Yakisoba – Japanese Stir Fried Noodles

Stir fried to perfection in just one pan, Yakisoba noodles are the easiest Japanese street food to make. Ready in 25 minutes and loaded with pork and veggies smothered in a homemade yakisoba sauce for the most authentic flavour.

Why We Love This

Dinner that’s on the table in less than 30 minutes is a winner for us. We love being able to mix and match different vegetables and protein, to give each rendition a unique twist.

Yakisoba is the perfect one pot batch recipe. Cook it for dinner and you’ll have plenty left over for packed lunches the next day, or freeze ahead for when you need it most.

What is Yakisoba? 

Yakisoba is usually made with long, thin noodles known as mushi chukamen (蒸し中華麺). The noodles are stir fried with sliced onion, carrot, cabbage, bean sprouts, and a slathering of yakisoba sauce. It’s a popular street food snack in Japan. You’ll often come across it sizzling away on piping hot teppans (Japanese hot plates) at street festivals or dished up at baseball stadiums and restaurants.

While this dish looks somewhat similar to Chinese Chow Mein or Lo Mein, the difference lies in the seasonings used.  Chinese versions often call for lots of soy sauce, but this Japanese recipe features a thick, sweet and salty sauce that draws on flavours of Worcestershire sauce and oyster sauce, which can easily be made at home.

Where We Learnt This Recipe

Sarah first learnt this while living in Japan back in 2010, and it’s been a staple in our household ever since. At home, we tend to cook both the traditional pork, onion and carrot combo, but will often also make it with chicken, capsicum and broccoli too.

In Japan, we’ll always order a serve of yakisoba alongside a couple of okonomiyaki. It’s quite popular in Japan to have both together when you go to an okonomiyaki restaurant. There’s even a Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki than can have yakisoba noodles or even udon noodles in it!

What You’ll Need

A few key ingredients are needed to make this dish SHINE, as well as tasty pork and vegetables.

• Yakisoba noodles – Known as mushi chakumen, these are wheat based noodles. They’re pre-steamed then packaged, so you can put them straight in the pan without needing to cook them.
• Yakisoba sauce – Similar to a slightly sweet and sour BBQ-like sauce. You can either buy the sauce from most supermarkets these days, get it online or simply make it at home. We’ll usually make our own sauce, or if we’re buying it, we love Otafuku brand.
• Pork – Thin slices of pork work best here. If you can find hot pot style thinly sliced pork, like in Shabu Shabu, this is best. Otherwise, we’ll buy pork loin and semi-freeze it then slice it ourselves as thin as possible.

How to Make Yakisoba Noodles Similar to Mushi Chukamen with Ramen Noodles or Spaghetti at Home:

If you can’t find yakisoba noodles at your local grocery store or Asian supermarket, never fear! Here’s two ways to make similar style noodles at home with ramen noodles and plain old spaghetti!

Yakisoba with Ramen Noodles

The main difference between ramen and yakisoba noodles, is the ramen noodles are packaged raw and the yakisoba noodles (mushi chukamen) are steamed first then packaged. To achieve a similar result, you’ll need to steam the ramen.

1. Bring a steamer to the boil, and add in the raw ramen noodles. Arrange them in a wreath / doughnut shape with a hole in the middle to let extra steam get up and around the pot.
2. Place the lid on the steamer, and steam for twice as long (2x) than specified on the packet for boiling time.
3. Once steamed, you can either:
   Steam Only: Throw the noodles straight into the yakisoba pan and continue as per the recipe. OR
   Steam & Boil: Pour the noodles into the steamer water and boil for an extra 3-5 minutes. Then strain, run under cold water then add to your yakisoba pan and continue as per the recipe.
4. If you’re not cooking with the noodles straight away, add 1-2 teaspoons of vegetable oil to keep and toss together to prevent them from sticking, then store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within 1-2 days.

You should also be able to do this with thin yellow Chinese noodles for lo mein or similar.

Yakisoba with Spaghetti

Using spaghetti for yakisoba is a little left of field, but if you need your noodle fix, this is a great way to get around it.

1. Boil 400 g / 14 oz of spaghetti in a large pot with around 4 litres of water.
2. Add 1/4 cup of baking soda, and cook for the time specified on the packet.
3. Strain and run under cold water in a colander, then add directly into yakisoba as per the recipe.

How to make Japanese Stir Fried Noodles:

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1. First up, heat that oil in a large wok or frying pan. We’re adding a little vegetable oil and a dash of sesame oil for extra flavour. Next, throw in the onions and stir fry for a few minutes until your mouth starts watering, then add the carrots and cabbage and give it a good stir. The thinly sliced pork comes next – stir fry until golden brown and full of deliciousness.
2. Now throw in those fresh yakisoba noodles and stir fry for a few minutes, using your spatula to toss and separate the strands. Once noodles they start to turn a little crispy, add half the yakisoba sauce and stir quickly to cover everything in flavour awesome-sauce.
3. Add remaining sauce and continue to stir fry until all ingredients are cooked and you can resist no longer.

Wandercook’s Tips

• Leftover vegetables – Sliced red capsicum/bell pepper or zucchini pair nicely with the flavours in yakisoba sauce, as do healthy green veggies like broccoli, snow peas, and bok choy. You could even try adding in baby corn, bean sprouts or water chestnuts for extra texture. 
• Optional toppings – Why not dust your freshly grilled yakisoba noodles with aonori (green nori flakes), katsuobushi (finely sliced bonito flakes) or benishōuga (red pickled ginger).
• Leftover yakisoba – Creating your very own omu-soba (omelette wrapped around yakisoba) or yakisoba-pan (yakisoba in a fresh bread roll).
• Leftover noodles – Make it into tantanmen ramen the next day!

FAQs

Variations & Substitutes

• Chicken Yakisoba – We love using chicken for our yakisoba, with capsicum / red peppers and broccoli!
• Vegetarian – Use tofu as your protein for a vegetarian version. 
• Meal Ideas – Serve with an entree of Quick & Easy Takoyaki and bowl of Miso Soup.
• Yaki Udon – Try swapping out the noodles for homemade Udon Noodles for a different texture.

Easy Japanese favourites to cook up next:

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