If you love creamy pasta but also can’t resist a bowl of comforting udon, this Udon Carbonara recipe is gonna be your new favorite mashup!
As a self-proclaimed noodle connoisseur and enthusiast, I think this satisfies my cravings well enough. AND as a professional lazy girl, this recipe is obviously lazy girl approved… as is anything else on this blog.
The cheesy sauce and chewy udon noodles really hits the spot and is super simple, cozy, and perfect for when you want something a little indulgent but still quick enough for a weeknight. See the recipe below for a twist on a classic Italian favorite!
Udon Carbonara Noodles Recipe
Serving size: 1 girl dinner (you might want to double it, no offense)
Ingredients
- 1 udon serving (small package or half a large package)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 egg yolks
- Spam (bacon or guanciale if you want to be legit)
- As much garlic as your heart desires
Optional:
- Seaweed to garnish
Instructions
- Mix the yolks with parmesan cheese.
- Prepare the udon according to the package, or boil for a few minutes until unfrozen.
- Add a couple spoons of the udon water to the yolk and cheese mixture, making sure to stir quickly to temper the egg with the water—this will help the sauce be smooth later. We’re not making scrambled eggs here.
- Sauté some diced spam until it’s toasty and golden on the outside. Remove from pan.
- Now sauté some chopped garlic in the pan until golden and fragrant.
- Drain the udon noodles well and add to the pan. Make sure to put some of the noodle water to the side so you can add it to the sauce at the end to adjust the consistency.
- Pour in the yolk and cheese mixture, and stir in with the noodles and garlic. Add the water we saved from the noodles as needed to adjust the sauce.
- When the noodles are well coated and mixed with the cheese melted, transfer it to your bowl or plate.
- Add the sautéed spam and option seaweed garnish.
Tip: If you’re going to add more water, make sure to adjust with a small amount at a time, about a spoonful, so it doesn’t get watery all of a sudden. If it gets too watery I literally can’t help you idk, just start over lol
Sorry to Italians
Alright, if you’re Italian, please don’t kill me. I can imagine it already… “🤌 this is not carbonara!”
I know, your Nonna just fainted. But honestly, this is so good. I just didn’t have any pasta and I also didn’t have guanciale so this monster was born.
I mean, from another perspective, my mom think it’s crazy to have cheese in any Asian type of noodle. She didn’t try it but I’ll convince her to next time.
To make up for this heinous food crime, I’ll have the origin of carbonara below.
Origin of Carbonara
Carbonara is a Roman classic that’s all about simple ingredients doing amazing things. The traditional version uses eggs, Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper, and either guanciale or pancetta.
There’s some debate about its exact origin, but one popular story is that it was a quick, hearty meal for coal workers. ‘Carbonaro’ actually means ‘coal seller or worker’ in Italian. Over time, it became famous worldwide for that silky, creamy sauce that somehow comes together just from eggs and cheese. And yes, it’s one of those recipes where timing really matters, because if the eggs hit the pan wrong, you get scrambled instead of sauce.
Hope your udon was delicious (for the amount of effort we put into it, lol).
Looking for something else to make? See my Onigirazu recipe here or curry udon!
Happy eats,
Big J
