frying pan due to the size of them, but as it happens and once again thanks to carbon steal, woks are really lightweight.
Which wok should you buy?
So now you know why you need a wok, you’re probably wondering which to get…
I’m going to tell you now that you don’t need the most expensive. Sure, you can get £90+ woks but their is no point. That being said you also don’t want to be buying a £20 wok. Even if it’s carbon steal, £20 woks tend to not last long because they have cheap handles that fall off.
You need something in the middle. Not dirty cheap and not too expensive, something that’s traditional and going to last a lifetime. It also helps if it looks nice.
The good news is I have the perfect wok to recommend.
That is the traditional craft wok, carbon steel, wooden handle, it’s not going to break, it looks great, and it will last a lifetime. You can also pick it up on next day delivery. Here’s where you can get it from;
Garlic & Chilli King Prawn Yaki Udon
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a non stick pan or wok over a high heat. Once hot, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes.
- Stir in the mangetout, corn, and spring onions and cook for 5 minutes more.
- Add the garlic, curry powder, dried chilli flakes, and soy sauce, and cook for another minute.
- Add the udon noodles and king prawns, stir in a splash of hot water until the noodles are heated through. Divide between bowls and serve.
Notes
A note about the wok
I mentioned this above but just in case you jumped to the recipe, this works best with a good wok, a good wok will also last a lifetime, cooks food healthier, quicker, and more evenly. My one and only recommendation is the carbon steal tradition craft wok from the craft wok store. If you’re from the USA, this is the wok I’m talking about. And if you’re like me and are from the UK, then this is that same wok on amazon UK. Trust me, it’s brilliant, try it out or at least check out the reviews.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
759.31Fat
12.92Sat. Fat
1.3Carbs
124.16Fiber
13.79Net carbs
110.4Sugar
20.53Protein
43.73Sodium
2770.04Cholesterol
120.75The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Hi, I’m Cameron, guv’nor of Smartblend. If you liked this then you’re in luck, I have a bunch more recipes like it. I share only vegetarian and pescatarian food recipes, cocktails, and drink guides with a sprinkling of wellness and mindful drinking. If that sounds like you, then stick around!
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