One of my favourite Japanese dishes would have to be Yakisoba. To me it’s like a comfort food, but with veggies. Yaki, meaning grilled and soba meaning noodles, this meal of grilled noodles is easy to make in a fry-pan or wok.

It’s one of those meals you can get just about anywhere in Japan, but the best comes from street vendors or little hole in the wall restaurants.

In Australia finding the right ingredients to get the taste just right can be a bit of a challenge. If you’re lucky enough to live near an Asian grocery store you might be able to find pre-made Yakisoba sauce, if not, try this recipe it’s pretty good!

Prep time 10 mins, Cook time 20 mins, Total time 30 mins, Serves 4

Chicken Yakisoba

3 Shitake mushrooms – sliced (can be replaced with regular mushrooms if unavailable)

1 Brown onion – sliced into thin wedges

1 Carrot – halved and sliced on an angle

1 Bunch of broccolini chopped roughly

4 Cabbage leaves – chopped

2 Small chicken breasts – diced (can be replaced with your choice of meat, beef, pork, prawns)

1-2 Tbsp peanut oil

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Yakisoba noodles (if unavailable, ramen or hokkien will also work)

Yakisoba Sauce

80ml Worcestershire sauce

60ml oyster sauce

40ml ketchup

30ml soy sauce

30ml sugar

1. Slice the mushrooms, carrot and the onion. Chop the brocollini and the cabbage into smaller pieces. Cut the meat into 1 inch pieces.
2. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside from later.
3. In a wok, heat the oil on medium to high heat. Cook the chicken through until there is no pink visible.
4. Add the vegetables into the wok and stir fry until soft.
5. Add the black pepper and ¼ of the Yakisoba sauce and stir, lower the heat to medium.
6. Cook noodles of choice as per packet instructions. When soft gently pull apart and drain, then add to the wok. Stir noodles into the mixture being careful not to burn the noodles on the bottom of the wok
7. Add remaining sauce (if you don’t like it super saucy don’t add all of it) and mix through.

Optional extras

• Feel free to add in any extra vegies, things like zucchini and capsicum also taste great in this dish!
• If you feel like being really fancy feel free to top the dish with some strips of dried seaweed and pickled red ginger, but if you’re like me you’ll just tuck in right away!

Itadakimasu!

~A