Yakisoba

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yakisoba

Yakisoba (焼きそば, Yakisoba^?), literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan, but originates from China^{[citation needed]}. The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein, but has been more heavily integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen. Even though soba is part of the word, yakisoba noodles are not made from buckwheat, but are similar to ramen noodles and made from wheat flour.

Yakisoba usually refers to sōsu yakisoba, flavored with sōsu (Japanese Worcestershire sauce).

It is prepared by stir-frying ramen-style noodles with bite-sized pork, vegetables (usually cabbage, onions or carrots) and flavoured with sosu, salt and pepper. It is served with a multitude of garnishes, such as aonori (seaweed powder), beni shoga (shredded pickled ginger), katsuobushi (fish flakes), and Japanese 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 hot-dog, 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) or conbini (convenience stores).

Sometimes, Japanese white Udon is used as a replacement of Chinese style Soba and called Yakiudon. This variation was started in Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Yakisoba is served widely across military bases around the world, and daily at Camp Hansen, a Marine Corps base in Okinawa, Japan and weekly at Kunsan AB, an airbase in the Republic of Korea. It has become a favored dish among the U.S. Marines and Air Force veterans.

[edit] Instant yakisoba

Instant yakisoba, such as "UFO", is commonly sold in Japanese supermarkets and occasionally, given its Chinese roots, in Chinese supermarkets. It can be prepared simply by adding boiling water.

The Sapporo Ichiban 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 supposed to be rehydrated like regular ramen, then stir fried with the flavor packet, shredded Chinese 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, a popular instant ramen company. The dish features very flavorful dehydrated vegetables such as carrots, corn, onions, and cabbage, as well as dehydrated instant ramen.