Asian Noodles with Creamy Kimchi Sauce and Fried Eggs

Thick cut noodles are coated in a creamy kimchi sauce that takes less than 5 minutes to make then tossed with Asian marinated mushrooms, sautéed asparagus and red bell peppers. Top the whole thing off with a gorgeously runny fried egg, fresh scallions and sesame seeds.

This is one of those recipes that you can follow precisely, or use it as a way to transform whatever veggies happen to be in your refrigerator into a healthy, delicious meal. And, you can easily make it vegan by replacing the egg with tofu, beans, or just leaving it out entirely.

Hearty Noodle Bowls Packed with Fresh Asian Flavor

The recipe is inspired by two ingredients that I am completely in love with: Kimchi Mayo and Kalbi BBQ Sauce.

Kimchi Mayo is a creamy, tangy, spicy sauce made from vegan mayonnaise and kimchi hot sauce. It's one of those ingredients you don't ever want to be without because it makes all things better.

Kalbi sauce is a sweet and savory Korean BBQ sauce that's usually used as a marinade for things like short ribs. In this recipe, sliced mushrooms soak up the sauce and absorb all those delicious meaty flavors, giving these noodle bowls a satisfying meaty texture without requiring you to add any meat.

On that note, I'd like to point out that these are vegetarian noodle bowls that can easily become vegan noodle bowls.

All of the sauce ingredients are vegan, and you can easily replace the fried eggs with tofu, beans, fried vegan cheese, or with nothing at all.

Or, take a cue from Chicken Lo Mein and toss in some cooked chicken. Or beef or pork. These are your noodle bowls. Do as you like.

How to make these Asian Noodle Bowls:

Step #1. Marinate the mushrooms.

Clean and slice some mushrooms, and then toss them in some Kalbi BBQ sauce and let them sit for at least an hour (and up to 8 hours) so they have some time to absorb all that savory goodness.

I've used cremini mushrooms here, but you can use whatever variety of mushrooms you like. Also, if you're planning on toping your noodles with tofu instead of fried eggs, you might want to toss that in the marinade as well.

Step #2. Sauté the veggies.

Cook all the veggies, including the marinated mushrooms, in a skillet set over high heat just until they are crisp tender.

This is an important point: you do not want to cook the veggies until they are mushy. Stir frequently so they cook more evenly and then give one a taste every minute or two. When they taste tender, but still have a bit of crunch, they're don.

Dump them all out into a bowl, toss them with rice vinegar, and let them soak while you prepare the rest of the dish. The vinegar brightens the flavor of the vegetables and gives them a very slight "pickled" taste that is SO GOOD with the creamy kimchi sauce.

As I mentioned earlier, feel free to use whatever vegetables you like in this dish. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, summer squash, eggplant... it's all good.

#3. Make the Creamy Kimchi Sauce.

This is the easiest sauce on the planet to make. Here's what you do....

1. Dump some minced garlic, fresh ginger, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, maple syrup, toasted sesame oil, and kimchi mayo to a bowl
2. Stir

Seriously. That's it. You're done.

#4. Cook the noodles.

I generally like to use either homemade spaghetti noodles or dried Bucatini noodles to make this dish. If you've had fresh pasta, I feel I don't need to offer an explanation about why they are so delicious in this recipe. Homemade pasta makes every kind of noodle dish better, end of story.

In these noodle bowls, if I'm making fresh pasta, I like to cut them into spaghetti strands that are quite thick.

If I'm not making homemade pasta, I usually reach for Bucatini noodles because the thick, straw-like noodles are great at sucking up all that delicious creamy kimchi sauce.

Other great noodle options are: lo-mein, soba noodles, and udon noodles.

Essentially, you want thick-cut noodles that will absorb as much of the delicious sauce as possible.

Regardless of what noodles you use, it's super duper important to add enough salt to the water. If you want to season the noodles (and you do want to), you must add enough salt to the water so that the water tastes salty.

If you can't taste the salt in the water, there is no possible way the noodles will be able to absorb enough salt to be properly seasoned.

A general rule of thumb is to add 2 tablespoons of salt to 4 quarts of water. But, really, you should just taste the water. If the water tastes salty, like sea water, you're good to go. If it doesn't, add more salt until it does.

#5. Toss it the noodles and veggies with the creamy kimchi sauce

Cook the noodles until they are slightly underdone. Then drain them, put them back in the saucepan you were just using to cook them, and pour in the creamy kimchi sauce.

Drain the veggies and dump them in there too.

Set the pan over medium heat and cook and stir just long enough to heat everything through. Remove the pan from the heat, cover it, and set it aside while you fry up some eggs.

#5. Fry the eggs and assemble the noodle bowls.

Add some butter to a saucepan, set it over medium high heat, and fry some eggs just long enough to set the whites but keep the yolks nice and runny.

While the eggs are frying, fill bowls with noodles. Top them each with a fried egg, then sprinkle on some diced scallions and sesame seeds.

Dinner is served.

More Asian Inspired Recipes

Asian Short Ribs are melt-in-your-mouth tender, super easy to prepare, and can be cooked in an Instant Pot, Slow Cooker, or in the oven. If you have leftover short rib meat, transform the leftovers into pasta with short ribs, asparagus, and mushrooms, Asian short rib lasagna, or beef fried rice.

Beef Yakisoba is a delicious one-skillet Japanese stir-fried noodle dish packed with beef, cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, onions, and scallions and smothered in Yakisoba sauce. The dish is savory and sweet and a total crowd-pleaser.

Speaking of noodles, Mushroom & Noodle Stir Fry with Strawberries might sound strange but trust me here. You're not going to believe how delicious it is. In this recipe, caramelized crimini mushrooms are tossed together with gluten free soba noodles, plenty of fresh herbs, sliced strawberries, some shredded chicken or crispy tofu, and coated with a sweet, sour, and slightly spicy sauce. The combination of all that sweet, salty, savory, and spicy is kinda magical.

And for a super quick lunch or dinner, these Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps use rotisserie chicken, or any kind of leftover chicken, to create a quick, intensely satisfying meal that will be on the table in about 15 minutes. 🙌

Where Can You Find Kimchi Mayo and Kalbi BBQ Sauce?

Kimchi Mayo and Kalbi BBQ Sauce are in many major grocery stores, or order them from Amazon.