This delicious recipe for Beef Teriyaki Udon Noodles hails from Epcot's International Flower and Garden Festival at Walt Disney World. Chewy udon noodles and tender beef combine with a super fragrant and delicious teriyaki sauce to yield this simple but impressive dish.
One of my absolute favorite dishes from the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival is the beef teriyaki udon noodles from the Hanami outdoor kitchen in the Japan Pavilion. It's a dish that my sister and I regretted having to share with each other, and wished we had ordered two plates instead of one. It was phenomenal!
I was absolutely thrilled to find a recipe for this dish in The Best of Epcot Festivals Cookbook. I'm sure this recipe is slightly altered for home cooks, but it's still pretty close to what we enjoyed at the festival. I have adapted the cookbook’s recipe to achieve beef teriyaki noodles that are much closer to what was actually served at Epcot.
The result is the perfect balance of chewy udon noodles to umami teriyaki beef. This beef teriyaki udon noodles recipe is excellent and worth a try whether you are an avid Disney fan, or simply a lover of Japanese cuisine.
Ingredient notes
- Udon Noodles: Udon noodles are thick, chewy, Japanese noodles where the dough is traditionally kneaded with feet (true story) and then hand-cut into strips. Purchase them dried or fresh in Asian markets (in the refrigerated or frozen section if fresh), or make homemade udon noodles from scratch for an extra fun experience.
- Teriyaki Sauce: This is usually made with a combination of soy sauce, sake or mirin, sugar, ginger, and garlic. You can make it yourself or purchase teriyaki sauce by the bottle in the Asian section of supermarkets, Asian markets, or online.
- Mirin: Mirin is a subtly sweet Japanese wine that is common in many Japanese recipes. It is similar to sake but has a lower alcohol content and a higher sugar content. Find mirin in the Asian section of supermarkets, Asian markets, or online.
- Rice Wine Vinegar: This is another common Asian ingredient you can purchase in the Asian section of supermarkets, Asian markets, and online. It comes in seasoned and unseasoned options. Seasoned usually contains sugar and salt and is overall sweeter. I prefer using unseasoned rice wine vinegar which is pure vinegar without additives. Look at the ingredient list if you're not sure.
How to make it
To make the beef teriyaki noodles, begin by combing teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, mirin, water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat, and stir until dissolved. Then bring to boil and reduce heat to low.
Place cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk in a little of the simmering sauce. Add the cornstarch slurry back into the saucepan and whisk until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat.
Place strips of flank steak and ⅔ cup of the sauce in a large bowl. Mix until the beef is thoroughly coated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Keep the remaining sauce warm until ready to serve.
Meanwhile, cook udon noodles according to package directions, shortening the cooking time so that the noodles are al dente. Drain, toss with oil, and set aside.
Strain the excess marinade from the beef, and cook the beef in a large skillet or wok until browned. Remove from the skillet, place on a plate and cover with foil until ready to serve.
Mix together the remaining soy sauce, ginger and rice wine vinegar in a skillet or wok large enough to hold the noodles. Cook over high heat until boiling, reduce the heat to medium and add the cooked noodles. Heat through until the sauce thickens and coats the noodles.
To serve, divide the hot udon noodles onto 4 plates and top with the teriyaki beef. Garnish with scallions and pickled ginger, and serve with the remaining sauce on the side for drizzling.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Other recipes you may like
- Yaki Udon (Japanese Stir-Fried Udon Noodles)
- Kare Udon (Japanese Curry Udon Soup)
- The Hollywood Brown Derby Cobb Salad (The Hollywood Brown Derby)
- General Tso's Chicken Dumplings (Nine Dragons)
- Salmon with Quinoa Salad and Arugula Chimichurri (Epcot Food & Wine Festival)
- Pollo a las Rajas (San Angel Inn Restaurante)
- Mushroom Filet (Le Cellier)
- Boma Mustard (Boma)
- Pumpkin Beignets (Club 33)
- Browse all Disney Recipes
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Beef Teriyaki Udon
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon teriyaki sauce preferably low sodium
- ¾ cup soy sauce preferably low sodium, divided
- ⅓ cup mirin
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 pound flank steak sliced on diagonal (against grain) into ¼-inch-wide pieces
- 1 pound udon noodles dried or fresh
- 1 tablespoon canola oil or other neutral oil
- 3 tablespoons fresh ginger grated (see notes)
- ¼ cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar
- 4 scallions trimmed and thinly sliced, for garnish
- Pickled ginger for garnish
Instructions
- Combine teriyaki sauce, ½ cup soy sauce, mirin, water and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until ingredients dissolve. Bring to boil then reduce heat to low.
- Place cornstarch in small bowl and whisk in 2 to 3 tablespoons of the simmering sauce. Add back to saucepan and whisk until mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Place beef and ⅔ cup of sauce in a large bowl, mixing until beef is thoroughly coated. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Keep remaining sauce warm until ready to serve.
- Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions, shortening cooking time by 2 to 3 minutes so that noodles are al dente. Remove from heat, drain and toss with oil. Set aside.
- Strain excess marinade from beef, and cook beef in large skillet or wok over medium heat until browned, about 2 minutes per side. Remove from skillet, place on plate and cover with foil until ready to serve.
- Mix together remaining ¼ cup soy sauce, ginger and rice wine vinegar in skillet or wok large enough to hold the noodles. Cook over high heat until boiling, reduce heat to medium and add cooked noodles, heating through until sauce thickens and coats the noodles.
- To serve, place hot noodles on plate and top with beef. Garnish with scallions and pickled ginger, and serve with remaining sauce on the side for drizzling.
Notes
- Try making homemade udon noodles from scratch instead of using store-bought.
- If you don't use the remaining sauce for drizzling if would be delicious in other stir-fries.
- I've received some feedback that this is a lot of ginger. This amount is what Disney has provided in their original recipe (source is linked in the following bullet point). That being said, I enjoy the recipe as written above, however everyone's taste is different, and you can reduce the amount of ginger to your liking.
- Adapted from The Best of Epcot Festivals Cookbook–originally served at Hanami outdoor kitchen at the 2016 Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
Comments
No Comments