Had a friend come over the other night that was craving this recipe from the last time I made it for her. She brought over her hubby and we had some nice big servings of yakisoba. Though I’ve eaten it for years, I had never thought of it this way before, but read the other day that it is essentially a Japanese version of chow mein.
Serves 4
Two packages of fresh yakisoba noodles from the produce section (they are just a bit bigger than top ramen packets). The ones we have locally are called Fortune Brand: Stir Fry Noodles. 2 chicken breasts cut into julienne shape (or other small cut). 1 med carrot cut into slivers or thin slices. I use a mandoline to cut to very small julienne 1/2 red pepper, julienne cut. 1/4 red onion, cut into slivers or thinly sliced. 1 stalk of broccoli cut into very small pieces (more or less to preference). 11/2 cup green cabbage very thinly sliced.
I make a triple batch of this stir fry sauce ( minus tabasco). I don’t cook the corn starch in, but whisk in just a couple tablespoons when it has cooled. This mixture will go in at the end and thicken in the dish itself. Set aside.
Marinade chicken breast in 2 tsp each of minced garlic & ginger; 2 tbl each of soy sauce & rice vin, and 2 tsp of sesame oil for at least 20 min. Longer is better. Then drain before cooking. Next saute the chicken in about 1.5 tbl sesame oil with a bit more minced garlic. Then drain and set aside in a saute pan.
Take noodles out of the package and rise in hot water til they come apart. Toss, drain and set aside.
Saute the onions, carrots, peppers, (celery when I use it) til just tender. Add the broccoli & saute til it just starts to darken. Crank up the heat to high, add the noodles and a 1.5 tbl of sesame oil, and saute the noodles & veggies in a very hot large non stick pan. Toss frequently to prevent burning. The reason I set the chicken aside is that if doing enough for a few people, even a nice gas burner doesn’t have enough BTUs to fry the noodles if the chicken is in with it.
When the noodles have been fried, which gives them that authentic chewy texture, heat the chicken back up in the other pan. Add the chicken to the noodles and veggies you have so far. Now add the cabbage and green onions. Saute til the green onions turn bright green, and the cabbage just begins to wilt (I left those out of the previous mix b/c they get too soggy if put in with the other heartier veggies).
Stir briskly or shake in a container your stir fry corn starch mix, as the corn starch will have settled. Add to the hot pan which now has all the ingredients. As soon as the sauce begins to sizzle & thicken, toss the noodles and take off the heat. Continue to toss noodles until you hear the sizzling stop.
Substitute Tonkatsu sauce when short on time. Don’t heat pan as hot when you add the sauce in that case since it is already thickened.
Photo by Nemo’s Great Uncle at Flickr.
1 year ago
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