''Yakisoba'' ( ja, 焼きそば ), "fried noodle", is a Japanese noodle

stir-fried Stir frying () is a cooking technique in which ingredients are fried in a small amount of very hot oil while being stirred or tossed in a wok. The technique originated in China and in recent centuries has spread into other parts of Asia and t ...

dish. Usually,

soba Soba ( or , "buckwheat") is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat. The noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or hot in a noodle soup. The variety ''Nagano soba'' includes wheat flour. In Japan, soba noodles can be found ...

noodles are made from

buckwheat Buckwheat (''Fagopyrum esculentum''), or common buckwheat, is a flowering plant in the knotweed family Polygonaceae cultivated for its grain-like seeds and as a cover crop. The name "buckwheat" is used for several other species, such as ''Fagop ...

flour, but soba in yakisoba are Chinese noodles (Chuuka soba) made from

wheat flour Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat used for human consumption. Wheat varieties are called "soft" or "weak" if gluten content is low, and are called "hard" or "strong" if they have high gluten content. Hard flour, or ''bre ...

, typically flavored with a condiment similar to Worcestershire sauce. The dish first appeared in food stalls in Japan around the 1930s.

Preparation

Yakisoba is prepared by

frying Frying is the cooking of food in oil or another fat. Similar to sautéing, pan-fried foods are generally turned over once or twice during cooking to make sure that the food is well-made, using tongs or a spatula, while sautéed foods are co ...

ramen-style wheat noodles (also called "Chinese noodles" 中華麺) with bite-sized pork and finely chopped vegetables like cabbage, onions, bean sprouts, and carrots. It is then flavored with yakisoba sauce, salt, and pepper. It can be served with a variety of garnishes, such as ''

aonori Green laver (), known as ''aonori'' (; ) in Japan, ''sea cabbage'' () or ''hutai'' () in China, and ''parae'' () in Korean, is a type of edible green seaweed, including species from the genera ''Monostroma'' and ''Ulva'' (''Ulva prolifera'', ''U ...

'' (seaweed powder), ''

beni shōga is a type of ''tsukemono'' (Japanese pickle). It is made from thin strips of ginger pickled in umezu (), the vinegary pickling solution used to make umeboshi. The red color is traditionally derived from red perilla (''Perilla frutescens'' var. ...

'' (shredded pickled ginger), ''

katsuobushi is simmered, smoked and fermented skipjack tuna (''Katsuwonus pelamis'', sometimes referred to as bonito). It is also known as bonito flakes. ''Katsuobushi'' or similarly prepared fish is also known as . Shaved ''katsuobushi'' and dried ...

'' (

bonito Bonitos are a tribe of medium-sized, ray-finned predatory fish in the family Scombridae – a family it shares with the mackerel, tuna, and Spanish mackerel tribes, and also the butterfly kingfish. Also called the tribe Sardini, it consists ...

fish flakes), or Japanese-style mayonnaise.

Serving

Yakisoba is most familiarly served on a plate either as a main dish or a side dish. A more novel way of serving yakisoba in Japan is to pile the noodles into a bun sliced down the middle in the style of a

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

, and garnish the top with mayonnaise and shreds of red pickled ginger. Called

yakisoba-pan Yakisoba-pan (焼きそばパン) is a popular Japanese food in which yakisoba is sandwiched between an oblong white bread roll resembling an American hotdog bun known as ''koppe-pan''. This high-carbohydrate food item is essentially a sandwich w ...

(''pan'' meaning "bread"), it is commonly available at ''konbini'' (

convenience store A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ti ...

s) and school canteens. Sometimes,

udon Udon ( or ) is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, used in Japanese cuisine. It is a comfort food for many Japanese people. There are a variety of ways it is prepared and served. Its simplest form is in a hot soup as with a mild broth called ...

is used as a replacement for the Chinese-style soba and called '' yakiudon''. This variation originates in

Kitakyushu is a city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fukuoka. It is one o ...

Kokura is an ancient castle town and the center of Kitakyushu, Japan, guarding the Straits of Shimonoseki between Honshu and Kyushu with its suburb Moji. Kokura is also the name of the penultimate station on the southbound San'yō Shinkansen li ...

, in Fukuoka Prefecture. In

Okinawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 Square kilometre, km2 (880 sq mi). ...

, yakisoba is popular with locals as well as US service members stationed on the island. After the 1945 hostilities with Japan ended on Okinawa, the US military command supplied American food products to the displaced and malnourished islanders. Yakisoba was prepared with alternative packaged ingredients such as spaghetti,

spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ...

, ketchup, any available vegetable (usually canned), and mayonnaise. Mess halls and other on-base eateries often serve yakisoba. Along with typical Okinawan meats such as pork or chicken, fried spam, chopped hot dogs, and sliced ham are still popular postwar additions to yakisoba eaten by islanders today, along with common local vegetables such as cabbage and carrots.Okinawa-style yakisoba is generally made with

Okinawa soba is a type of noodle produced in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Okinawa soba is a regional collective trademark of The Okinawa Noodle Manufacturing Co-op. On Okinawa, it is sometimes simply called ''soba'' (or ''suba'' in Okinawan dialects), althou ...

, a wheat noodle much thicker than what is commonly used for yakisoba in the rest of Japan, and flavored with pre-packaged yakisoba sauce.

Gallery

File:Yakisoba.jpg, Yakisoba File:Sauce fried noodles of Gyoza-no-Manshu.jpg, ''Yakisoba'' File:Ohta yakisoba.jpg, ''Ōta-yakisoba'' File:富士宮やきそば (27454468067).jpg, ''Fujinomiya-Yakisoba'' File:Nagahama-itarian.jpg, ''Italian-yakisoba (Shiga)'' File:Sobameshi (8697338872).jpg, ''Sobameshi'' File:2014-12-23 Himeji-chanpon yaki (姫路ちゃんぽん焼き).jpg, Himeji-chanpon yaki File:Shio yakisoba by jetalone in Kiba, Tokyo.jpg, Shio yakisoba File:Seafood yakisoba by woinary in Osaka Intl Airport.jpg, Ankake yakisoba File:Yakisobapan_001.jpg,

Yakisoba-pan Yakisoba-pan (焼きそばパン) is a popular Japanese food in which yakisoba is sandwiched between an oblong white bread roll resembling an American hotdog bun known as ''koppe-pan''. This high-carbohydrate food item is essentially a sandwich w ...

References

{{Authority control Fried noodles Japanese noodle dishes

Preparation

Serving

Gallery

See also

References