Niku Udon + Perilla Garlic Soy Sauce

Still on the udon spree — today’s dish is equally simple and provides ample room for customizations.
Niku means meat in Japanese, and any type of ground meat works fine for this dish. This dish also utilizes the ubiquitous flavor combo of sweet and savory, so play around with it a bit… Next time I might substitute the soy sauce for fish sauce, and use raw sugar instead of mirin. Or I might use aged tamari soy sauce for a savor-boost.

Niku Udon — serves 2

4 oz dried udon, boiled
4 oz ground pork (any meat works)
1 tsp garlic miso
1 tbsp perilla garlic soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1/2 cup chopped cucumbers
1 small sliced tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced bell peppers
pinch of fried onion bits

1. Spread oil on the frying pan, and set the heat at medium.
2. Chop up a clove from your garlic miso vat and fry till golden, or until it starts to smell good.
3. Throw in meat. Bring the heat to medium-high. Stir fry vigorously.
4. If the meat starts to turn brown, throw in mirin, miso, soy sauce. Stir fry vigorously until fully cooked. Set aside.
5. Take the noodles, and top with cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell peppers.
6. Top with meat.
7. Sprinkle with fried onion bits.
8. Let the mass nommage begin.

Here is one of the most-used condiments in my household. It’s a famous Cookpad Recipe — well, not so much of a recipe, more like a formula — and you can used it for almost anything, no joke.
You basically marinate loads of perilla leaves and garlic cloves in soy sauce overnight — and voila! The secret sauce! The longer it ages, the better. And it practically stays okay for a couple weeks! You can chop up the garlic and make fried rice with it, or use it to Asia-up your Chicken Forty Garlic recipe! You can make onigiri (rice balls) with the soy sauce — and wrap it with the perilla leaves. It’s seriously one of the best. rice balls. EVAR.