What is yakisoba though?
Yakisoba is a Japanese dish that has Chinese influence that is made up of yakisoba noodles, various types of vegetables like cabbage and carrots, sometimes meat, and coated in a Worcestershire type seasoning. Yakisoba is translated to “fried noodle” in Japanese and is in reference to the stir-frying method of cooking this dish, like pancit canton, pad see ew, garlic noodles, or yaki udon. It’s very similar to yaki udon with its various vegetable and meat ingredients except its seasoning is Worcestershire and oyster sauce-based, whereas yaki udon is soy sauce based. Yaki udon was actually created because they had a lack of yakisoba noodles, known as chuka soba. Not to be confused with soba made of buckwheat flour, the noodles used in yakisoba are actually known as chuka soba and made of wheat flour. Chuka soba are typically the Japanese version of Chinese egg noodles. This is why it looks (yellow) and tastes different from other soba noodles. This authentic dish came about in the mid 20th century when wheat flour was expensive and cabbage was added to fill up noodle dishes. Originally the seasoning sauce only included soy sauce, but the cabbage liquid would dilute the flavor, so a stronger Worcestershire seasoning was added.
Yakisoba sauce ingredients
There are various ways to make yakisoba at home depending on how much time you have. You can use a quick yakisoba noodle packet with sauce like Maruchan yakisoba, premade yakisoba sauce like Otafuku yakisoba sauce, or you can also make the entire meal from scratch. Since I have all the ingredients at home, I like to make them from scratch and adjust to my liking. Many of these sauce ingredients are typical ingredients like soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, and ketchup. For the Worcestershire sauce, I used the Japanese variety of Worcestershire sauce (Bulldog Worcestershire) because it’s a little sweeter, but you can use the regular kind too. For the noodles, I picked egg noodles that are specific for yakisoba like these Twin Marquis brand yakisoba because they were already cooked and ready to stir fry. I wouldn’t recommend Maruchan yakisoba noodles because they crumbled and broke while stir-frying. I added thinly sliced pork butt and veggies like shredded cabbage, onions, garlic, carrots, and mushrooms to my yakisoba for extra tastiness too.
How to make yakisoba sauce from scratch
Making yaki sauce from scratch is so simple. All you have to do is add all the sauce ingredients into a bowl and whisk until it’s fully dissolved. After you saute the veggies, meat, and noodles in a large pan, drizzle the sauce over the stir-fried pan and mix. It’s really as simple as that. I would definitely recommend mixing all these ingredients in a bowl before adding them into the pan so that all the noodles and ingredients are evenly coated.
Serving and storing
After you’ve finished stir-frying the noodles, top with pickled ginger, bonito, roasted seaweed, and sesame seeds. You can also add yakisoba to hot dog buns, add a little Kewpie mayo, and make a yakisoba bun. Yakisoba is best served fresh and hot from the pan, but it also makes for great leftovers since you can make a big batch and eat it for the next few days. Just make sure to place it in an airtight container in the fridge.
