There’s no noodle quite like udon. They’re incredibly thick, filling and comforting. Like the food version of a quilt. Being a secret Wagamamaholic (maybe not so secret), we decided to make our own version at home.

I was surprised by just how easy it was to make a dish identical to my favourite pseudo Japanese restaurant and with fairly little work. Here’s our recipe:

Ingredients:
Udon noodles
Chicken breast (as much or as little as you want, a little goes a long way with this)
2 eggs
Small pack mange tout
1 large handful beansprouts
Red chilli
Small handful fresh coriander
1 inch piece fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
Soy sauce
Sesame seeds
Japanese pickled ginger (the pink kind if you can get it, you should be able to find it in most Chinese supermarkets)

1. Cover the noodles in hot water and cook as per the instructions.
2. Whilst the noodles are cooking prep the mange tout by slicing them into fine strips. Add them to a large mixing bowl.
3. Grate the ginger and press the garlic and add to the mixing bowl with the beansprouts.
4. Once cooked, drain the noodles and leave to cool. Once cooled, add them to the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with the rest of the ingredients with your hands (this trick is genius as it means everything property gets into the noodles which is hard to do in a hot wok).
5. Finely slice the chicken (or if you can use leftovers from a roast even better). Cut into very small pieces and fry in a large very hot wok with some soy sauce and vegetable oil until cooked through and a little crispy.
6. Push the chicken to the side of the pan and break the eggs into the wok and quickly mix to scramble the eggs.
7. Add the noodles and veg from the mixing bowl to the wok and mix the chicken and egg in. Add some sesame seeds and season with more soy (or fish sauce) to taste.
8. Cook until the mange tout are soft.
9. Serve with torn coriander leaves, chilli slices and the pickled ginger.

Voila! Who needs a restaurant?