Japan • Regional Dish • Main Course
Yakisoba
Yakisoba is one of Japan’s great quick comfort foods. Saucy, smoky, a little messy, and exactly the kind of thing that disappears fast. This version keeps the familiar street-food flavor and classic ingredients, but simplifies the process for a normal home kitchen.
Instructions
- Stir together the Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Loosen the yakisoba noodles. If they are tightly packed, warm them briefly according to the package directions or separate them gently with your hands.
- Heat a large frying pan, wok, or griddle over medium-high heat and add the oil.
- Add the pork and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned.
- Add the onion and carrot and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cabbage and cook for 1 minute more, until just starting to soften but still a little crisp.
- Add the noodles to the pan. Pour in the sauce and toss everything together for 1 to 2 minutes, until the noodles are glossy, hot, and evenly coated.
- Add the spring onions and toss briefly.
- Divide among plates and top with aonori and beni shoga. Serve hot.
Cultural Context
Yakisoba is a classic Japanese stir-fried noodle dish seasoned with a sweet-savory sauce and usually cooked with meat or seafood, along with vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and onions. It is widely associated with casual home cooking, food stalls, festivals, and griddle-style street food in Japan.
Despite the name, yakisoba does not usually use buckwheat soba noodles. Standard versions use steamed Chinese-style wheat noodles called mushi chukamen, which are reheated quickly in the pan and hold up well to the sauce.
Fun Fact
Food historians cited by the reference source trace yakisoba to Tokyo’s Asakusa area in the Taisho era, where it developed as a noodle-based cousin to okonomiyaki.
Notes
Yakisoba in Japan is usually made with mushi chukamen, a steamed Chinese-style wheat noodle, not buckwheat soba. That naming trick has confused many innocent people.
Thinly sliced pork belly is a very common choice in Japan, while cabbage, onion, and carrot are classic vegetables for the dish.
A home-style yakisoba sauce often combines Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and a little sugar for that sweet-savory street-food flavor.
Use a large pan or griddle and cook the vegetables in stages so they keep some bite instead of collapsing into noodle wallpaper.
Trivia
The word yaki means grilled or stir-fried, which is why it shows up in the names of many Japanese pan-cooked dishes.
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