Healthy Kimchi Carbonara Udon Recipe Without Cream

This umami kimchi udon carbonara was such a delicious easy weekday lunch, easy to whip up in between meetings while working from home. The salty, delicious Kimchi flavor paired with the creamy texture of an egg coated on the chewy udon noodles makes a truly mouthwatering recipe.

🍏 How to Make It Healthy – The Fitsian Method

People are also generally surprised by the low calorie content of the Kimchi Udon Carbonara - but it's actually really easy to adjust the typical recipe to make this meal fit your calorie budget. Here are some of the key adjustments I made:

• I use only half a pack of udon so only about 150 calories come from the noodles
• Bulk up the meal with higher protein ingredients. In this recipe, we use an egg. If you're looking to up your protein even more, chicken would be a great lean meat
• Omitted usage of cream and/or dairy here to keep calories lower, since the egg gives the dish a creamy consistency already

For a detailed breakdown of each ingredients, their portioning, and how they make up the nutrition profile of this kimchi udon carbonara recipe, you may refer to the table below:

💡Tips and Tricks

How can I make a poached egg?

This recipe calls for a sous vide poached egg, which is my favorite way of making one given how foolproof it is. However, not everyone has a sous vide -- and that's okay because there are other ways of making this work. For those of you who have a sous vide, this article on how to make the Perfect Sous Vide Eggs will guide you in the right direction. And for those of you don't who don't have a sous vide, this article will give step by step instructions on How to Poach Eggs Perfectly.

I don't have udon -- what else can I use?

You can use bucatini, or any long spaghetti-like pasta for a similarly delicious meal.

If you liked this recipe, check out the following:

• Healthy Udon Recipes for more low calorie and protein packed udon recipes
• Kimchi Fried Rice Recipe for a classic rice version of this recipe
• Healthy Soondubu Recipe for a delicious Kimchi Soondubu Tofu stew
• 30 Healthy Japanese Recipes for more low calorie and high protein Japanese recipe ideas
• Healthy Korean Recipes for more low calorie and high protein Korean recipes

📋 Ingredient Notes

• ½ pack Udon noodles
• ⅓ cup Kimchi (chopped, plus some kimchi juice)
• 1 tablespoon Gochujang
• 1 tablespoon Onions (Chopped)
• 1 egg (Poached)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 scallion (For garnish)

🔪 Step by Step Instructions

1. Begin to make poached egg. I made mine using the sous vide method, cooking it at 75 Celsius for 13.5 minutes. See this article about sous-vide poached eggs for more info.
2. Spray skillet with cooking spray and sauté garlic, onions, kimchi and gochujang.
3. In a different pot, cook half pack of Udon noodles, drain and set aside.
4. After onions and kimchi begin to soften and caramelize, toss in Udon noodles and stir. Add in the kimchi juice at this time to help boost the flavor and deglaze the pan. If you don't have any kimchi juice, water works as well.
5. Top with poached eggs and scallions and enjoy!