Yakisoba is a classic Japanese stir-fried noodle dish that’s seasoned with a sweet and savory sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce. Use any proteins you like—pork, chicken, shrimp, or calamari. For vegetarians, just swap it with tofu or shiitake mushrooms.
Growing up in Japan, yakisoba (Japanese stir-fried noodles) was a staple of our weekend lunches. My mom and I would prepare the ingredients, and everyone gathered around the electric griddle and cooked the noodles together. There were so many memories surrounding the dish that I always associate yakisoba with weekend lunches.
You can easily make yakisoba at home, customizing it with ingredients like chicken, shrimp, calamari, to make it your style. Or try it with mushrooms or tofu for a simple vegetarian version!
Table of Contents
What is Yakisoba?
Yakisoba (焼きそば) is a stir-fried noodle dish that typically includes meat or seafood, as well as vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, onions, and bean sprouts. These ingredients are all cooked together in a thick, sweet-savory sauce, and the final dish is usually topped with aonori (dried green seaweed) and red pickled ginger for added flavor.
A Brief History
According to food history researcher Shogo Shiozaki, this popular street food originated in Asakusa during the Taisho era, where Chinese noodle factories were first established.
Interestingly, yakisoba was actually created as a clever variation of okonomiyaki, a Japanese savory pancake. If you examine both dishes closely, you’ll notice similarities in the ingredients used, including meat/seafood, vegetables, and a British-style sauce! The key distinction is that yakisoba replaces the flour batter used in okonomiyaki with Chinese noodles. In fact, if you visit long-standing okonomiyaki restaurants in Tokyo, you’ll often find yakisoba offered as part of their menu.
Yakisoba quickly gained popularity, especially among young children who loved its delicious fried noodles. Originally a staple of food stalls, it eventually became a common item at Teishoku-ya (Japanese diners) and even at candy stores known as dagashi-ya (駄菓子屋). Due to the ease of setting up an iron plate teppan (鉄板), yakisoba food stalls became popular at school events, festivals, fairs, and more. Today, yakisoba is considered an iconic Japanese street food.
In the US, you can commonly find yakisoba on the menus of Japanese grill teppanyaki restaurants or sold by street vendors at Japanese Obon festivals or cherry blossom festivals.
Is Yakisoba Made with Buckwheat Noodles?
As “soba” is a type of Japanese buckwheat noodles, a lot of people have asked me if yakisoba uses the same noodle.
To clarify, the word “soba” in Japanese is an umbrella term to describe noodles of any type, such as chuka soba for ramen and yakisoba in this instance.
Yakisoba does not use buckwheat soba noodles. Instead, it uses mushi chukamen (蒸し中華麺), which are steamed Chinese-style noodles made from wheat flour, kansui, and water. These noodles have a yellowish color due to the kansui but are not egg noodles. They share a texture similar to ramen noodles and are pre-steamed for quick reheating.
How to Make Yakisoba
The Ingredients You’ll Need
- Yakisoba noodles: These are Chinese-style noodles made with wheat flour (more information below).
- Vegetables: I use thinly sliced yellow onion, green onion, julienned carrot, some sliced shiitake mushrooms, and chopped cabbage. These veggies work great for a stir-fry. You can also use bok choy or thin strips of bell pepper.
- Protein(s): I use sliced pork belly in this recipe as it is the most common choice of meat to make yakisoba in Japan. However, you can switch it up with any protein like shrimp, calamari, chicken, and firm tofu.
- Oil: Any neutral-tasting oil will work.
- Yakisoba Sauce: Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce (or vegetarian stir fry sauce), ketchup, soy sauce, and sugar. Adjust the amount to suit your taste.
- Optional toppings: aonori (powdered green seaweed) and beni shoga (red pickled ginger). Some people also like to top the noodles with katsuobushi (shaved bonito flakes).
The Cooking Steps
- Cut the ingredients into bite-size pieces.
- Warm up the noodles and transfer them to a dish.
- Cook the protein, followed by the tough vegetables, and then the soft vegetables.
- Put back the noodles and season them with Yakisoba Sauce.
- Toss them all together and serve.
Ingredient Variations
My mom often changes up the ingredients when she makes yakisoba. In addition to pork belly slices, she sometimes uses Japanese sausages and ground pork, and my favorite is the combination of ground pork and squid/calamari. For extra crunch and fiber, she also throws in Chinese chives (nira in Japanese) and bean sprouts.
Where to Buy Yakisoba Noodles
The two popular yakisoba noodle brands are Myojo (明星) and Maruchan (マルちゃん), and each package comes with three packs of yakisoba noodles. The noodles are already steamed, coated with oil, and packed tightly in the packets.
I recommend using the Myojo brand (see the picture above). Maruchan, if frozen, tends to break into pieces when defrosted. In Japan, yakisoba noodles are never sold frozen. However, these noodles don’t last too long and they are often sold frozen outside of the US.
You can purchase them in Japanese, Korean, and Chinese grocery stores, and they are either in the refrigerated or freezer section.
How to Make Yakisoba Sauce
The popular Otafuku brand offers Yakisoba sauce (see below), but my family actually likes making yakisoba sauce from scratch.
Homemade yakisoba sauce is made with common condiments from American grocery stores, such as Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. You can adjust the sauce as you like, so your yakisoba tastes slightly different each time.
My homemade recipe below is the exact amount needed for the ingredients below. I recommend doubling the sauce in case you end up adding more ingredients. You don’t want the noodles to be bland.
Cooking Tips
1. Use a large cookware.
It’s important to use a griddle, wok, or frying pan with a large cooking space so that your ingredients have direct contact with the hot surface. The nice char will add fantastic flavors and give the noodles a “street food” character.
My griddle is from Thermador and I can’t find the exact model. You can use a similar griddle like this or this when making yakisoba at home. It is also fantastic for Okonomiyaki and all sorts of pancakes!
2. Cook vegetables in stages.
When it comes to any stir-fried dishes, we want to retain the fresh texture and crunch of the vegetables. So it is important to stir-fry the hard vegetables first before adding other softer ingredients. Each vegetable has a different cooking time, so cook quickly and in succession. Do not throw everything at once. Also, do not overcook as wilted veggies are a no-no for stir-fries.
3. Don’t add too many ingredients.
This is after all a noodle dish. It’s tempting to toss in lots of veggies or extra meat. Adding too many ingredients will end up steaming the noodles. You need to let the steam escape, so the noodles are not wet, and preferably make it as dry and crispy as possible. If you prefer drier-style noodles (I prefer mine to have some moisture), fry the noodles first, then transfer them out before cooking the vegetables and meat/ tofu. That way, you don’t have to cook the noodles later on, and the noodles will still stay crispy.
4. Loosen up the noodles first.
I recommend loosening the noodles quickly before mixing with the stir-fried ingredients. This way, you can mix with the other ingredients easily. If you don’t, you will most likely break up the noodles into small pieces on the griddle or wok.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use ramen noodles instead of yakisoba noodles?
Yakisoba noodles are already steamed and greased. When you reheat them, the texture of the noodles will become tender.
In a pinch, you can use fresh Chinese stir-fried noodles from Asian grocery stores.
Can I make chicken yakisoba?
I get this question often as chicken is the most popular protein. However, in Japan, chicken is not the common protein choice for yakisoba, but you can certainly use it. I recommend chicken thighs rather than breasts because thighs are more flavorful and don’t get dry easily.
Varieties of Yakisoba
There are also a few different ways of serving stir-fried noodles:
- Modern-Yaki – When the yakisoba noodles are used as a base layer ingredient for okonomiyaki, we call this savory Japanese pancake Modern-Yaki.
- Yakisoba Pan or Yakisoba Dog – It’s basically a hot dog bun stuffed with yakisoba!
- Omusoba – Omelette stuffed with yakisoba.
- Yaki Udon – Originated in the Fukuoka Prefecture, yaki udon uses thick chewy udon noodles instead of Chinese-style wheat noodles.
- Okinawan-style yakisoba – Sometimes features ingredients such as Spam, chopped hot dogs, and sliced hams.
- Gluten-free Yakisoba – Use glass noodles instead of wheat noodles.
More Delicious Japanese Noodle Recipes:
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Yakisoba (Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles)
Video
Ingredients
For the Yakisoba Sauce
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce (use vegan Worcestershire sauce for vegan)
- 4 tsp oyster sauce (use Lee Kum Kee Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce for shellfish allergies or vegetarian)
- 4 tsp ketchup
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar (plus more, to taste)
For the Yakisoba
- ¾ lb sliced pork belly (or your choice of meat/seafood/mushrooms/veggies)
- ½ onion (5 oz, 142 g)
- 4 inches carrot (3.5 oz, 100 g)
- ¼ head green cabbage (small; ½ lb, 227 g)
- 2 green onions/scallions
- 3 shiitake mushrooms (1.4 oz, 40 g)
- 2 Tbsp neutral oil (plus more, if needed)
- 3 servings yakisoba noodles (pre-steamed; one package contains 3 servings, 16–17 oz, 454–480 g)
- freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup yakisoba sauce (plus more, to taste; from the recipe above)
For the Toppings (optional)
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients. Freeze the pork belly slices for 10 minutes so that it‘s easier to cut. Tip: For the sauce, I recommend doubling the recipe, just in case. It‘s hard to measure the vegetables and meat precisely, and if you end up adding more ingredients, you‘ll need more sauce so the yakisoba is flavorful.
To Make the Sauce (yields ⅓ cup, 80 ml)
- Whisk together all the ingredients for the Yakisoba Sauce: ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce, 4 tsp oyster sauce, 4 tsp ketchup, 2 tsp soy sauce, and 2 tsp sugar. At this point, it‘s important to taste the sauce and add more sugar, if needed. For example, some ketchup is sweeter than others while some Worcestershire sauce is less sour than others. Set it aside.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Remove ¾ lb sliced pork belly from the freezer. Cut the pork belly slices into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces.
- Cut ½ onion into ¼-inch (6-mm) slices.
- Cut 4 inches carrot into 2-inch slabs. Then, cut them into julienne strips 2 inches (5 cm) long.
- Remove the core from ¼ head green cabbage. First, cut the cabbage wedge into slices 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide.
- Then, cut the slices into bite-sized pieces.
- Chop 2 green onions/scallions into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces. Cut any thick, white parts of the green onions in half lengthwise.
- Remove the stems from 3 shiitake mushrooms. Cut the caps into ¼-inch (6-mm) slices.
To Cook the Noodles
- Heat a griddle (I use a similar one; you can use a large frying pan or wok) on medium heat. When it‘s hot, add 2 Tbsp neutral oil. Then, add 3 servings yakisoba noodles. Tip: The pre-steamed noodles will come pressed together into squares. You do not need to loosen them before placing them on the griddle.
- When the bottom side of the noodles is heated, flip them. The goal here is to loosen up the noodles gently without breaking them into short pieces. If you force them to separate, the noodles will break up. So be patient here.
- With chopsticks, gradually loosen up the noodles. Once they have loosened up completely, transfer them to a plate.
To Cook the Yakisoba
- To the hot griddle, add the pork belly slices and separate the chunks into a single layer. (If you are not using pork belly, add 1 Tbsp oil to the griddle before adding your choice of protein.) Season with freshly ground black pepper.
- Stir-fry until the pork belly is no longer pink.
- Next, add the onion slices to the griddle. Stir to cook for 1–2 minutes, separating the onion layers as you stir-fry.
- Add the carrots and cook for another 1–2 minutes.
- Add the cabbage and shiitake mushrooms. Cook until they are almost tender.
- Lastly, add the green onions and cook for 1 minute.
- Put the yakisoba noodles on top of the protein and vegetables on the griddle. Then, drizzle ⅓ cup yakisoba sauce on the noodles. Taste the noodles and add more sauce, if desired.
- With a pair of tongs, toss to combine the noodles with the sauce and other ingredients. Keep an eye on the noodles as they may stick to the skillet/wok. When the sauce is well distributed and the noodles are warmed through, transfer the yakisoba to individual plates.
To Serve
- Garnish with optional aonori (dried green laver seaweed) and pickled red ginger (beni shoga or kizami beni shoga). Serve immediately.
To Store
- You can store any leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and in the freezer for a month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave to warm.
Nutrition
Update: The post was originally published on April 6, 2011. It’s been republished with a new video, new images, and updated content on October 27, 2023.
i think your great I am part japaneese and mom is full japaneese and we are very proud of that and your food is great
Hi Cindy! I’m happy to hear you are keeping Japanese heritage! 🙂 My kids are “half” too, and I hope they will keep some part of Japanese culture with them when they grow up. 🙂 Thank you for your kind words!
Hi! I love yakisoba. I am not always able to get the refrigerator or freezer ones. What can I substitute for yakisoba noodles?
Hi Lele! I heard from my reader that this brand of dried ramen noodles is good. Maybe not as same texture as the fresh yakisoba noodles, but maybe it’s close…
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/ramen-noodles/
This might be a silly question but what type of cabbage do you use? It looks like lettuce to me in the photo so I got a bit confused :/
Hi Emy! No, not a silly question! 🙂 It’s regular cabbage. 🙂 Maybe it’s not the most outer layers so the color of cabbage is fairly light color. 🙂
I want to make this but I only have tonkatsu sauce. Can I use the tonkatsu sauce and add more ingredients? (maybe more sake, more worchestershire sauce or something) Or should I just make it from scratch like in your recipe for home made yakisoba sauce?
Hi Emy! The main difference is that yakisoba sauce is less sweet compared to tonkatsu sauce. And it’s thinner so you can mix well with noodles. I haven’t tried making yakisoba sauce from tonkatsu sauce, but I think it’s possible. The recipe I shared is to make the exact (or I should say “similar”) taste to that Yakisoba Sauce brand. Maybe I’ll try making the recipe from Tonkatsu sauce one day (since that’s easier to find in a store). 🙂
I love yakisoba! I usually add a little bit of oyster sauce to bulldog’s yakisoba sauce for my preferred taste. If I want it spicy, what can I add? Cheers!
Ho Joseph! Any of your favorite chili sauce or Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese 7 spice) or Ichimi Togarashi (Japanese chili) would be great!
Nami,
I didn’t think much about the wonderful foods I enjoyed during a 20 year Navy career. This included a 3 1/2 year tour in Okinawa that I completed In 1983, along with a number of visits to Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines. After becoming landlocked in Ohio I began to hanker for some of the old flavors and set out to make the Okinawan-style Yakisoba that I bought hot from the Soba House in Awase.
The first thing I discovered is that there’s just not many Yakisoba recipes out there. I tried a few that (miserably) failed to capture what my memory held so dear. With your recipe and a little advice from Anthony Bourdain’s Okinawa episode… I am so very close.
What I learned from my early mistakes: 1) It’s gotta be Pork Belly. Nothing else brings the texture and flavors that I remember. Get it cut in the style of thick-sliced bacon, and cut those into 1″ squares. 2) Add some Mirin and Brown Sugar to the mix. 3) I use Sun Okinawa style Soba Noodles, which is similar to a thick-cut egg noodle.
Fortunately, I have a great Japanese market that is not far away and my family is tolerating my tests. This recipe has become my go-to for any potluck, and I’m getting rave reviews,
My wife was most fond of a dish from the Awase Soba House they called “Okazu”. This was essentially fried vegetables, pork rib, ham, Kamaboko and rice, Still, another elusive flavor I haven’t been able to capture. I didn’t learn that Okazu meant “side dish” until much later… so the name wasn’t quite as helpful as “Yakisoba”
Thank you for helping me rediscover this! Now how about a recipe for Meat Jun?
Hi Bob! I apologize for my late response. It’s so nice to hear from you! I’ve never had a chance to visit Okinawa (I wish!!!) and I wish I know how Okinawan Yakisoba tastes like! I heard food is quite different from Honshu (the main island) so I’m always curious to experience the food there. I should definitely watch Anthony Bourdain’s Okinawa episode! I feel like I haven’t been a good help much, but thank you for your kind word.
Meat Jun is a Hawaiian food (which I have never heard of before until you mentioned, thank you!) and I am not familiar with how to make it authentically… Sorry I can’t be a good help!
I live in a rather small town, and can’t find packaged yakisoba anywhere; do you know of any good homemade yakisoba recipies?
Hi Erin! I don’t have a homemade yakisoba noodles recipe (yet) but I hope to work on making noodles one day for the blog. Thanks for your request, Erin.
Now as for the noodles, have you checked Japanese grocery stores online like Mitsuwa?
https://store.mitsuwa.com/yakisoba-pan-fried-noodles-with-sauce-3-pieces-p2431.aspx
Hope that helps!
Dear Nami,
I just bought a package of soba noodles at an asian store and it is rather grayish in color. Your noodles look so bright and yellow! Do you need some kind of special soba noodles for frying? Since buckwheat is green-brown, I assume what I bought were really soba noodles… so I’m confused 🙂
HI Alina! Yes, you’re right – you got buckwheat noodles (soba). 😀 My noodles are specifically for fried noodles (yaki soba). Do you have an Asian grocery store or Japanese supermarket nearby? It’s in refrigerator section. 🙂
It looks like this:
https://www.justonecookbook.com/pantry_items/yakisoba-noodles/
Hi Nami,
ehhh it’s not that easy with Japanese products here… In fact, it’s almost impossible. I often have to substitute them with the Chinese ones. There is absolutely no chance I will find chilled yakisoba noodles in the asian supermarkets… 🙁
So did I understand you correctly? I cannot fry the soba noodles I bought?
Hi Alina! I see… In Japan we don’t stir fry soba noodles, but outside of Japan, I’ve seen some people do it… but I’ve never tried it so it’s hard for me to say how it is like as “yakisoba”. It’s a bit strange to see stir fried soba noodles, but if you have no other choice, then I guess it’s worth a try? There are many fusion dish like that too.
I did stir-fry them in the end… 🙂 Turned out perfectly fine. I think when it comes to aisian noodles Europeans don’t see that much difference 🙂
I must say though I liked yaki udon more. The mentsuyu taste is just brilliant!
Hi Alina! Haha, that’s great!! And I agree, mentsuyu is amazing with yaki udon! 🙂
Wouldn’t the meat be severely overcooked since you don’t start cooking the veggies and adding noddles until meat is cooked through?!?
Hi Skott! If you use pork belly, it doesn’t become tough. It gives enough time for fat to render from the meat, so less oil is used. You can definitely adjust the timing to put veggies depending on a different type of the meat. 🙂
Hi,
I have never made yakisoba before, but while I was on a trip I recently bought a packet at Wal-Mart. (An odd find for such a place, I think. But when I read “yakisoba” in Japanese on it, I knew I had to give it a shot.)
I had it for lunch the other day as a quick-fix, while my boyfriend decided to eat pizza rolls. Well, he also ate quite a lot of my yakisoba! He would like to have it again, and I knew it would be simple to make, so I came looking for it here on my absolute favourite recipe site. 😀
Now, here’s my question:
You used a pre-cooked bag of noodles. The noodles in the packet I bought at Wal-Mart were not cooked, and looked a lot like a typical dry ramen block. I DO have dry soba noodles that I use for one of my favourite things ever, zaru soba. So can I use the dry soba noodles (after cooking them)? Should I use the noodles from a ramen pack? I’m not sure what I should do for the best results. XD
Hi Kai! Wow Wal-Mart sells Yakisoba? I guess that’s a cupnoodle style where you pour hot water, and then drain all that water and add in sauce and mix? We have those cupnoodle (but Yakisoba) in Japan.
Anyway, it’s a hard choice to be honest. This type of dried noodles is not meant for stir fry. I don’t know how the texture will be after you cook it. Without seeing the actual product, I’m not 100% sure, but I assume you have to boil it first to make the noodles tender, and then you can stir fry. I feel like the noodles will break into small pieces…
If you use soba (buckwheat) noodles… it’s not really Yakisoba as the noodles are completely different types.
Can you find fresh noodles at Asian (Japanese, Chinese, Korean) grocery stores? One of my readers highly recommended this brand for ramen and yakisoba for those who don’t have an access to fresh noodles:
http://www.pacificeastwest.com/011152206929.html
If there is a Japanese grocery store nearby, I highly recommend to get Yakisoba noodles in noodle section (could be frozen section if they don’t sell volume).
Hope this helps! 🙂
Arigatou it’s a nice recipe I have a plan to put some japanese foodcarts in the philippines thank you for more info!
Hi Jonalyn! You’re very welcome! Good luck with your business! 🙂
Hi, I’m a big fan of this website. I have found some great recipes here.
I wanted to use this recipe for Yakisoba, but I was unsure of one of the amounts.
It might just be because I live in Britain and am not familiar with this measurement, but if you could tell me how much 1pkg is in grams or ounces that would be great.
Hi Harry! It’s 17 oz (480 g) package. I hope that helps! Thank you so much for following my blog. I am happy to hear you enjoy it. 🙂
Dear Namiko,
do you happen to know a recipe for the Kizami Shoga that you use for Okonomiyaki, Gyudon etc.? I was thinking about trying to make my own but I couldn’t find any recipes online. All I could find out was that it is made with plum vinegar.
Thanks for your help and all the amazing recipes!!! I love your blog! 🙂
Lena
Hi Lena! I put your request in list of recipes to share. I’ve been waiting to get Shin shoga (young ginger root) to make it. I’m happy to hear you enjoy my recipes. Thank you for your kind words!
Hey Nami,
We use your recipes. Never regretted !
My question is that could I use yakisoba sauce with udon noodles?regretably in our grocery stores Asian items are very limited , so I can only make homemade yakisoba sauce.
Thanks,
Hi Anna! I think I responded to your question but maybe it was during my blog design update and somehow my response is not showing here. You can use yakisoba sauce with yaki udon. 🙂
I tried this for supper tonight and it was really tasty. I did have to make a couple changes because I have a broken foot right now so I can’t drive and I didn’t have any cabbage on hand and I used the noodles from two packages of Ramen. Also I didn’t quite have enough faith in the sauce so I went heavier with the soy sauce but I could still taste the underlying flavors of the yakisoba sauce (I made from scratch from your recipe for that) and I wish that I had just stuck with the sauce as written since the underlying flavor was delicious, too.
I can’t wait to try this again with the cabbage, proper yakisoba noodles and making the sauce like you suggest. I’m so happy to have found your blog. I love Japanese food but finding a good cookbook in English is hard to do. I bought your ebook to get me started and plan on going through many many of your recipes. Thanks for sharing them.
Hi Lesley! Thank you for purchasing my eBook and trying this recipe! I hope your foot will recover quickly! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂