Miso butter udon noodles with tuna and leek
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2
- Dietary
- Nut-free
This dish contains simple ingredients that surprisingly sing together. If you’re not a tuna fan, feel free to swap for another protein of choice, such as chicken, tofu or just the egg.
Each serving provides 425 kcal, 29g protein, 30g carbohydrate (of which 3.8g sugars), 19.9g fat (of which 9.8g saturates), 4.3g fibre and 1.58g salt.
Ingredients
- 2 free-range eggs
- 2 portions dried udon noodles (about 170g/6oz) or 300g/10½oz straight-to-wok udon noodles
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- ½ tsp dried red chilli flakes, or to taste
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ½ leek, finely sliced (or ½ small onion, finely sliced)
- 1 tbsp red miso paste
- 110g tin good-quality tuna steak, at room temperature and drained
- 4 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- chilli oil, for drizzling (optional)
- sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)
Method
Cook the eggs in a saucepan of boiling water for 6½ minutes. Transfer to a bowl of iced water to stop them cooking any further. Peel once cooled and slice into halves. Set aside.
Refill the pan with boiling water. Add a pinch of salt and cook the udon noodles according to the packet instructions. Reserve some of the noodle cooking water to add to the sauce later, then drain the noodles. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the chilli flakes. Cook for a few minutes until the butter browns slightly. Add the garlic and leek and cook for around 5 minutes until fragrant.
Turn the heat down to medium–low. Loosen the miso paste with a splash of hot water and then add the paste to the pan. Mix well into the leek mixture.
Add the drained noodles, along with a splash of the noodle cooking water, and toss together. Add enough cooking water to form a glossy sauce, but do not make the sauce too thin. Grind in plenty of black pepper.
Serve the noodle mixture in bowls and top with the tuna, boiled egg halves and spring onions. Add a drizzle of chilli oil and the sesame seeds, if using. For best results, mix it all together and dig in.
Recipe tips
Tinned tuna steak in sunflower oil works well, especially if you go for slightly better quality, but any normal tinned tuna will work just fine.
This dish is best served fresh but can also work as leftovers the next day. Just gently reheat the noodles in a saucepan for a few minutes, with a splash of water if needed.
