Name: Chicken Yakisoba
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Japanese
Ingredients: 1 ounce (30 g) dried shitake mushroom ( whole or sliced) - about 6 whole mushrooms; 16 ounces (450 g) yakisoba or other noodles - see notes; 3 tablespoon vegetable or peanut oil; medium onion halved and cut into thin slices; 9 ounces (250 g) chicken thigh cut into bite-sized pieces; medium carrot julienned - see notes; 4 napa (wombok) leaves cut into largish pieces; 6 scallions (spring onions) cut into 1 inch (2 1/2 cm) lengths; 1/4 cup Japanese pickled ginger; tomato ketchup (sauce) x 2 tablespoons; worcestershire sauce x 3 tablespoons; light soy sauce x 2 tablespoons; oyster sauce x 2 tablespoons; white sugar x 1 teaspoon

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Chicken yakisoba is Japanese fast food. Itʼs street food. Basically, itʼs stir-fried noodles and sauce with a protein, onion, spring onion (shallots), carrot, shitake mushrooms and cabbage. You canʼt go wrong. Great, cheap, fast and tasty food, thatʼs what weʼre looking for. This chicken yakisoba tastes delicious, takes 30 minutes and is a little winner. So simple and quick to prepare.

Cabbage

Napa (wombok) cabbage cooks quickly. Adjust the cabbage cooking time according to what cabbage you’re using. Some of the harder cabbages such as green, drumhead or sugar loaf will take a few minutes to soften.

chicken yakisoba ingredients on a marble bench — chicken yakisoba ingredients

chicken yakisoba vegetables cut up on a timber board — onion, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage and shallots

chicken yakisoba dried shiitake mushrooms in a white bowl soaking in water — dried shiitakes sliced mushrooms soaking in hot water

chicken yakisoba carrot julienned with an orange julienne slicer — carrots julienned with julienne gadget

Shitake mushrooms

Adding in dried and rehydrated shitake mushrooms add a real earthiness to the yakisoba. Whether youʼre using whole or sliced dried shitake mushrooms you need to soak them in hot water first for 10-15 minutes then drain, discarding the soaking liquid. You can, of course, use fresh shitake mushrooms.

chicken yakisoba onions sautéing in wok with silver slotted spoon — stir frying onions

chicken yakisoba onions in wok with fresh chicken added to base of wok with silver slotted spoon — adding chicken to base of wok

chicken yakisoba onions and chicken stir frying in wok with silver slotted spoon — stir frying chicken

chicken yakisoba with chicken and onions being stir with silver slotted spoon in wok — stirring chicken and onion

Noodles

You can use so many types of noodles. Just make sure that the noodle holds and is not too soft that they break up. You could use hokkien or ramen dried noodles if yakisoba is not available.

Protein

You can easily sub out the protein with pork belly strips, shrimp (prawns), tofu or beef.

chicken yakisoba adding mushrooms, carrots to wok — carrots and mushrooms added

chicken yakisoba adding noodles, pickled ginger and sauce to wok — noodles, ginger and sauce added

chicken yakisoba onions, chicken stir fried and adding womb and shallots — adding napa cabbage (wombok) and shallots

chicken yakisoba — stirring through vegetables

Pickled ginger

Tossing pickled ginger through the yakisoba adds so much flavour. Pickled ginger adds a spicy and sweet taste to the yakisoba. If you havenʼt used pickled ginger before treat yourself. Itʼs widely available in most large supermarkets.

Check out some more winning stir fry recipes

Stir fried pork with sesame udon noodles

CHICKEN STIR FRY WITH ASPARAGUS AND GINGER — chicken stir fry with asparagus and ginger

stir fried chicken with sweet potato and kaffir lime cooked in a wok over flames and ready to serve

So, what’s you’re favourite quick noodle dish? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.

4 large serves