REAL DEAL JAPANESE YAKISOBA

For me a good bowl of noodles is the ultimate comfort food, hangover cure and hug in food form, especially properly authentic Japanese yakisoba!

I have always struggled to re-create that real authentic, super fragrant and slightly sticky yakisoba sauce at home but this recipe pretty much tasted like my favourite version from my favourite Japanese restaurant back in Germany which means it must be pretty close to the real deal!

My tip: make the effort and visit your local Asian supermarket. Here it is totally worth investing in the proper ingredients and toppings as they truly elevate the dish into something special, plus I always love buying ingredients I have never used before!

Shredded nori and pickled pink ginger as garnish on top of the noodles may sound odd, but they offer the perfect finishing touch to probably the best bowl of noodles I have ever managed to rustle up at home!

The original version of the recipe and yakisoba in general come served with fried pork but I went for some lovely prawns which also worked a treat. 

SERVES 2

INGREDIENTS

• 300g egg noodles
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp oil (vegetable oil)
• 250g cooked prawns
• 1 ready stir fry mix 
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 200g mushrooms
• 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 cup bean sprouts

YAKISOBA SAUCE

• 40ml Bulldog tonkatsu sōsu
• 50ml Bulldog usutā sōsu 
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• ½ tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp dashi seasoning powder diluted in ½ tsp hot water 

GARNISH (optional but strongly recommended)

• Dried shredded seaweed aonori 
• Pink pickled ginger (also used as sushi condiment)
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METHOD

• Add all the yakisoba sauce ingredients into a cup or a bowl and mix well. Set aside until required.
• Boil water in a sauce pan and cook the noodles for 1 minute.
• Drain and sprinkle sesame oil over the noodles and mix until all noodles are coated. This is to prevent the noodles from sticking to each other.
• Heat oil in a wok or a large frypan over medium high heat. 
• Add spring onions, stir fry mix, mushrooms and broccoli.
• Stir-fry for about 5 minutes, then add the beansprouts and stir fry for a further minute.
• Add the prawns and noodles and mix well.
• Add the yakisoba Sauce and mix quickly to ensure that all the noodles are coated with the sauce, and the colour of the noodles is consistent, without any light-coloured patches.
• Transfer the noodles onto serving plates, piling them into a mound.
• Sprinkle the sea weed over the noodles and add the pickled ginger on the top or the side of the noodles
• Serve immediately.