This authentic yakisoba is a Japanese street food classic! Firm noodles with thinly sliced pork and vegetables stir fried in a tangy homemade sauce. This dish tastes great and it only takes 15 minutes to make, so what are you waiting for?
Yakisoba
What is Yakisoba?
What do you think of when you hear the word "soba"?
Most people might think of Japanese soba noodles, but with yakisoba (焼きそば), you don't use soba noodles at all! Instead, you use Chinese wheat noodles called "Mushi Chukamen". These are the same noodles that are used for ramen.
The noodles are stir fried with pork, vegetables and a tangy "yakisoba sauce", which I'm also going to show you how to make from scratch!
Yakisoba Ingredients
Other than the pickled ginger and bonito flakes (which are optional) you can make this authentic Japanese dish with simple ingredients that you probably already have in your kitchen!
Here are the most common ingredients used to make yakisoba:
- Pork
- Cabbage
- Carrot
- Onion
- Beansprouts
The History of Yakisoba
As some of you may know, Yakisoba is a classic Japanese street food.
It's been said that yakisoba was served during the 30's in Tokyo, so it has a pretty long history.
Because it's easy to make it outside, yakisoba is often served at outdoor occasions such as festivals, sports day, fireworks festivals, cherry blossom festivals as well as being made at home and at casual diners.
Traditionally, yakisoba is cooked with Worcestershire sauce based sauce (ソース焼きそば) but these days simply cooking with salt and pepper (塩焼きそば or Shio-yakisoba) is popular too.
Japanese people love instant yakisoba as occasional quick naughty meal too.
Not only that, but different regions have started their own spin-offs of yakisoba and even compete nationwide as a B-class gourmet (B級グルメ). B-class gourmet are down to earth dishes that use inexpensive ingredients but taste absolutely delicious!
FAQ
In a sense, yes because the noodle they both use are more or less the same but I wouldn't categorise yakisoba as ramen because yakisoba is not served in a broth. It's more of a stir-fry dish.
This is a typical dish that people would eat for lunch in Japan or a festival/event.
In Japan, most people eat Yakisoba with chopsticks. Sometimes it's served in hotdog buns as well (Yakisoba pan)
Yakisoba uses Chinese style wheat noodles, whereas yakiudon uses thick and chewy udon noodles. They also typically use different kinds of sauce. Check out our garlic and butter soy sauce yakiudon here!
Check out our video for How to Make Japanese Yakisoba ｗith Easy Homemade Sauce
I hope you enjoy making and eating this tasty authentic Japanese Yakisoba from scratch, here's the recipe!
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Authentic Japanese Yakisoba Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 2-3 servings 1x
Description
Make classic Japanese street food from scratch in your own kitchen. This yakisoba is made with Chinese wheat noodles, pork belly and stir fried vegetables cooked in a delicious homemade yakisoba sauce. Perfect for a quick lunch.
Ingredients
Yakisoba Sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp Soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Ketchup
- ½ tbsp Sake (or white wine)
- ½ tsp Sugar
- 1 pinch Black pepper
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
Yakisoba
- 120g (¼lb) Pork Belly thinly sliced (see note)
- ¼ (30g) White onion sliced
- 3 leaves (⅓ cup) White cabbage roughly chopped
- 100g (1 cup) Beansprouts
- ½ (30g) Medium carrot peeled and roughly chopped
- 200g (7oz) Fresh Chinese style wheat noodles (if using dry noodles 100g/4oz - boil them first)
- 1 tbsp Oil (vegetable or sunflower)
- Pickled ginger (optional)
- Bonito flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Start by making the sauce, mix 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp ketchup, ½ tbsp sake, ½ tsp sugar, a pinch of black pepper and 1 tsp of sesame oil in a small bowl until well incorporated. Set aside for later.
- If you are using fresh noodles then rinse them with cold water. If you are using dried noodles, cook them for a few minutes less than the instructed time and pour into a cullender, rinse with cold water.
- Heat the wok or frying pan on a medium high setting and add 1 tbsp of oil (vegetable or sunflower).
- Add the noodles to the wok and cook until the underneath is brown but not burnt.
- Flip the noodles and brown on the other side too.
- Once done, put the noodles into a bowl and set aside.
- Next, add the thinly sliced pork belly into the same wok. (Add more oil if it's dried out)
- Cook through until lightly brown.
- Add the cabbage, onion and carrot into the wok together with the pork belly.
- Once the vegetables are slightly softened, put the noodles back in.
- Add the sauce and use cooking chopsticks or tongs to pull apart the noodles. (As they cool, they stick together, the sauce and heat will allow you to separate them again)
- Add the beansprouts and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
- Dish up and garnish with bonito flakes and pickled ginger (optional)
Notes
If the taste is not strong enough, add a little more oyster sauce. ½ tsp at a time and taste test.
If you can't thinly slice the pork belly, unsmoked bacon is a great substitute. Pork is the most traditional choice of meat for this dish, but you can try it out with chicken or for a delicious vegetarian option you could use fried tofu!
- Category: Noodles
- Method: Stir fry
- Cuisine: Japanese
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The https://sudachirecipes.com website is one of the best we have
found, and the Simple Authentic Japanese Yakisoba (焼きそば) article
is very well written and useful!
I want to share with you a link that also helped me a lot in cooking:
https://bit.ly/easy-fat-burning-recipes
Thanks and kisses! 🙂
★★★★★
Thank you! Will check it out!