Vegetarian Yakisoba (Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles)

What is Yakisoba?

Yakisoba noodles look similar to thick chow mien noodles. They are made of wheat flour and typically stir fried with a variety of fresh vegtables and proteins in a sweet and savory sauce.

Ingredients for Yakisoba Noodles

• Proteins – Thinly sliced or bite-size pieces of pork, beef, chicken, tofu, or simply none for a vegetable option.
• Yellow Onion – You can also use white onions. I didn’t have any of those so I used large shallots instead.
• Red Bell Peppers – You can add any color bell peppers but red bell peppers are my go-to for their color. Avoid yellow as they don’t stand out against the yellow Yakisoba noodles.
• Carrots – Carrots are great for an orange vegetable.
• Green Onions – This is my choice for green vegetables.
• Cabbage – A great and cheap option for a light green vegetable.
• Mushrooms – You can use any type of mushroom. My favorite is shiitake mushrooms. I like to use dehydrated shiitakes. They last forever in the pantry. Plus, they have much better flavor than fresh ones. Just make sure you squeeze out all the water before slicing.
• Yakisoba Noodles – Well, you can’t have Yakisoba noodles without yakisoba noodles. In my grocery store, they come in vacuumed-seal bags in the refrigerated section. They are already steamed so all you need to do is run them under hot water to separate the strands.

What is in Yakisoba Sauce?

There is yakisoba sauce commercially available so that you can use it as a shortcut. If you like to make it at home, it’s not at all complicated and you are likely to have these common pantry items:

• Light Soy Sauce – Provides the umami saltiness. If you have soy sauce already in the pantry and it’s not clealy labeled whether it’s light or dark, it’s most likely light.
• Sugar – Provides sweetness. Any granulated sugar will do. I’m using white sugar.
• Dark soy sauce – Provides saltiness but is primarily used for color to darken the noodles.
• Ketchup – Adds another sweet flavor profile but also a subtle tart flavor.
• Garlic — I’m using granulated garlic instead of garlic powder. It’s similar to garlic powder but I feel they smell a million times better than powder form. You can also use fresh garlic. If so, do not add it to the sauce. Roughly chop and toss them in with the yellow onion in the recipe below to get the aroma going.
• Ginger – Ginger smells amazing so I always sneak it in whenever I can. I’m using ground ginger that I can add straight to the sauce mixture. But if you are using fresh ginger, don’t add it to the sauce. Cut into thin strips and add them with the sliced yellow onion in the below recipe.

Cooking Tips

Use a large wok or skillet so you have plenty of room for all the vegetables and noodles. It makes it easier to toss everything evenly and not make a mess. I’m using this large T-fal nonstick skillet.

Add vegetables in succession, starting with hard vegetables. Cook it a little bit then add the next vegetable. Don’t toss everything in at all at once although it’s quite tempting.

Recipe below. Happy cooking!

Other Japanese Recipes

If you enjoy this recipe, check out the following Japanese-related recipes:

• Cucumber Salad (Sunomono)
• Miso Ramen
• Simple & Delicious Teriyaki Chicken
• Stir-Fried Udon with Shrimp
• Easy Pan-Fried Teriyaki Salmon Recipe
• Lion King Roll (Baked Salmon Sushi)
• Pork & Shrimp Pot Stickers
• Pot Sticker Dipping Sauce

Print