Hearty and healthy, a good stir fry dish can be just the thing to impress your dinner guests for a quick and memorable meal, and thanks to this recipe from Pinch of Yum, you’ll be perfectly situated to do just that.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar
• A small amount of a neutral cooking oil
• 2 cups of stir frozen stir fry vegetables
• 2 packaged bags of 7-ounce udon noodles
• 1–2 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
• Freshly-ground black pepper

Directions:

1. You’ll begin the sauce portion of this recipe by combining all of the sauce ingredients (soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar) into a small bowl or mason jar. Stir softly with a spoon to ensure that the ingredients are well-combined.
2. For the noodles, you’ll want to place a small “swish” of oil in a nonstick skillet pan, and heat it over medium-high heat. After it’s heated, you can add in your noodles and enough of your combined sauce to coat them. Stir-fry the noodles until they are of the consistency, texture, and look that you prefer. Be aware that these udon noodles will get a bit caramelized if you leave them undisturbed in the pan for a minute or two, so make this happen to your heart’s content.
3. For your vegetable medley, add either your bag of stir fry vegetables or your freshly-chopped vegetable pieces into the skillet with your udon noodles. Pour a small amount of your sauce over everything and try to keep some in the bowl for later if possible. If you’re able to keep some sauce, you can place it in the refrigerator for a second batch that you’ll stir fry at a later time. With tongs, toss around your noodles and vegetables for approximately 2-3 minutes until your vegetables are fork-tender and everything is properly browned, sticky, and pan-fried to perfection.
4. After you complete the above steps, you can remove the skillet from the heat and freshly grate your garlic. Stir in the garlic and then add in the freshly-ground clack pepper. The recipe calls for a “ton” of black pepper, as the name of the recipe is “Black Pepper Stir Fried Udon,” after all. The author advises you to remove a portion of the noodles and vegetables from the skillet prior to adding a bulk of your pepper for anyone not partial to spice.
5. Serve the recipe & enjoy!

Notes

• If you have a supply of extra udon noodles after cooking the above recipe and/or you’d like to cook this recipe more than once, you can simply create some more sauce and save it in the refrigerator for later.
• Because of the black sugar that you’ve added into the stir fry sauce, it’ll be likely to burn in the skillet if you leave your noodles standing undisturbed in the pan for too long. You don’t want to burn your caramelizing noodles, so keep a watchful eye during the caramelization process.
• If you’re unable to find dark soy sauce, you can substitute regular soy sauce in its place. Though, attempt to find darkened soy sauce if possible, as it’s more concentrated and flavorful.
• It’s always a good idea to add in your favorite protein to this dish. This recipe, which is known as “yaki udon,”originating from the Japanese tradition, is known for the addition of some type of meat. So cook some beef, chicken, or shrimp, and have at it.
• When selecting your udon noodles, be aware that refrigerated or fresh udon is as fine a selection as pre-packaged, shelf-stable udon noodles.

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