Yakisoba
Yakisoba is a plate of stir-fried wheat noodles tossed with pork, cabbage, carrot, and onion in a thick, tangy, Worcestershire-based sauce, a staple of festival food stalls and casual diners across Japan. Despite its name, which combines yaki, meaning fried, with soba, the word for noodle, yakisoba is made with Chinese-style wheat noodles rather than the buckwheat soba eaten cold or in broth. The dish developed in the early twentieth century, adapting Chinese stir-fried noodle dishes to ingredients and seasonings already familiar in Japan. Yakisoba became especially associated with matsuri, the seasonal festivals held throughout the year, where vendors fry huge batches on flat iron griddles and serve it in paper trays to crowds strolling between stalls. The finishing touches, tangy pickled red ginger, a dusting of dried green seaweed, and shavings of bonito, are as essential to the dish as the noodles themselves, adding color, acidity, and a final savory note. Regional variations abound, from thicker, sweeter sauces in some areas to versions that swap pork for seafood, but the basic formula of noodles, vegetables, and a dark, tangy glaze remains constant.
Noodles fried on a hot griddle
Wheat noodles are stir-fried directly in the pan with pork and vegetables, picking up a little char along the way.
A thick, tangy sauce
A Worcestershire-based sauce coats every strand, turning the noodles a deep, glossy brown as it cooks in.
Pickled red ginger on top
A tangle of sharp, pickled red ginger cuts through the richness and adds a burst of color to the finished plate.
A festival food staple
Yakisoba is a fixture of Japanese summer festivals, fried in huge batches on griddles and served in paper trays.
Ingredients 4 servings
- 400g fresh yakisoba noodles
- 200g thinly sliced pork belly
- 1/4 head cabbage, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 5 tbsp yakisoba sauce (or a mix of Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, and ketchup)
- Pickled red ginger (beni shoga), for garnish
- Aonori (dried green seaweed flakes) and katsuobushi (bonito flakes), for garnish
How to make it
- 1Loosen the yakisoba noodles by hand or briefly rinse them under warm water so they separate easily in the pan.
- 2Heat the oil in a large flat pan or wok and stir-fry the pork belly over high heat until it browns and releases some fat.
- 3Add the onion and carrot and stir-fry for a minute, then toss in the cabbage and cook until it just begins to wilt.
- 4Push the vegetables to one side, add the noodles to the pan, and let them sit briefly so they pick up a little char.
- 5Break up the noodles with chopsticks or tongs and toss everything together so the pork and vegetables mix evenly through the strands.
- 6Pour the yakisoba sauce over the noodles and stir-fry briskly, coating every strand until the noodles turn a deep brown.
- 7Pile the noodles onto plates, then top with pickled red ginger and a scattering of aonori and bonito flakes before serving.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
