The simplest Japanese street food to prepare is yakisoba noodles, which can be stir-fried to perfection in just one pan. Pork and vegetables are smothered in a homemade yakisoba sauce for the most authentic flavor, and it’s ready in just 25 minutes.
We consider it a success when dinner is ready in less than 30 minutes. We enjoy being able to combine various vegetables and proteins to give each version a different twist.
Yakisoba is the perfect one pot batch recipe. You can prepare it for dinner and have plenty of leftovers for the next day’s packed lunches, or you can freeze it in advance for when you’ll need it most.
Mushi Chukamen, the long, thin noodles used to make yakisoba, are the most common type. With thinly sliced onion, carrot, cabbage, bean sprouts, and yakisoba sauce, the noodles are stir-fried. It’s a popular street food snack in Japan. It’s frequently served in restaurants and baseball stadiums as well as sizzling away on flaming hot teppans (Japanese hot plates) at street festivals.
Although this dish resembles Chinese Chow Mein or Lo Mein in appearance, the seasonings used are different. Chinese versions frequently use a lot of soy sauce, but this Japanese recipe uses an easy-to-make oyster sauce and Worcestershire sauce that is thick, sweet, and salty and has similar flavors.
Sarah first discovered this while studying abroad in Japan in 2010, and our family has used it regularly ever since. At home, we frequently prepare the classic pork, onion, and carrot dish as well as chicken, capsicum, and broccoli.
When we visit Japan, we always order a serving of yakisoba and a few okonomiyaki. In Japan, it’s quite common to order both when you visit an okonomiyaki restaurant. There is even an okonomiyaki made in the Hiroshima style that can include udon or yakisoba noodles!
This dish requires a few essential components, as well as delectable pork and vegetables, to shine.
How to Make Yakisoba Noodles Similar to Mushi Chukamen with Ramen Noodles or Spaghetti at Home:
Here are two recipes for making yakisoba-style noodles at home using ramen noodles and regular spaghetti if you can’t find them at your neighborhood grocery store or Asian supermarket.
The main distinction between yakisoba noodles and ramen noodles is that the latter are packaged raw, whereas the former are first steamed before being packaged as yakisoba noodles (mushi chukamen). You must steam the ramen to get a similar result.
This should work with thin yellow Chinese noodles for dishes like lo mein.
It may seem out of the ordinary to use spaghetti for yakisoba, but if you’re in need of some noodles, this is a great workaround.
Jagaimo-iri Yakisoba [yakisoba with potatoes] (Tochigi Prefecture)
This yakisoba is made in Tochigi City, Tochigi Prefecture. Chinese noodles are stir-fried with bite-sized potatoes. Adding “jagaimo” was allegedly done in order to increase volume during a time of food shortages during World War II. The square thin noodles and spicy sauce go well together.
Horu soba, a popular dish in Tottori Prefecture’s east for more than 50 years, is yakisoba with beef entrails. Although all restaurants serve “horumon (hormone) yakisoba,” they all prefer different sauces, entrails, noodles, and other ingredients. Entrails include crunchy internal organs like the heart, rumen, and honeycomb tripe as well as chewy internal organs like the small and large intestines. The sauce has a strong miso flavor and can be served in a variety of ways, including mixed with noodles or as a dipping sauce. The noodles that each restaurant offers vary in thickness and hardness, making each restaurant’s version distinct.
This yakisoba is made in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture. The two steaming and grilling processes used to prepare Utsunomiya yakisoba are what set it apart from other varieties. To give the noodles a chewy texture, thick, steam-cooked noodles are first grilled on an iron pan. Since this type of yakisoba has a 50-year history, additional special sauce can be added as desired to the cooked noodles.
Yakisoba noodles can be substituted with ramen because they are the most similar. Use fresh ramen if you can, or even fresh chow mein; if not, instant or dried ramen noodles are very simple to find at your neighborhood grocery store.
My favorite Japanese noodle dish is probably yakisoba, which I almost always order when I visit a Japanese restaurant. But it’s a really easy dish to prepare, requiring only a few vegetables, your preferred protein, and a sauce that only needs 5 ingredients. So stop ordering takeout because you can now prepare this well-known dish in the comfort of your own home.
This dish always includes cabbage and mushrooms, but the great thing is that you can add any type of protein you like. Chicken, beef, pork, pork belly, seafood, whatever you like. Yakisoba is not only simple to prepare but also quite a versatile dish because you can customize it by adding almost any ingredients you like. While you can purchase and use yakisoba sauce from a store, I’ll show you how to make it at home with just a few simple ingredients.
Yakisoba noodles are made of wheat flour, kansui, and water. Although the noodles are a yellowish color, they are not egg noodles.
Yakisoba noodles that have already been cooked can be frozen for 1-2 months in a freezer bag or airtight container.
FAQ
What’s the difference between ramen noodles and yakisoba noodles?
Yakisoba is a pan-fried noodle dish. And ramen is a noodle dish with soup. They have the same kind of noodles. These noodles are made of wheat flour, water, and kansui.
Are yakisoba noodles healthy?
Yakisoba is not healthy despite being delicious because its macronutrient ratio is out of balance. Yakisoba contains 200 grams, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 6 14 grams of protein and 8 grams of fat indicate that the majority of the calories will come from carbohydrates and fats.
What is the difference between Chinese noodles and yakisoba noodles?
Chow mein uses a variety of meats and vegetables, but yakisoba favors pork and frequently includes cabbage, carrots, onions, bean sprouts, and green peppers.
Are yakisoba noodles made from rice?
Unlike yakisoba noodles, these are made from wheat flour, vegetable oil, and a small amount of salt. The term “yakisoba” actually refers to the recipe for barbecued Japanese noodles, which is how this particular kind of noodle is most frequently prepared.
