I am, by no means, a professional chef. Or a food blogger. I have no high quality camera, just a 5 year old iPhone. I also don’t have some inspirational story about how I travelled the world and came across these enlightening noodles that changed my perspective on life.
But I do have a recipe on some good noodles, so I thought I’d share it anyway.
I think we’ve all been quite irritated by recipe sites that go on and on before even showing you the ingredients, so without further ado and at risk of already turning you away from the page, I’ll get right into it.
Ingredients:
- Noodles – These can be any kind of noodles you like, I used straight-to-wok udon noodles but it is up to your preference.
- Chopped bacon – Can be replaced with any meat or vegetable you like, this dish is fully flexible to what you want to add in. I used two small slices.
- Kimchi – Optional, but adds an authentic Korean taste. Since traditional kimchi is made with fish sauce, there is a site that produces a range of their own kimchi including vegan-friendly ones.
- Sliced whole or half onion – Again, up to you how much you want to add. For this recipe I used a whole onion.
- Sliced spring/green onion – Mainly a garnish, but Korean food has spring onions in everything they make. I used two spring onions.
- Cooking oil – I used sesame oil since it’s also a staple of Korean cooking.
Sauce:
- ½ Tbsp Gochujang – Korean chilli paste, you’ll find it in pretty much any Asian store. I warn that this is quite spicy, and you can add more or less depending on your tolerance.
- ½ Tbsp Gochugaru – Korean chilli flakes, same as above. These are even more potent than the paste, so use sparingly or avoid entirely if you’d prefer much more mild noodles.
- 1 Tbsp honey – Can be replaced with brown sugar for a vegan alternative.
- 1 Tbsp white sugar
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce – Either dark or light, I used dark.
- 1 tsp minced garlic – This is a bit variable, so use your own discretion for the amount.
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Instructions:
1. Dice both onions and bacon (or alternative meat/vegetable)
The onions can be diced smaller than this if you like.
2. Mix the ingredients for the sauce
It may seem like a small amount, but it is a very powerful, flavourful sauce.
3. Add cooking oil to a heated pan, then fry the bacon and onion
I added the bacon for a few minutes first to ensure it was properly cooked, then added the onion.
4. Add kimchi to the pan, then the sauce
About 3-4 forkfuls of kimchi is plenty, but you can add as little or much as you like. If the pieces are too big from the jar, you can cut them smaller. Don’t be like me and make sure your jar is already open so you’re not stirring, taking pictures and struggling to open the tightest jar in the world all at the same time. Keep stirring regularly to avoid any sticking and burning to the pan.
5. Add your noodles
Make sure you read the instructions for your noodles first. They may say to boil them first, in which case do that alongside this. Keep stirring well to mix the sauce in properly. You may want to cook the noodles for a minute or two before adding the sauce depending on which noodles you used.
6. Add spring onions
This will come right at the end to keep the spring onions crunchy.
7. Serve and enjoy!
Add any other garnish you’d like, including black pepper or perhaps a fried egg. If you find that the sauce was spicier than you thought, you can sprinkle in some sugar and lemon/lime juice to tone it down, or serve with sour cream.
Remember this is a stir-fry, so be creative with the ingredients! Extra vegetables make this dish taste even more fresh and colourful. This is just a guideline, so take it and change anything you want.
Let us know in the comments how you liked it and if you’d like to see more!
Ashley is a copy editor and writer with a passion for gaming, music, films and animation.
