Yakisoba (Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles)
Springy wheat noodles stir-fried with pork, cabbage and a sweet-savoury sauce — Japan's favourite festival food, ready in 20 minutes at home.
Ingredients
Pantry bits
- 400g yakisoba noodles (or fresh ramen noodles)
- 200g pork belly, thinly sliced
- 2 cups cabbage, shredded
- 1 carrot, julienned
- 4 spring onions, sliced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- Kewpie mayonnaise and pickled ginger, to serve
Instructions
- Loosen noodles under warm water if pre-cooked and set aside.
- Mix Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, soy sauce and sugar in a small bowl to make the yakisoba sauce.
- Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok over high heat. Stir-fry pork belly until browned, about 3–4 minutes.
- Add cabbage and carrot, stir-frying for 2–3 minutes until just softened.
- Add noodles and sauce, tossing well to coat everything evenly. Cook for 3–4 minutes, until noodles are heated through and slightly caramelised at the edges.
- Toss through spring onion.
- Serve topped with a drizzle of Kewpie mayonnaise and pickled ginger.
About this dish
Yakisoba is the smell of a Japanese summer festival — sizzling noodles on a hot griddle, that distinctive tangy-sweet sauce, and a shower of pickled ginger and bonito flakes on top. It's fast food in the best sense: quick, satisfying, and endlessly adaptable.
The sauce is really the heart of the dish, built from a mix of Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, soy and a touch of sugar to mimic the bottled yakisoba sauce sold in Japan. Cabbage, carrot and pork belly are classic, but this is a great one for using up whatever vegetables need eating.
Top with a generous drizzle of Kewpie mayonnaise, pickled ginger and a sprinkle of aonori (seaweed flakes) if you can find them — it's what turns a good stir fry into an authentic yakisoba.
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