• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Sudachi Recipes
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Contact
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Contact
  • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Home
    • Recipes
    • Contact
    • About
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Mains

    Buta no Yasai Itame (Japanese vegetable stir fry with pork)

    Published: Mar 23, 2022 · Modified: May 10, 2022 by Yuto Omura

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe
    Share this recipe!
    Share on Facebook
    Facebook
    Pin on Pinterest
    Pinterest
    Share on Reddit
    Reddit
    Tweet about this on Twitter
    Twitter
    Share on Yummly
    Yummly

    Buta no yasai itame is a delicious and fragrant stir fry dish made with thinly sliced pork and a variety of vegetables served in an umami-rich sauce. It's quick, nutritious and delicious!

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon affiliate links. Sudachi Recipes earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. See disclaimer for more info.

    What is yasai itame?

    Buta no yasai itame is a simple stir fry dish made with pork and vegetables. The name of the dish can be translated directly from Japanese: buta (豚) means pork, yasai (野菜) means vegetables and itame (炒め) means stir fry.

    The vegetables are actually the main ingredient in this dish and because of this, it's more commonly known as "yasai itame" or "vegetable stir fry". However, this can be a little misleading as the dish nearly always contains pork.

    The point to make here is that the pork is not the star ingredient and you could easily substitute it for something else or omit completely.

    Yasai itame is usually served with rice and pickles.

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Brief history of yasai itame

    Stir fry as a cooking method became common practice in households in Japan from the 1950s and 1960s onwards, especially during the period of high economic growth.

    The main reasons for its popularity are believed to be the reduction of cooking oil price, the effect of satisfying children's big appetites at low cost by adding more vegetables to less meat, and the fact that it is simple to prepare and can be easily adapted in various ways.

    Since then, yasai itame is definitely one of the most widely cooked home recipes in Japan.

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Inspired by Chinese cuisine

    As with many dishes in Japan, yasai itame is originally a Chinese inspired dish.

    Here are a few features that make Japanese yasai itame a bit different:

    • Often use green cabbage instead of Chinese cabbage (Napa cabbage)
    • The whole process is simplified (e.g. using chicken stock powder rather than making from scratch)
    • A small amount of meat (mainly vegetables)

    So basically whole process is simplified and uses different ingredients.

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Ingredients to use for yasai itame

    As with many stir fry dishes, there's no real rule when it comes to the ingredients. You can add and omit whatever you like.

    Here are the ingredients I like to use in my recipe:

    • Shimeji mushrooms
    • Carrot
    • Onion
    • Green cabbage
    • Beansprouts
    • Chinese chives
    • Piman (small Japanese bell pepper)
    • Ginger
    • Pork belly

    It's packed with different vegetables right? Other than these above, here are some other common ingredients:

    • Pak choi
    • Chinese cabbage
    • Shiitake mushrooms
    • Wood ear mushrooms
    • Bacon

    There are no rules so feel free to use any stir fry vegetables that are easily accessible to you!

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Tips and tricks to make delicious yasai itame at home

    Stir fries are one of the most commonly made dishes in the world and everyone has their own way to cook them.

    One problem many people face is the dish becoming too watery. Let's avoid that problem by following some of these tips and tricks!

    The size of vegetables

    If all your vegetables are cut in all different shapes and sizes, some might quickly become overcooked while others remain raw.

    It's important to cut the hard vegetables small and the softer vegetables bigger so that they cook in a similar time. This way you can avoid burnt or watery/soggy vegetables in your stir fry!

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Timing

    It's good to add things like carrots and onions to the pan first because they require a bit more cooking time. I also add mushrooms quite early on so that they release more umami to the dish.

    Things like cabbage and beansprouts only need a short cooking time otherwise they become watery, so I tend to add them last. Timing is important!

    Don't overcrowd the wok

    Yasai itame is a quick and easy dish that uses a variety of vegetables, but if you just throw everything in the wok at once without any thought, the ingredients will release water and start to steam, creating a soggy stir fry.

    This ties in with timing, but frying the vegetables at different times is the best way to avoid this. It's also a good idea to fry the watery ingredients (like cabbage) on a high heat so that they cook faster and have less time to release too much water.

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Pre boil or pre fry the vegetables

    The reason why yasai itame at restaurants taste so good and look so beautiful is because of the fact that they quickly pass the vegetables through hot oil. To put it simply, raw vegetables are flash fried.

    Of course we don't want to do that at home because it uses a lot of oil (and makes it more unhealthy), but if you want to create restaurant style yasai itame, you can pre-boil your vegetables with a bit of salt and oil.

    You can easily substitute oil + salt by pre-boiling in hot water. Pre-boiling cooks the vegetables at once and removes excess water from the food, which has similar effect as deep frying.

    This is simply a tip I wanted to share with you, but to be honest I personally don't use this method for home cooking unless I'm cooking for guests.

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Slowly cooking medium / medium low heat

    When it comes to yasai itame, we tend to think of frying quickly with high heat.

    However, stir-frying vegetables with high heat at once at home can break down the vegetables' cells and draw out their water content, especially in regular frying pans.

    Fry over medium to medium low heat is the safe option at home.

    Seasoning at the end

    When salty content is added too early, the osmotic pressure caused by the salt can make the vegetables watery.

    So it's best to add salty condiments towards the end!

    Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    I hope you found these tips useful, enjoy making delicious buta yasai itame at home!

    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    Buta yasai itame featured img

    Buta Yasai Itame (Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry)


    • Author: Yuto Omura
    • Total Time: 30 minutes
    • Yield: 2 portions 1x
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    How to make fragrant and delicious Japanese stir fry dish "Buta Yasai Itame" (pork and vegetable stir fry). Serves 2.


    Ingredients

    Scale
    • Drizzle of oil
    • 100g pork belly thinly sliced
    • 1 pinch salt & black pepper
    • 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
    • 15g ginger fresh julienned
    • 50g carrot peeled & julienned 
    • 50g white onion thinly sliced
    • 50g shimeji mushrom whole (or any sliced mushroom of  your choice)
    • 100g cabbage roughly chopped
    • 50g bell pepper thinly sliced
    • 100g beansprouts

    Sauce

    • 100ml Chinese chicken soup stock (1 tsp mixed with 100ml warm water)
    • 2 tsp oyster sauce
    • 1 tsp soy sauce
    • ½ tsp salt
    • 2 tsp sugar
    • 30g Chinese chives cut to 5cm in length
    • 1 tbsp water and 1 tbsp of potato starch to make a slurry

    Garnish (optional)

    • Sesame oil 
    • Sesame seeds 
    • Chili threads 

    Instructions

    1. Heat a wok on medium and add a drizzle of oil. Once hot, add the pork and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the garlic and fry together until pork is sealed.
      frying pork and garlic in a wok
    2. Once the pork is sealed, add the ginger, carrot, onion and mushroom and stir fry for a few minutes or until softened slightly.
      stir frying onions, mushrooms, carrots and ginger
    3. Next add the cabbage and bell pepper, stir fry for a minute or so.
      adding cabbage and bell peppers to wok
    4. Add the beansprouts and stir fry for another minute.
      adding beansprouts to buta no yasai itame
    5. Pour in 100ml of chicken stock soup along with 2 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp soy sauce, ½ tsp salt and 2 tsp sugar.
      pouring Chinese chicken soup stock into wok to make sauce for buta no yasai itame
    6. Add the Chinese chives and mix.
      adding chives to buta no yasai itame
    7. Make the slurry and pour it into the sauce.
      pouring slurry into buta no yasai itame
    8. Once the sauce is thickened, remove from the heat and dish up.
      thickening the sauce for buta no yasai itame
    9. Drizzle with sesame oil for finishing touch and garnish with sesame seeds or chili threads. (Optional.)
      garnishing buta no yasai itame with chili threads
    10. Enjoy with rice!
      Japanese pork and vegetable stir fry (Buta Yasai Itame)

    Notes

    Pork can be substituted for meat of your choice.

    To make this dish vegetarian, you'll need to substitute chicken stock, oyster sauce and omit the meat.

    • Prep Time: 20 minutes
    • Cook Time: 10 minutes
    • Category: Vegetables / Meat
    • Method: Stir fry
    • Cuisine: Japanese

    Keywords: yasai itame, yasai itame recipe, how to make yasai itame, buta yasai itame, pork and vegetable stir fry, vegetable stir fry, Japanese vegetable stir fry, how to make Japanese vegetable stir fry, Japanese vegetable stir fry recipe, pork yasai itame, Japanese stir fry recipe, Japanese vegetable stir fry recipe, stir fry veggies, stir fry vegetables, Japanese vegetables, asian stir fry, Japanese stir fry,

    Did you try this recipe?

    Comment below or show us on Instagram!

    @sudachi.recipes     #sudachirecipes

    Share this recipe!
    Share on Facebook
    Facebook
    Pin on Pinterest
    Pinterest
    Share on Reddit
    Reddit
    Tweet about this on Twitter
    Twitter
    Share on Yummly
    Yummly
    « Easy Beef Sukiyaki Nabe Udon
    Gotcha Pork Roast (Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma recreation recipe) »

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    Primary Sidebar

    Konnichiwa!

    Thanks for visiting Sudachi Recipes. My name is Yuto and I'm a Japanese guy with a passion for food. Here I share tasty and accessible recipes so that you can bring a taste of Japan to your own kitchen.

    More about me →

    Follow Us


    Search by Category

    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Meat
    • Fish and Seafood
    • Vegetable
    • Sweets
    see all categories

    New Recipes

    • 3 Ways to Make Japanese Sweet Potato Tempura (さつまいもの天ぷら)
    • Japanese natto 101: What is it? How to eat and 26 secret toppings explained
    • Saba no shioyaki (Japanese style grilled mackerel)
    • Kashiwa Mochi (柏餅)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    Sudachi Recipes

    • About Us
    • Recipes
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Coming soon

    Social Media

    • Contact Us
    • Youtube Channel
    • Instagram
    • Tiktok
    • Facebook

    Copyright © 2021 Sudachi Recipes