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Traditional Beef Yakisoba

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This traditional beef yakisoba with noodles is perfect for a quick and balanced dish. It takes just 15 minutes and uses various vegetables, giving you an excellent range of vitamins and minerals.

The yakisoba sauce is full of umami flavours that work with steak and get balanced by the traditional garnish of pickled ginger.

Beef Steak Yakisoba noodles in a bowl garnished with pink pickled ginger

What is Yakisoba?

Yakisoba is a Japanese noodle stir-fried dish. Some people confuse the soba as buckwheat noodles, but the dish translates to fried noodles and uses wheat style ramen noodles. It first appeared in food stalls in Japan after world war ll.

The usual meat is pork, but we’re going to make beef yakisoba. The other traditional ingredients include cabbage, onions, carrots and beansprouts with a savoury yakisoba sauce garnished with pickled ginger or bonito flakes.

Why this Recipe Works

This recipe is a classic dish and rich in umami flavours. The pickled ginger garnish adds some acidity to it to balance out the strong umami flavour.

The sauce is made with classic ingredients commonly used with beef like Worchester and oyster sauce, so I’ve decided to add one of my favourite cuts of steak, the rib eye.

It’s extremely quick and easy to make, especially if you use a food processor to slice the vegetables or have leftover noodles. You could make this whole dish in less than 15 minutes if you wanted to.

What Type of Beef to Use

You don’t need to use anything too costly to make this recipe and you only need one steak per two people. Don’t

A wide range of steaks can fit into making this tasty beef yakisoba. If you cut the beef very thin, you can get away with more budget-friendly steaks like flank steak or rump.

You don’t need to use anything too costly to make this recipe, and you only need one steak per two people. Don’t waste money on premium steaks like dry-aged or wagyu because a lot of those subtle flavours will be masked by the savoury sauce.

The main thing is to cut against the grain and not overcook the steak or become chewy.

Steaks I’ll recommend for beef yakisoba include…

• Rib Eye
• Sirloin
• Rump
• Flank Steak
• Strip Steak
• Tenderloin
• Porterhouse

Beef Yakisoba Ingredients

Many of these ingredients follow the more traditional recipe style, which is on the umami side.

If you like fresher, more balanced flavours, try adding 2 tbsp of lime juice to the yakisoba sauce and garnish with fresh coriander.

Raw prepped ingredients for beef yakisoba

Noodles – Dry wheat noodles are the best noodles to use. They hold up the best textural wise, but you can use fresh wheat noodles to speed things up too.

Yakisoba Sauce – The ingredients for yakisoba sauce: Worchester sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce and mirin are normally found in most large grocery stores. I prefer to use the Chinese supermarket for these ingredients because the ingredients tend to have better flavours for Asian cooking.

Pickled Ginger – Is usually found with the other Asian ingredients; it’s pink and in a jar with pickling juice at ambient temperature. Once opened, you can store it in the fridge.

Expert Tips & Tricks

The best way to finely slice beef

It takes a little more time before preparation but makes for very finely sliced beef. Place the steak in the freezer for 20 minutes; afterwards, use a very sharp knife and cut very finely against the grain.

How to quickly finely slice vegetables

If you’re in a rush and want your vegetables cut fast, peel them and place them in a food processor. Make sure the cutting blade isn’t too thin so that you can have a bite for texture.

Use a Wok

There is a good reason why woks are one of the most used pieces of equipment in many Asian restaurants. They add flavour! Each wok adds a unique flavour to a dish, which people call ‘wok hay’. If you have a well-seasoned wok, make sure to use it!

Step by Step Recipe

1. In a large pot of generously boiling water, cook wheat noodles until package instructions, drain and place to the side. Meanwhile, prep the ingredients and mix the Yakisoba sauce ingredients in a bowl, and place to the side.

2. Over high heat, preheat a large wok and season the beef generously with sea salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil and sear the beef for 1 to 2 minutes (2 minutes for well done). Once seared, pour the beef onto a plate.

Beef steak in a large work with hot oil
Seared beef steak in a large wok

3. Add another tbsp of oil to the wok, then add cabbage, carrots and onions. Stir fry for 3 minutes, until al dente.

Sliced cabbage, carrots and onions in a large wok
Stir fried cabbage, onions and carrots

4. Add bean sprouts and stir fry for 1 minute.

Bean sprouts on top of stir fried cabbage, carrots and onions
Stir fried vegetables in a black wok

5. Add the seared beef and yakisoba sauce to the stir fry then reduce for 10 to 20 seconds.

Beef steak, stir fried vegetables and yakisoba sauce
Yaki soba sauce reduced with beef steak and vegetables

6. Add and mix through the noodles into the sauce until hot. Turn off the heat and serve with pickled ginger.

Wheat noodles with beef yakisoba in a wok
Noodles mixed into beef steak yaki soba in wok

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I change the garnish for Beef Yakisoba?

Yes, pickled ginger is one of the traditional garnishes but if you don’t like pickled ginger, try swapping it for fresh coriander.

Can I swap beef for chicken or pork?

Yes, just make sure you cut the chicken or pork finely and don’t overcook it like you would the beef.

How long can I store beef yakisoba?

This beef yakisoba will be good for up to 3 days, as long as it’s appropriately stored. Store in an airtight container and in the refrigerator.

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Beef Steak Yakisoba noodles in a bowl garnished with pink pickled ginger

Beef Yakisoba

Jack Slobodian
This traditional beef yakisoba with noodles is perfect for a quick and balanced dish. It takes just 15 minutes and uses various vegetables, giving you an excellent range of vitamins and minerals.
5 from 40 votes
Prep Time 7 minutes
Cook Time 8 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese
Servings 2 people
Calories 568 kcal

Equipment

Ingredients
 
 

  • 200 g Wheat Noodles cooked
  • 120 g Beef Rib Eye Steak very finely sliced
  • 1 medium Onion finely sliced
  • 40 g Carrots finely sliced (small carrot)
  • 50 g Cabbage finely sliced
  • 50 g Bean Sprouts
  • Sea Salt & Pepper
  • Pickled Ginger for Garnish

Yakisoba Sauce

  • 1 tbsp Worchester Sauce
  • 1 tbsp Oyster Sauce
  • 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
  • 2 tbsp Mirin

Instructions
 

  • In a large pot of generously boiling water, cook wheat noodles until package instructions, drain and place to the side. Meanwhile, prep the ingredients and mix the Yakisoba sauce ingredients in a bowl, and place to the side.
  • Over high heat, preheat a large wok and season the beef generously with sea salt and pepper. Add 1 tbsp of cooking oil and sear the beef for 1 to 2 minutes (2 minutes for well done). Once seared, pour the beef onto a plate.
  • Add another tbsp of oil to the wok, then add cabbage, carrots and onions. Stir fry for 3 minutes, until al dente.
  • Add bean sprouts and stir fry for 1 minute. Add the seared beef and yakisoba sauce to the stir fry. Reduce for 10 to 20 seconds, then add noodles.
  • Mix through the noodles into the sauce until hot. Turn off the heat and serve with pickled ginger.

Notes

If you don’t plan on using pickled ginger for the garnish, I recommend adding 1 1/2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar or 2 tbsp lime juice to the Yakisoba sauce.
 

Nutrition

Calories: 568kcalCarbohydrates: 90gProtein: 31gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 393mgPotassium: 512mgFiber: 3gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 3374IUVitamin C: 19mgCalcium: 103mgIron: 6mg
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Recipe Rating




Oliver

Monday 14th of March 2022

Awesome beef yakisoba it was delicious. I used a food processor to cut the veggies so this recipe ended up being really quick.

Jack Slobodian

Tuesday 15th of March 2022

Thanks Oliver! A food processor surely does speed up the process!

Claudia

Thursday 6th of January 2022

Ribeye is our favorite cut and this is on my list of must try's soon thank you!

Jack Slobodian

Friday 7th of January 2022

Ribeye is definitely one of my favourites too! It works incredibly well with this dish; one key thing is to make sure not to overcook it!

Hope you enjoy the recipe, Jack

Helen

Thursday 6th of January 2022

I think my family would love this! We all enjoy Japanese food.

Jack Slobodian

Friday 7th of January 2022

My family love Japanese food too! This dish went down a treat :)

Jack

Alison

Thursday 6th of January 2022

Whenever I took my dad to a Japanese restaurant he would order a similar dish since he didn't like sushi. It became one of his favorites! Now I can make it for him too! Thank you for the simple to follow recipe!

Jack Slobodian

Friday 7th of January 2022

How interesting, my dad's the same!! Ahh. Also, no problem, I hope you enjoy it!

Jack

Aimee Mars

Thursday 6th of January 2022

Now, this is my kind of meal! It looks so easy to make. I know it wouldn't be traditional anymore, but could I sub a gluten-free noodle?

Jack Slobodian

Friday 7th of January 2022

Hey Aimees,

Yes, of course! This sauce is very savoury, so it will work with more robust, gluten-free noodles like buckwheat!

Jack