Japanese Pan Noodles

We ate at a Noodles & Company in Portland last summer and I fell in love!! Then a few months later, I notice that they are popping up on the east coast... I've now been to one in Charlotte and Raleigh. The Japanese Pan Noodles are my favorite and since I don't live around the corner from one, or have the budget to eat there as often as I'd like, I found a pretty good knock-off recipe. I tried it tonight for the first time, and it was quite yummy, although not exactly it because I couldn't get my noodles to "caramelize" -- I think it's because I don't have a wok! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Ingredients:
- 3 cups hot cooked udon noodles (Japanese wheat noodles)
- 2-3 drops, toasted sesame oil
- 4 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
- 2 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil - divided
- 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
- 2 large cloves minced garlic cloves
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- 1 cup shiitake mushrooms (stems removed), sliced
- 1 cup Asian sprouts
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1/2 cup (2-inch) julienne-cut carrot
- 1 tbsp blk sesame seeds
- 1 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves

Directions:
- Heat 2 tbsps vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
- To the wok, add the carrots and then broccoli. Stir fry 2-3 minutes and then remove.
- Add 1 additional tbsp vegetable oil, then saute the ginger & garlic.
- After a minute or so, add the well drained noodles and let caramelize.
- Add the red chili flakes, sesame oil, teriyaki sauce, rice wine vinegar and all of the other ingredients and toss to coat well.
- Serve hot.

Tips from a Kitchen of Reality:
- Good luck getting the noodles to caramelize. If you figure it out, let me know.
- A lot of the ingredients (oils/sauces) are not things you normally have, but now that I've bought them, my cost for making this recipe again-- which I will- is going to be much lower.
- I found all the non-typical ingredients in the international section at Ingles but I'm sure Harris Teeter carries them all too. I just know that Ingles is typically cheaper and has a great selection.
- I used canned stir fry mushrooms. Much cheaper than shiitake.
- I hate cilantro, so I left that out completely.
- My biggest disappointment was not being able to find udon noodles other than the dried version. They just don't plump up like the ones at Noodles & Company-- the dried ones are more like linguine. But next time I'm in the big city, I'll be sure to hit up an international food store to see what I can find.