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Preparation
15 minutes
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Cooking
25 minutes
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Difficulty
Easy
Yaki soba noodles are a famous stir-fry dish in Japanese cuisine, this dish is very easy to cook and has a delicious and distinctive flavor that anyone who has eaten it will never forget. Let’s get cooking with TasteVN and make this Japanese noodle dish right away!
Ingredients for Yaki soba Noodles Serves 2
Pre-cooked yakisoba noodles 480 gr (3 packets) Shiitake mushrooms 5 pieces Pork 250 gr Spring onions 4 stalks Cooking oil 2 tablespoons Onion 1 bulb Carrot 1 piece Cabbage 100 gr Japanese pickled ginger 50 gr Worcestershire sauce 4 tablespoons Soy sauce 2 tablespoons Oyster sauce 2 tablespoons Ketchup 1 tablespoon Thick sweet soy sauce 1 teaspoon Sugar 1 teaspoon Cooking oil 2 tablespoons
What is Yaki soba?
- Yaki soba is the name of a Japanese stir-fried noodle dish with sauce, but it is considered a variation of the Chinese stir-fried noodle dish.
- Yakisoba is prepared by frying ramen noodles with diced pork, vegetables (usually cabbage, onion, or carrot), yaki soba sauce along with salt and pepper.
- However, depending on the locality, this noodle dish may have additional ingredients such as: anori (seaweed powder), beni shoga (pickled ginger, finely chopped), katsuobushi (dried fish flakes), and mayonnaise.
- The yaki soba sauce has a characteristic sweet and fragrant flavor, thick and similar to oyster sauce, combined with fried ramen noodles, creating a unique taste that can’t be found anywhere else.
- As a traditional, simple noodle dish from Japan, you can find this noodle in everything from roadside eateries to upscale restaurants, or on street vendors.
How to choose fresh ingredients
How to choose fresh pork
- When buying pork, you should choose pieces that have a fresh pink color, feel firm and elastic to the touch, and the meat should be tight.
- Additionally, fresh pork will have a dry surface, and the fat, skin, and meat will be tightly attached without any unpleasant or fishy smell.
- Avoid buying pork that has unusual colors or shows large bruises, purple spots, or speckled hemorrhages on the skin, as these are signs of pigs that have suffered from typhoid or septicemia.
How to choose fresh and delicious napa cabbage
- When buying napa cabbage, you should choose freshly harvested parts, with uniform size weighing about 1.5 – 2kg per head.
- In addition, you should choose nice bunches of napa cabbage that are elongated, with curly bud tops, tightly packed cabbage structure, and leaves closely adhering to each other.
- Do not choose cabbage stalks with dark green color, as these stalks are old and do not taste sweet or delicious.
- Moreover, large cabbages that feel light when held should also be avoided, as these bunches have a loose internal structure with separate leaves and are of poor quality.
How to choose fresh and delicious carrots
- When buying carrots, you should choose those that are of moderate size, not too large and not too small.
- The carrot skin should be smooth, feel firm and heavy in hand. Preferably, choose carrots with green leaves still attached tightly to the root.
- Limit buying carrots that have strange shapes, with bruised stems and roots, wilting leaves, and dark spots on top.
How to prepare Yaki Soba Noodles
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Prepare the ingredients
Place a pot on the stove, add about 300ml of water, and boil over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until the water in the pot boils, then add the cooked yakisoba noodles.
Cook for 1 minute, then use tongs to gently shake the noodles to separate and fluff them, then set the noodles aside on a large plate to drain.
Soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for about 10 minutes until soft, then remove the mushrooms, cut off the stems, and chop the remaining mushroom flesh into small pieces.
To remove the pork’s smell, rinse the meat briefly, then rub salt evenly around it and rinse again with water, allowing it to drain.
After the pork has drained, use a knife to remove the pork skin, and slice the remaining pork into thin, bite-sized pieces.
Peel the carrot and cut it into strips. For the cabbage, separate the leaves and cut them into small pieces about 1.5 finger lengths long.
Peel the onion, wash it, remove the root, and cut it into wedges. Cut the Japanese ginger into strips.
After trimming the roots from the green onions, wash them with water, then use a knife to cut the green onion into two parts: the bulbs and the leaves. Chop the bulb part finely, and cut the leaf part into pieces about 2 finger lengths long.
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Make the sauce
Add 4 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon of ketchup, 1 teaspoon of dark sweet soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of sugar into a bowl.
Then, mix well for about 2 minutes until the ingredients are well combined.
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Stir-fry meat with vegetables
Place a pan on the gas stove, add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and the chopped onion and green onion into the pan. Sauté evenly over medium heat for about 20 seconds until the onion and green onion become fragrant.
Push everything to one side to create space in the pan, then add 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and the sliced pork. Stir-fry continuously for about 3 minutes over medium heat until the pork is just cooked.
Next, add the vegetables including: shredded carrots and chopped cabbage, stir-fry for another 30 seconds before adding the chopped shiitake mushrooms.
Stir evenly for about 2 seconds to mix the shiitake mushrooms with the other ingredients.
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Completion
After stir-frying the meat and vegetables, add the drained yakisoba noodles and the prepared sauce.
Mix well and stir-fry for about 2 more minutes until the yakisoba noodles are coated and absorb the sauce, then add a bit of chopped green onion to the pan and stir for about 2 seconds before turning off the heat.
Serve the noodles on a plate, sprinkle with some shredded Japanese pickled ginger, and you can invite everyone to enjoy!
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Final Product
The completed yakisoba will have a very eye-catching color with each shiny golden-brown noodle interspersed with pieces of pink Japanese pickled ginger and the colors of other ingredients, creating an irresistible appeal.
Especially, each noodle is chewy and soft, soaked in the characteristic sweet and salty sauce combined with the crunchy sweet vegetables and tender sweet pork, along with the sour, sweet, and slightly spicy Japanese pickled ginger. It will definitely make you fall in love!
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Finally, we have completed making the traditional Japanese dish yaki soba noodles. Wishing you success in making it and enjoying a delicious meal right away!
