Yakisoba

Yakisoba is a delicious and light noodle dish, chock full of vegetables and coated in a salty, sweet, and tangy sauce.

 

Yakisoba, or “grilled noodles”  is one of Japan’s most popular street food dishes.  It requires only a few inexpensive ingredients.  You only need a couple of minutes to make it.  And best of all it tastes absolutely amazing!  But you don’t have to go to Japan to enjoy this wonderful dish because today we’re going to show you how to make it right at home.

 

What are the right noodles for yakisoba?

 

Outside of Japan, you will often find dried buckwheat noodles labeled as “soba”.  However, despite the name, those are not what you want to use to make yakisoba.  Instead, you want to use “mushi chukamen” which are pre-cooked, or rather steamed, Chinese style wheat noodles. 

 

I know, it’s a little confusing.

 

Luckily these precooked noodles will often be sold in the refrigerated section with the word “yakisoba” on their packaging.  

So where do you find these yakisoba noodles?

 

Well, your best bet would be any Asian market/grocery store.  That being said I managed to find mine at my local Safeway right where they sell tofu and wonton wrappers.  So just check out some of your local grocery stores, you never know you might get lucky.

 

But what do you do if you can’t find yakisoba noodles?  Are there any alternatives?

 

Unfortunately, there are no perfect substitutes for yakisoba noodles.  However, don’t let that stop you from making this dish.  You can just as easily swap them out with regular old ramen noodles, or even (I know I’m going to get flak for saying this) spaghetti.  As long as they are long wheat noodles they should work.  Is it going to be the same?  No.  But you will still have some tasty noodles.

 

The “secret” ingredient for great yakisoba sauce

 

Soy sauce, mirin, ponzu, are all sauces that one would normally associate with Japanese cooking.  But there is also another incredibly popular sauce that for some reason is often overlooked outside of japan.  I’m talking about “so-su” which in Japanese literally translates as “sauce”.  

 

So what is this beloved so-su?

 

Well, you’d be surprised to know that it is essentially Japanese Worcestershire sauce.  You see, back in the 1880’s some English guy apparently visited Japan (we don’t know exactly who) and introduced them to Worcestershire sauce.  And by 1887 there were numerous companies producing Worcestershire sauce all over Japan.  

 

Who knew?

 

However, it should come as no surprise that over 120 years later the Japanese version of the sauce has changed and is not exactly the same thing.  In general, it’s much thicker and sweeter than Worcestershire and more resembles A-1 or HP sauce.  That being said the flavor profile is similar enough that any of these sauces will give you basically the same taste.  So don’t feel like you need to make a special trip to your local Asian market to pick up Japanese so-su.  But if you do want to keep it as authentic as possible I will provide a link for the most popular brand of so-su “Bulldog” below.

 

 

 

Tips, Tricks & Suggestions

• Today’s yakisoba recipe is entirely vegetarian, but you can easily include any meat of your choosing.  Pork, chicken, beef, seafood, it’s entirely up to you.  Just make sure that you slice the meat thin and cook it prior to cooking the vegetables.
• While yakisoba can be served entirely by itself, try pairing it with our recipes for Teriyaki Chicken, and Sunomono for a nice big meal.

 

 

Yakisoba Recipe

 

Prep time: 10 minutes

 

Cook time: 8 minutes

 

Servings: 4

 

Ingredients

 

17oz. of fresh yakisoba noodles

1 Small onion, sliced thin

1 Medium carrot, peeled and julienned

4 Leaves of cabbage, chopped into bite-sized pieces

4 Shitaki mushrooms, sliced thin

2 Green onions, cut into 1-inch sized pieces

2 Tablespoons of neutral-flavored oil

 

For the yakisoba sauce:

2 Tablespoons of either Worcestershire sauce, A-1 sauce, or HP sauce

2 Tablespoons of oyster sauce

2 Tablespoons of soy sauce

1 Tablespoon of mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)

1 Tablespoons of ketchup

1 Tablespoon of granulated sugar

 

 

Instructions

 

1. Make the yakisoba sauce: Get out a small bowl and add the yakisoba sauce ingredients to it.  Then use a fork and mix it all together.  Set this aside.

 

2. Loosen the noodles: Place the precooked noodles into a sieve and run some hot water over them for 30 seconds.  Then loosen the noodles with your hands and set them aside.

 

3. Sautee the vegetables: Get out either a large skillet or a wok and pour the 2 tablespoons of oil into it.  Place this over high heat, toss in the onion and carrot, and saute these vegetables for 2 to 3 minutes.  Then toss in the cabbage and mushrooms and continue to saute for another minute or two.  Finally, add the green onion and saute for one additional minute.

 

4. Finish the dish: Place the noodles into the skillet/wok and toss it with the vegetables.  Then pour in the yakisoba sauce and saute everything for another minute or two.

 

5. Plate the finished yakisoba and enjoy!