Yakisoba

What is Yakisoba?

Yakisoba (焼きそば) is one of Japan’s most beloved street foods , and its name literally means “grilled noodles.” Thought to have originated in Chinese cuisine, it became a popular fast-food meal in the black markets that emerged across Japan after the war. At a time when food was scarce and the nation was rebuilding, yakisoba’s simple ingredients and the ease of cooking it on large steel griddles called teppan (鉄板) made it perfect for these makeshift outdoor stalls. I created this version to capture that street-food spirit using straightforward techniques you can easily replicate at home.

• What is Yakisoba?
• Why My Recipe Works
• Ingredients for Yakisoba
• The Right Yakisoba Pan
• How to Make the Best Yakisoba
• Other Festival Foods
• 📖 Recipe
• FAQs
• Comments

Why My Recipe Works

• Fresh noodles - Parboiling fresh ramen noodles for a minute less than the package instructions ensures they stay nice and chewy.
• Heavy pan - Using a large heavy bottomed pan ensures you have enough thermal mass to caramelize this ramen stir-fry.
• Homemade sauce - My homemade yakisoba sauce has just four basic ingredients, but it creates a marvelous umami-rich sauce with the right balance of salt, sweet, and sour tastes.

Ingredients for Yakisoba

While most street food versions of yakisoba are mostly noodles with a few scraps of cabbage here and there, I like loading my yakisoba up with veggies (and sometimes seafood or meat), turning it into a complete meal.

Yakisoba Noodles

Most people outside of Japan associate soba with buckwheat noodles, because soba literally means “buckwheat” in Japanese, but the word was historically used to refer to any long, thin noodle. In fact, ramen was originally known as chūkasoba (Chinese noodles).

In the case of Yakisoba, the noodles are Chinese-style ramen noodles made with wheat flour and alkali, or kansui(かん水) . In Japan, these noodles are available in pre-boiled packs specifically for this dish. Although they’re convenient, I’m not a fan of them because they’re a pain to untangle, and they tend to get overcooked and soft when you stir-fry them. Instead, I like to use fresh wheat noodles like ramen noodles or chow mein, and I boil them myself. It’s an extra step, but it’s not that much more work, and the results are better.

Yakisoba is so good it’s tempting to eat all of it, but if you’re watching carbs, try out my Shirataki Yakisoba Recipe for a low-calorie alternative.

Yakisoba Sauce

In Japan, there are a wide variety of fruit and vegetable-based sauces such as usuta sōsu , chūno sōsu , and tonkatsu sauce , which are often abbreviated down to sōsu. They’re sweet, savory, and spicy condiments poured on everything from Tonkatsu to cabbage salad .

Yakisoba sauce is easy to buy online and in Japanese grocery stores, but I prefer mixing my own with ketchup for fruity tang, oyster and soy sauces for savory depth, and Worcestershire for its signature spice. For additional heat, add your favorite chili oil or sauce, such as gochujang or doubanjiang.

Meat

The most common type of meat used for yakisoba is thinly sliced pork belly. Not only does it add a ton of flavor to the noodles, but it also contributes some fat that helps keep the noodles from sticking together. If you have trouble finding thinly sliced pork belly in your area, American-style bacon is a good substitute; however, you’ll need to reduce the amount of sauce you add a little as the bacon can be quite salty. If you’re not into pork, chicken or shrimp are both excellent options, and it’s also okay to just leave out the meat altogether to make vegetarian yakisoba (make sure you use a vegetarian Worcestershire sauce).

Vegetables

The vegetables for Yakisoba are cabbage and onions, but you can honestly use any combination of veggies you like. In our home, this is one way we use up odds and ends from the veggie drawer, and I’ve made this with everything from carrots to bell peppers to snap peas and asparagus. Benishoga and aonori are the standard garnishes, but regular nori, toasted sesame seeds, and green onions will all work.

The Right Yakisoba Pan

Yakisoba tastes best when made on a teppan, but most of us don’t have a large high-output griddle in our homes, so here’s the secret to getting that great grilled flavor at home. The traditional teppan gives a large heated surface to work with, so cooks can constantly move the ingredients around to keep them on a hot part of the pan. This cooks the ingredients through quickly, retaining their vibrant color, and allows the ingredients to take on just a bit of char, which is where that wonderful flavor comes from. To approximate this at home, I use my largest pan with a heavy bottom (cast iron or stainless steel both work well). The large pan gives you extra surface area to work with while using a heavy pan provides a high thermal mass which means the temperature of the pan won’t drop as quickly when you add in additional ingredients.

How to Make the Best Yakisoba

Make the Yakisoba Sauce

• In a small bowl, whisk ketchup, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and soy sauce until smooth.
• Taste and tweak the balance so it’s tangy-sweet with a savory finish.

💡 TIP : If it tastes great by the spoon, it will taste great on the noodles.

Prep & Parboil Noodles

• Boil fresh ramen noodles one minute less than package directions.
• Drain and rinse under cold water while agitating to remove surface starch, then drain well.
• Toss with a little oil to keep the strands from sticking.

💡 TIP : Rinsing removes excess starch so the sauce clings without turning gummy.

Stir-Fry

• Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over high heat until hot.
• Add oil and pork; cook until edges brown and fat renders.
• Add cabbage and onion and season with salt and pepper. Stir-fry until crisp-tender with light char.

🧪 SCIENCE : High heat drives Maillard browning, building deep savory notes fast.

Add Noodles & Sauce

• Add the noodles; toss to coat with the rendered fat and vegetables.
• Pour in the sauce and toss until the color is uniform.
• Let the noodles sit 15-20 seconds at a time to caramelize, then toss again.

💡 TIP : Those brief pauses create delicious, lightly browned sections of noodle which replicates the street food experience.

Finish & Serve

• Plate, sprinkle with aonori, and top with benishoga. Serve hot.

Other Festival Foods

Here are a few more Japanese street foods to help you bring the summer festival vibe home! If you’re in the mood for something savory, try Yaki Onigiri , grilled rice balls with a wonderfully crisp crust glazed in caramelized soy sauce. For a heartier option, whip up Osaka-style Okonomiyaki , a customizable savory pancake that’s always a festival favorite. If you enjoy fiery flavors, try this spicy version of yakisoba . On the sweeter side, Mitarashi Dango features chewy rice dumplings coated in a glossy, sweet-salty soy glaze, while Daigaku Imo delights with bite-sized candied sweet potatoes. And for dessert, you can’t go wrong with Taiyaki , those charming fish-shaped cakes filled with sweet red bean paste.

📖 Recipe

Equipment

Units

Ingredients1x2x3x

For yakisoba sauce

• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

For yakisoba noodles

• 260 grams fresh ramen noodles
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For stir-fry

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 100 grams pork belly (sliced and cut into strips)
• 100 grams cabbage (chopped into strips)
• 80 grams onions (sliced)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

To serve

• aonori (green nori flakes)
• benishoga (red pickled ginger)

Instructions

• To make the yakisoba sauce, stir together 2 tablespoons ketchup , 1 tablespoon oyster sauce , 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce , and 1 tablespoon soy sauce until evenly mixed.
• Boil 260 grams fresh ramen noodles for 1 minute less than what’s stated on the package directions.
• Drain and rinse repeatedly with cold water while agitating with your hand to remove excess starch. When the water runs clear and the noodles are cold, drain well and shake off excess water.
• Toss the noodles with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to coat evenly.
• Heat a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 100 grams pork belly and stir-fry until the pork starts to brown around the edges.
• Add 100 grams cabbage and 80 grams onions and then season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper . Stir-fry until the vegetables are cooked but still vibrant in color.
• Add the parboiled noodles to the pan and stir-fry to reheat them.
• Pour the yakisoba sauce over the noodles and toss to distribute evenly.
• Stop tossing the yakisoba noodles for 20 seconds at a time to allow the sauce to caramelize.
• Serve the yakisoba sprinkled with aonori with a mound of benishoga on top.

Nutrition Facts

Despite the name, yakisoba is made with ramen‑style, alkaline wheat noodles . This is because the term “soba” was historically used to refer to any long, thin noodle, not just the ones made with buckwheat.

Yakisoba uses thinner ramen noodles while yakiudon is made with thicker udon noodles .

Yakisoba sauce is a Japanese stir-fry sauce that blends savory, sweet, and tangy elements and it’s a variant of tonkatsu sauce . It’s possible to achieve a very similar flavor using ketchup (fruitiness), oyster sauce(umami), Worcestershire sauce(spices), and soy sauce(salt and umami).

yakisoba (焼きそば - /jakʲisoba/) is a 4-syllable phrase. Pronounce it as ya-ki-so-ba: “ya” like “ya” in “yacht” (quick “yah”); “ki” like “kee” in “keep,” but very short with a lightly palatalized “k”; “so” like English “so” but keep the “o” pure and short (no glide); “ba” like the “ba” in “bah, humbug,” short and clean; keep all four syllables even with no strong stress.

Yakisoba (焼きそば)

Equipment

• 1 12-inch Non-stick Frying Pan
• 1 Small Glass Bowl
• 1 Spoonula
• 1 Colander

Ingredients

For yakisoba sauce

• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

For yakisoba noodles

• 260 grams fresh ramen noodles
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

For stir-fry

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 100 grams pork belly (sliced and cut into strips)
• 100 grams cabbage (chopped into strips)
• 80 grams onions (sliced)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

To serve

• aonori (green nori flakes)
• benishoga (red pickled ginger)

Instructions

• To make the yakisoba sauce, stir together 2 tablespoons ketchup , 1 tablespoon oyster sauce , 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce , and 1 tablespoon soy sauce until evenly mixed. 2 tablespoons ketchup, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• Boil 260 grams fresh ramen noodles for 1 minute less than what’s stated on the package directions. 260 grams fresh ramen noodles
• Drain and rinse repeatedly with cold water while agitating with your hand to remove excess starch. When the water runs clear and the noodles are cold, drain well and shake off excess water.
• Toss the noodles with 1 tablespoon vegetable oil to coat evenly. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Heat a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and 100 grams pork belly and stir-fry until the pork starts to brown around the edges. 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 100 grams pork belly
• Add 100 grams cabbage and 80 grams onions and then season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper . Stir-fry until the vegetables are cooked but still vibrant in color. 100 grams cabbage, 80 grams onions, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• Add the parboiled noodles to the pan and stir-fry to reheat them.
• Pour the yakisoba sauce over the noodles and toss to distribute evenly.
• Stop tossing the yakisoba noodles for 20 seconds at a time to allow the sauce to caramelize.
• Serve the yakisoba sprinkled with aonori with a mound of benishoga on top. aonori, benishoga

Video

Nutrition