Pasta of the Month – Yakisoba

I love pasta – any kind of pasta!  So I’m starting a new monthly feature – Pasta of the Month.  It will run in the middle of the month, every month, and include, not only a new recipe, but pasta facts, like – Did you know all noodles are pasta, but not all pasta are noodles? A Dumpling or stuffed dough is not a noodle.  And pasta is eaten all over the world.

Our first feature – Yakisoba – a traditional Japanese grilled noodle!

Yakisoba literally means grilled noodles.  It is a common street food in Japan, usually served with vegetables.  Sometimes there will be meat or fish added.  Often people associate buckwheat noodles with yakisoba, but in Japan, they simply use ramen noodles.

Ready to give it a go? 

What you need:

• 1 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms (about 5 large)
• 1 medium carrot, julienned
• 1 cup of cabbage, cut into 1” pieces
• 3 green onions
• ½ pound pork belly (tenderloin will work if you can’t find pork belly)
• 1 # fresh (not dried) yakisoba noodles
• 1/3 cup yakisoba sauce
• 2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt and white pepper to taste
• kizame Beni shoga (pickled red ginger) – garnish
• enoki mushrooms (optional) – garnish

What does a shiitake look like?

How to Do it:

Slice the pork belly as thin as possible, then cut into pieces about 1” long.

Cut the green onions in half where the white starts turning to green.  Julienne the white portion and slice the green part.

Set all the prepared ingredients out before starting.

Add 1 Tablespoon of the oil to a grill pan (or a cast iron skillet) and heat.  Add the pork and cabbage and cook on medium-high until the pork begins to brown. 

Once the pork has only a bit of pink left, add the carrots and mushrooms and continue to cook until the pork is completely cooked through.  Next add the onion whites and cook another 3-4 minutes, turning the mixture often with tongs.

While the vegetables and meat are cooking, bring a large pan of water to a boil.  Add the noodles and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Drain the noodles and set aside while the vegetables continue to cook.

Remove the meat and vegetables from the heat and set aside.

Add the remaining oil to the pan and heat. Add the noodles and cook on medium for about 3-5 minutes, until you start seeing browning areas.  Turn often using tongs.

Add the meat and vegetables back to the pan with the yakisoba sauce and the green onion tops and heat through, using the tongs to mix everything as evenly as possible.  Add salt and white pepper to taste.

To serve, place in bowls and top with enoki mushrooms and generous pinch of the pickled ginger.

Serve immediately

Serves 4-6

© Copyright 2016 The Lazy Gastronome

You might also like: