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Creamy Spicy Korean Udon Noodles with Bulgogi Chicken

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5 from 3 reviews

This Creamy Spicy Korean Udon Noodles with Bulgogi Chicken is Asian style comfort food at its best and completely perfect for feasting at home on a weeknight! Noodles in a creamy spicy sauce topped with juicy and tender spicy-sweet bulgogi chicken strips = ultimate home-cooked Asian feast! 

Ingredients

Scale

CHICKEN

  • 2 Large Skinless Boneless Chicken Breasts (approximates 400–450 grams) – washed, fat trimmed, and pat dried
  • 2 TBLS Olive Oil (for cooking)

 MARINADE SAUCE:

NOTE:

  1. You can usually find Garlic Paste, Ginger Paste, and also Ginger Garlic Paste at an Indian or Asian Grocery Store or try online. If using Ginger Garlic Paste, use 3 teaspoons. If you can’t find either of them, blend equal amounts of roughly chopped garlic and ginger together with 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable/olive oil. I recommend making a small quantity – ½ cup chopped ginger and ½ cup chopped garlic, as you will only need 3 TSP in total for this recipe. This paste can be stored in the fridge for about a week and used for quick and easy cooking in other recipes such as pasta, noodles, and stir-fries.
  2. Alternatively, you can blitz all the ingredients for the marinade sauce in a blender to make the marinade sauce. Use 3 cloves of roughly chopped garlic and a tablespoon of roughly chopped ginger if doing so.

FOR THE NOODLES:

  • 2 TBLS Olive Oil
  • 2 TSP Sesame Oil
  • A splash of chili oil (optional)
  • ¼ Yellow Onion – sliced
  • 6 Garlic cloves – minced
  • 2 TBLS Ginger – grated
  • 1 Scallion/Spring Onion – chopped, whites and greens separated (use the greens to garnish later)
  • 10 Red Chilies, or to taste – chopped
  • 2 medium Brown Mushrooms (Asian variety such as Chinese, shitake, or shimeji preferred but Portobello will work just fine) – stems removed, thinly sliced
  • A handful of Spinach Leaves (about 8-10 leaves) – stems discarded, washed
  • 150ml Cooking Cream
  • 100ml Whole Milk
  • 1.5 TSP Honey
  • Remainder Marinade Sauce
  • ½ TSP Korean Capsaicin Sauce (optional, but a must if you like your food very spicy)
  • 1 x 200g Pack Udon Noodles, boiled and drained
  • 2 TSP Toasted Sesame Seeds – to garnish

Instructions

For the Chicken:

  1. Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl or measuring cup. In a large bowl, add the chicken breasts and 4 tablespoons of the sauce and set aside the remainder marinade sauce to be used for brushing onto the chicken while cooking and for the noodles later. Mix to coat the chicken well with the sauce. Leave to marinate for 20-30 minutes at least. (The sauce will penetrate the chicken better if refrigerated overnight, but if you don’t have the time, 20-30 minutes will work just fine.)
  2. Preheat oven to 175°C/347° While the chicken is marinating, chop up and prepare the other ingredients for the noodles.
  3. For the chicken, turn on the stove to medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a cast iron grill pan/skillet. Spread the oil with a cooking brush. Once the oil is hot, lift the chicken from the marinade bowl with tongs and place them top side up on the pan.
  4. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then brush the chicken with more marinade from the bowl they were marinating in and use tongs to turn them over to the other side.***
  5. Cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes, then brush the chicken with more marinade and turn them over again so that they are top side up again.
  6. Repeat step 4 & 5 again so that the chicken ends up facing top side up again.
  7. Brush chicken with the marinade, then place the cast iron pan in the oven. (Note: If your cast iron grill pan/skillet can’t fit in your oven, transfer the chicken to either an oven safe dish or sheetpan lined with foil.) Bake for 18-20 minutes, flipping and brushing with more marinade every 5-6 minutes.
  8. Remove from oven and wait at least 10 minutes before slicing chicken into strips.

For the Noodles:

  1. While the chicken is baking, start preparing the noodles. Boil the udon noodles according to package instructions. Drain the water and set aside in a strainer. If using a non-metal strainer, run some warm water over the noodles to prevent them from sticking to the strainer.
  2. Turn on stove to high heat and in a large pan, add olive oil and sesame oil. (Note: you can also add a little chili oil for extra heat if you like.)
  3. Add the spring onion whites and ginger. Sauté for 30 seconds.
  4. Add the onion and sauté for until they are translucent – about 1 minute. Turn down heat to medium and add the garlic and red chilies. Sauté until fragrant but be careful not to over brown the garlic – about 1-2 minutes.
  5. Add the mushrooms and cook on both sides for about 2 minutes. The onions will start to turn golden-brown. Toss and combine everything together. Add the cream and milk and stir.
  6. Add the remainder marinade sauce – about 50ml/3.5 TBLS, honey, and Korean capsaicin sauce (if using) and stir to combine. Add the spinach leaves and stir until they have wilted.
  7. Once the sauce starts to thicken, add the udon noodles (Note: Run water over noodles if they look dry/sticky before adding to the pan). Turn up the heat and toss to combine noodles with sauce.
  8. Place sliced chicken strips on noodles. Let them warm up for about 1-2 minutes and then remove from heat. +
  9. Garnish with spring onion greens and sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over chicken. Serve.

Notes

  1. *You can substitute chili powder for the Gochugaru if preferred. Just remember to adjust to taste as some chili powders can be very hot.
  2. **For a nonalcoholic substitute for mirin, use 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and a ½ teaspoon of honey or white granulated sugar.
  3. ***You will run out of marinade sauce from the bowl the chicken was marinating in. Dip into the marinade sauce reserved for the noodles when this happens. In total, the marinade sauce mixture is about 150ml. Once you finish cooking the chicken and brushing more marinade onto the chicken breasts, you should have about 50ml left for the noodles.
  4. +It is ideal to start cooking the noodles while the chicken is baking so they will be done around the same time. However, you can wait to prepare the noodles until after the chicken has finished cooking. Slice the chicken later once you’ve finished making the noodles, and place them on top of the noodles while still over heat. The chicken will warm up within a minute or two and then remove from heat, garnish, and serve.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://thatspicychick.com/creamy-spicy-korean-udon-bulgogi-chicken/