yakisoba

Have you ever been to Japan? If you haven’t, let me tell you, it’s an experience of a lifetime. Granted, I’ve been to Taiwan numerous times, but Japan is like a whole ‘nother world. Their food is different, their culture is eccentric, and their technology is above and beyond anything I’ve ever seen before. If you ever have the opportunity to go, I highly recommend going. You’ll have an unbelievable experience.

Oh and sidenote: they drive on the other side of the road. Totally weirded me out and freaked me out when I first got into a car. Can you picture my reaction? “OMGZ WE’RE DRIVING STRAIGHT ONTO TRAFFIC HEAD ON.” -ahem-

I don’t eat much Japanese food here in the states. I usually only eat sushi with the occasional udon noodle soup and that’s pretty much all the Japanese I get.

And then I went to Japan and got exposed to yakisoba. Uh, hello. Where has it been all my life? It’s so good. The soft fried noodles are kind of like ramen noodles and the stir fried flavor permeates throughout the noodles. I think yakisoba actually originates the Chinese noodle dish, chow mein but it’s more prominent in the Japanese cuisine for yakisoba. The “sauce” for yakisoba is what makes the dish. In my dish’s case, it was a powder form that coats all the noodles and ingredients to a dark brown. It’s a sweet and savory taste. It’s extremely hard to describe because I have nothing else to compare it to. Some say it has a hint of Worcestershire sauce in it. So base it off that, I guess?

You can usually find these yakisoba packets and noodles at your international mart. I love dousing mine in sweet chili sauce (pictured above). It’s a great addition. Jason uses Sriracha sauce on his.

Yakisoba

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Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 package of soba noodles (they’re already pre-cooked)

3 packets of yakisoba seasoning

4 celery stalks, chopped

1 head of bok choy, chopped

1 large onion, sliced

1 cup of mushrooms, sliced

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, saute the celery, bok choy, onion, and mushroom on medium high.
2. Once everything has gotten tender and wilted down, add the 3 packets of yakisoba seasoning and stir to combine.
3. Finally, add in the soba noodles and break them up with your spatula. Stir to combine everything and make sure the seasoning gets well-coated on the noodles. I usually keep stirring and cooking all of this for another 10 minutes.
4. Serve immediately.

Julie’s notes: I made this without meat but I’ve made it with pork, chicken, and beef before. You’re also free to add whatever you want into this. You don’t always have to add the same veggies as below. This is a very forgiving dish.