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Shio Koji Yakisoba 塩焼きそば

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Shio koji’s simple ingredients dramatically enhances the flavors for yakisoba, it adds nice umami flavor and elegant tastes to this classic Japanese noodle dish.

Yakisoba with Shio Koji in a blue bowl.

Yakisoba (焼きそば) is a popular Japanese stir fried noodle dish similar to chow mein.  The noodles are much thinner than the Chinese version and it’s seasoned with Worcestershire-like sauce instead of soy sauce.

Recently, a college friend in Japan shared a picture of her bento on Facebook and I was really intrigued because it was Yakisoba seasoned with shio koji.  I knew this would be fun and tasty to try!

Flavor Up Yakisoba with Shio Koji

Fermented from a mixture of malted rice, salt and water, Shio Koji is a century-old all purpose seasoning in Japan. It wasn’t being used as widely in the modern Japanese home kitchen until it made a comeback again. I was totally taken by surprise with its elegant flavor and how it enhances the flavor of yakisoba so dramatically.   This versatile seasoning adds nice umami to the simple combination of noodles, meat, and veggies. It must have something to do with the enzymes in shio koji that draw out sweetness from the starches of the noodles and the other ingredients. Instead using a lot of yakisoba sauce on the noodles, I now use shio koji in my yakisoba as the alternative.  It tastes much better, you’ll have to try it to believe it.

Yakisoba is really simple to make and it’s versatile.  Throw in your favorite protein (chicken, shrimp, sausages, etc) and veggies in a wok and finish it with noodles and seasonings.  It’s a great weeknight meal for a busy day.

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If you love stir fried noodles, I hope you give this Shio Koji Yakisoba a try!

Yakisoba with Shio Koji in a blue bowl.

By the way, Hikari Miso is currently hosting sweepstakes to give away 30 Shio Koji bottles on their website (U.S. only).  Entries will be accepted until 11:59 pm PST December 15, 2013 (2 more days!).  Don’t miss out on a chance to win a bottle!  You can click here to enter.  Good luck!

To get the Yakisoba with Shio Koji recipe, click here over at the Hikari Miso’s website.

Hikari Miso Shio Koji in a bottle.

Note: If you cannot find shio koji, use 1/2 tsp. salt for marinating and 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. salt for seasoning instead for this recipe.  However, I haven’t tried seasoning with just salt yet.  If you want the regular Yakisoba recipe, please click here.

Hikari Miso products are available in Japanese grocery stores and Amazon.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Hikari Miso.  To read more about my partnership with Hikari Miso, click click here.

Thank you for reading my blog, and enjoy cooking with shio koji!

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  2. I love your blue bowl with the blue place mate underneath it, Nami – what a gorgeous colour. You have introduced me to another new recipe but I’m sure I’d love it – I like anything with noodles! xx

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  3. Yakisoba is one of the first Japanese dishes I tried in college at our yearly International Fair. This brings back fond memories. 🙂 I love noodles and so do my kids. 🙂

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    • Hi Susie! I’m terribly sorry for my late response. Yes it’s gluten free. 🙂 Shio koji is a mixture of malted rice (koji), salt (shio) and water.

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  5. Nami-san, Congratulations on publishing your first e-cookbook! I think it is so fun to learn from each other as we cook different dishes and bring some freshness and new tastes to some of the oldie but goodies like yakisoba. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday. Take Care, BAM

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  7. 面白い！賢いですね。東京の代々木公園でよくスケートの後焼きそばを食べましたがなみさんの豪華な焼きそばではありませんでした＝）

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  11. I love yakisoba but have never tried making it at home which needs to change soon 🙂 This looks incredible and sounds so flavorful with the Shio Koji. Thanks so much for sharing Nami and hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend 🙂

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  14. I wish they served yakisoba at one of the Japanese restaurants in town. Oh well, I’ll have to make it myself one of these days.

    Hope you have a great holiday season.

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  19. Jim

    thank you for this recipe – I have all the ingredients on hand but have never combined them in quite this manner but now I know how.

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  21. Hi Nami,
    Did you said this is similar to chow mein…
    And it’s simple and versatile to cook..
    And it’s has got protein and veggies…
    I love it!! Will definitely try this.
    Thanks for sharing!
    mui

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  24. I have to go on a shopping trip today to Ranch and this is definitely going to be on my list. I have never tried shio koji and I can’t wait to see how it tastes. We love any noodle based recipes and this one looks so good Nami.

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  32. 焼きそばいいよね。ちゃちゃっと出来るし。塩麹はどんな味だろう？かなり興味あるわ。　さて、まずは焼きそばヌードルを買いにいかなくちゃ。今晩はこれ！

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  35. Hi Nami, I think your noodles looks really gorgeous and delicious and so elegantly served in that pretty bowl…certainly looks like a really wholesome meal in a bowl!

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  36. Love the clean and simple look of the new site design! I recently tried some yakisoba in a restaurant. It was so flavorful. Unlike all those instant dried yakisoba, the fresh one is al dente which I really like. I can’t wait to make some at home. Thanks for the recipe!

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  38. Abdul Rafeh

    looks delicious. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .sorry but i envy you i can’t try this because soba noodles,ramen etc are not available at my place :'( and i really wish to try it out but. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .well anyways it looks really yummy ^^

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    • Thank you for your comment Abdul! I’m sorry to hear ingredients are hard to get – and I really understand as I sometimes have difficulty in finding Japanese products living in San Francisco. Hope Japanese products will be more easily accessible worldwide in the future. 🙂

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  39. I can only imagine what this would taste like, except that I don’t know what shio koji tastes like :p
    But the photos sure look yummy, and from how you describe it, I’d want to eat this straight away! 🙂

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  40. Min

    Yakisoba…I’m missing my father all of a sudden. It’s one of his favorite Japanese dishes. I’m going to wow him next time (if he ever comes back to the States) with your version ;). Thanks for the idea!

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  41. Nami this looks great but I wanted to comment about todays post which never appeared so I thought you’d want to know. It’s for the Sanshoku Bento which I think looks incredible. Wow I wish my kids would have eaten like that. In hindsight, had I started feeding them fish from day one they would have loved it. Now they do but they’re now 24 & 27 – they’ve finally acquired a taste for it. Beautiful recipes!

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  47. I’m not sure if I already left a comment to this one. But here I am again. The food photo is so delish I can’t resist stopping by. I love anything with noodles. Congrats on your new projects. I wish you much success. Thanks for the kind encouragement during your blog visits. Enjoy the holidays, Nami!

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  48. I love the look of this dish and know that it is something everyone in my family would enjoy. A quick noodle stir-fry at the end of a busy day is something I often end up cooking xx

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  49. I’ve been missing yakisoba so much since I left working in a Japanese company about 3 years ago. I do appreciate the sweet and salty taste of yakisoba – its delicious. One thing I Iike most more than the taste is the preparation and cooking where me and my Japanese friends gather in front of tepanyaki and all together cook the soba, bonding with friends even makes eating yakisoba a memorable rather than just a food.
    Is shio koji available in Japanese stores in the Philippines?

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    • Hi Jose! I’m not sure how Japanese stores are in the Philippines. If there are a lot of expats living in the area, I’m pretty sure the Japanese supermarkets import shio koji….. I hope! 🙂

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  52. Pat

    I’ve written before; love your posts and your recipes! Good luck with your online store and with your partnership. You work hard and deserve it!

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  53. I was always hesitant to try noodle dishes. I think because I’m so partial to Italian pasta flavors. But recently I’ve gotten a bit more adventurous and tried some new noodle dishes and I’m finding I really enjoy them. So now I know I would likely enjoy this one as well.

    Happy holidays Nami! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and an amazing New Year! Enjoy your time with the kids this holiday break. 🙂

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  55. Recently my mother told me that my grandmother learned to cook Chinese food, I don’t remember my grandmother cooking, but everybody said that she cooked wonderful. I know that Chinese food is different form Japanese, but my mother made one they a fried noodle, and then is when she told he learned from her mother.

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