Yakisoba
Encyclopedia
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein
Chow mein
Chow mein is a Chinese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties.-Etymology:...
, but has been more heavily integrated into Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine has developed over the centuries as a result of many political and social changes throughout Japan. The cuisine eventually changed with the advent of the Medieval age which ushered in a shedding of elitism with the age of shogun rule...
like ramen
Ramen
is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...
. Even though soba
Soba
is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is synonymous with a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and in Japan can refer to any thin noodle . Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup...
(noodle
Noodle
The noodle is a type of food, made from any of a variety of doughs, formed into long thin ribbons, strips, curly-cues, waves, helices, pipes, tubes, strings, or other various shapes, sometimes folded. They are usually cooked in a mixture of boiling water and/or oil. Depending upon the type, noodles...
s made from buckwheat
Buckwheat
Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...
) is part of the word, yakisoba noodles are not made from buckwheat, but are similar to ramen noodles and made from wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
.
Yakisoba usually refers to sōsu yakisoba, flavored with yakisoba sauce, a sweetened, thickened variant of Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce
Worcestershire sauce , or Worcester sauce is a fermented liquid condiment; primarily used to flavour meat or fish dishes.First made at 60 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and...
.
It is prepared by stir frying
Stir frying
Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two Chinese cooking techniques for preparing food in a wok: chǎo and bào . The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chǎo technique...
ramen-style noodles with bite-sized pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, vegetables (usually cabbage
Cabbage
Cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae and is a leafy green vegetable...
, onion
Onion
The onion , also known as the bulb onion, common onion and garden onion, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium. The genus Allium also contains a number of other species variously referred to as onions and cultivated for food, such as the Japanese bunching onion The onion...
s or carrot
Carrot
The carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange in colour, though purple, red, white, and yellow varieties exist. It has a crisp texture when fresh...
s) and flavoured with yakisoba sauce, salt and pepper. It is served with a multitude of garnishes, such as aonori
Aonori
, also known as green laver, is a type of edible green seaweed, including species from the genera Monostroma and Enteromorpha of Ulvaceae. It is commercially cultivated in some bay areas in Japan, such as Ise Bay...
(seaweed powder), beni shoga
Beni shoga
is a type of tsukemono . It is made from ginger cut into thin strips, colored red, and pickled in umezu , the pickling solution used to make umeboshi; the red color is derived from red perilla. It is served with many Japanese dishes, including gyūdon, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba.Beni shōga is not the...
(shredded pickled ginger), katsuobushi
Katsuobushi
is the Japanese name for dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna .Shaved Katsuobushi and dried kelp - kombu - are the main ingredients of dashi, a broth that forms the basis of many soups and sauces in Japanese cuisine.Katsuobushi's distinct umami flavor comes from its high...
(fish flakes), and mayonnaise.
Yakisoba is most familiarly served on a plate either as a main dish or a side dish. Another popular way to prepare and serve yakisoba in Japan is to pile the noodles into a bun sliced down the middle in the style of a hot dog
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
, and garnish the top with mayonnaise and shreds of pickled ginger. Called yakisoba-pan, pan meaning bread, it is commonly available at local matsuri (Japanese festivals
Japanese festivals
Japanese festivals are traditional festive occasions. Some festivals have their roots in Chinese festivals but have undergone dramatic changes as they mixed with local customs....
) or konbini (convenience store
Convenience store
A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...
s).
Sometimes, Japanese white Udon
Udon
is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle of Japanese cuisine.Udon is usually served hot as noodle soup in its simplest form as kake udon, in a mildly flavoured broth called kakejiru which is made of dashi, soy sauce , and mirin. It is usually topped with thinly chopped scallions...
is used as a replacement of Chinese style Soba and called Yakiudon. This variation was started in Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture
Fukuoka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on Kyūshū Island. The capital is the city of Fukuoka.- History :Fukuoka Prefecture includes the former provinces of Chikugo, Chikuzen, and Buzen....
.
In Okinawa, Yakisoba is popular with Okinawans and U.S. servicemembers stationed on the island alike. Mess halls and other on-base eateries often serve yakisoba. Ham is a popular addition to yakisoba made in Okinawa, in addition to other meats such as chicken, beef, or pork.
Instant yakisoba
Instant yakisoba, such as "UFO", is commonly sold in Japanese supermarkets. It can be prepared simply by adding boiling water.The Sapporo Ichiban
Sapporo Ichiban
is a brand of instant noodles made by Sanyo Foods, and rivals to other Japanese ramen brands like Nissin and Maruchan.Sapporo Ichiban has found a market outside of Japan, most notably with consumers in Hong Kong, The United States, Mexico and Canada.Sapporo Ichiban literally means, "Sapporo's...
ramen company has long made a variety of instant "yakisoba," which is composed of dehydrated ramen noodles, dried seaweed and a flavor pack which resembles the sauce on real yakisoba. The noodles are rehydrated like regular ramen, then stir fried with the flavor packet, shredded Japanese cabbage and meat and served with the seaweed sprinkled on top. There is also now a variety of this instant yakisoba available in the US made by Maruchan
Maruchan
Maruchan Inc., also known as Maruchan , is a well-known American producer of ramen noodles and related products. Maruchan produces over 3.6 billion packages of Ramen Noodle Soup a year and now has three manufacturing plants, two in Irvine, California and one in Richmond, Virginia...
, a popular instant ramen company. The dish features dehydrated vegetables such as carrots, corn
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, onions, and cabbage, as well as dehydrated instant ramen.
Also, the company Nissin sells yakisoba in Germany. It is called "Yakisoba Deluxe".
The composition is similar to the instant ramen of Sapporo Ichiban
Sapporo Ichiban
is a brand of instant noodles made by Sanyo Foods, and rivals to other Japanese ramen brands like Nissin and Maruchan.Sapporo Ichiban has found a market outside of Japan, most notably with consumers in Hong Kong, The United States, Mexico and Canada.Sapporo Ichiban literally means, "Sapporo's...
. It is prepared by putting 250 ml water in a frying pan, boiling it and adding the noodles and vegetables (both dehydrated). Then, let the noodles soften for a minute or two, and add the sauce (which is not dehydrated), then cooking it until there's no more fluid left.
UFO instant "yakisoba" has an atypical method of preparation. The foil lid of the shallow square container is meant to be pulled back on one end, from which you extract packets of aonori and sauce. After adding boiling water to the dehydrated noodles and bits of cabbage and meat and allowing to sit, you lift another side of the foil, revealing draining holes that will allow water to pass through, but nothing else. This leaves you with relatively dry noodles.