Yakisoba (Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles)
焼きそば · Yakisoba
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
Yakisoba is Japan's classic stir-fried noodle dish, a staple of festival stalls and home kitchens alike. This is the version we make in the preschool kitchen: soft noodles tossed with pork, cabbage, carrot, garlic chives and bean sprouts in a gentle sauce of Worcestershire, oyster sauce, ketchup and a little soy sauce, so it's savory and slightly sweet rather than sharp. Frying the noodles on their own first gives them a toasty flavor and keeps the finished dish from turning watery, and because the noodles soak up the juices from the vegetables, you don't need to add any water at all. Kids love it, and the same batch works just as well for adults.
Toddlers to adults. The whole family can eat this exactly as written.
Added. Open the recipe helper (bottom right) → ☰ Menu → 🛒 Shopping list to see the ingredients for your family size.
Printing uses the number of adults and children set under Ingredients, so set those first.
Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 15 gcarrot
- 90 gcabbage
- 12 ggarlic chives (nira)Flat-leaved chives with a mild garlic flavor, sold in bunches at Asian markets. Substitute: Scallion greens with a little minced garlic.
- 60 gbean sprouts
- 39 gthinly sliced pork (komagire)Small, thin offcuts of pork sold in Japan for quick stir-fries and simmered dishes. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin cut into bite-size pieces.
- 2.4 gvegetable oil
Seasonings (A)
- 14.4 gWorcestershire sauce
- 4.8 goyster sauce
- 2.4 gketchup
- 1.2 gsoy sauce
- 1.2 gsugar
Ingredients
- a pinchaonori (green seaweed flakes)Fine, fragrant flakes of dried green seaweed sprinkled over dishes like okonomiyaki and yakisoba. Substitute: Crumbled nori sheets, or omit.
- 0.9 ball(s)yakisoba noodlesPre-steamed Chinese-style wheat noodles sold refrigerated in Japan for stir-frying. Substitute: Fresh chow mein noodles, or boiled and drained ramen noodles.
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- garlic chives (nira) (にら)
- Flat-leaved chives with a mild garlic flavor, sold in bunches at Asian markets. Substitute: Scallion greens with a little minced garlic.
- thinly sliced pork (komagire) (豚こま切れ肉)
- Small, thin offcuts of pork sold in Japan for quick stir-fries and simmered dishes. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin cut into bite-size pieces.
- Worcestershire sauce (ウスターソース)
- Read the guide: Bull-Dog Worcestershire Sauce: Japan's Everyday Brown Sauce → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/bull-dog-worcestershire-sauce/
- aonori (green seaweed flakes) (あおのり)
- Fine, fragrant flakes of dried green seaweed sprinkled over dishes like okonomiyaki and yakisoba. Substitute: Crumbled nori sheets, or omit.
- yakisoba noodles (焼きそば麺)
- Pre-steamed Chinese-style wheat noodles sold refrigerated in Japan for stir-frying. Substitute: Fresh chow mein noodles, or boiled and drained ramen noodles.
Directions
Video is in Japanese — the steps below are synced to it, so tap ▶ on a step to jump to that moment.
- 1
Gently loosen the yakisoba noodles while they are still in the bag, then tip them into a bowl. Add a little vegetable oil (not included in the ingredient amounts) and keep loosening the noodles so the oil coats them. Note: Handle them gently - if you pull too hard the noodles will break.
- 2
Put the noodles in a frying pan and stir-fry over medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, until lightly browned in places. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Note: Frying the noodles gives them a toasty flavor and keeps the finished dish from turning watery.
- 3
Mix together the Seasonings (A) to make the sauce.
- 4
Cut the carrot into 4 cm matchsticks, the cabbage into short rectangular strips, the garlic chives into 3 cm lengths, and the pork into 2 cm wide pieces.
- 5
Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and stir-fry the carrot, cabbage, garlic chives and bean sprouts over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the pork and stir-fry, breaking up the pieces, until it changes color. Note: For toddlers, stir-fry about 3 to 5 minutes longer so the vegetables are softer.
- 6
Add the noodles from step 2 and the sauce from step 3, and stir-fry over medium heat for about 3 to 5 minutes, until the liquid has cooked off. Note: The noodles soak up the moisture from the vegetables and seasonings, so they come out just the right softness with no added water.
- 7
Sprinkle with aonori if you like.
Tips for Best Results
- Everyone from toddlers to adults can eat this same recipe.
- It's packed with vegetables, so it's an easy way to fill in any gaps in the day's veggies.
Freezing
Wrap individual portions in plastic wrap and freeze. To eat, reheat in the microwave still wrapped.
Keeps for about 2 weeks (but enjoy it as soon as you can).
Nutrition
Nutrition values do not include the noodles.
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 152.3 kcal | 304.5 kcal | 152.3 kcal |
| Protein | 10.6 g | 21.3 g | 10.6 g |
| Fat | 6.5 g | 12.9 g | 6.5 g |
| Carbohydrates | 14.8 g | 29.6 g | 14.8 g |
| Fiber | 3.2 g | 6.3 g | 3.2 g |
| Salt equivalent | 2 g | 3.9 g | 2 g |
| Calcium | 68.3 mg | 136.5 mg | 68.3 mg |
| Iron | 1.4 mg | 2.8 mg | 1.4 mg |
| Potassium | 514.5 mg | 1029 mg | 514.5 mg |
| Phosphorus | 133.5 mg | 267 mg | 133.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | Phosphorus | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 152.3 kcal | 10.6 g | 6.5 g | 14.8 g | 3.2 g | 2 g | 68.3 mg | 1.4 mg | 514.5 mg | 133.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 304.5 kcal | 21.3 g | 12.9 g | 29.6 g | 6.3 g | 3.9 g | 136.5 mg | 2.8 mg | 1029 mg | 267 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
Cooking for bigger kids? See the elementary-school portion of this recipe.
