One-Skillet Vegetable Yakisoba

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Springy stir-fried noodles tossed with cabbage, carrot and shiitake in a glossy soy-ginger-mirin sauce you whisk together before the pan even gets hot. Everything cooks in one skillet in under 15 minutes, so the vegetables stay crisp and the noodles pick up real browned edges instead of steaming into mush.

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce (or vegetarian mushroom stir-fry sauce)
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp finely grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

• 3 packs fresh or parboiled yakisoba noodles (about 5 oz / 140 g each)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
• 4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
• 1 medium carrot, cut into thin matchsticks
• 4 cups green cabbage, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 10 oz)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths, whites and greens separated
• 2 tbsp water

• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tbsp beni shoga (red pickled ginger), optional
• aonori or crumbled nori, optional
• Japanese mayonnaise, for drizzling (optional)

Instructions

1. Whisk the sauce first so it's ready: in a small bowl combine the Worcestershire, ketchup, soy sauce, mirin, oyster sauce, sugar, grated ginger and sesame oil. Stir until the sugar dissolves and set it next to the stove. It should taste sweet-tangy and aggressively savory — it will be diluted by the noodles.
2. Prep every vegetable before you turn on the heat and keep them in separate piles: mushrooms, onion, carrot, cabbage, garlic, scallion whites, scallion greens. Stir-frying gives you no time to chop.
3. Loosen the noodles. If using vacuum-packed parboiled yakisoba noodles, rinse the blocks briefly under warm running water and gently pull them apart with your fingers into loose strands; drain well. If using fresh noodles, boil 60 to 90 seconds, drain, rinse under cold water and toss with 1 teaspoon oil.
4. Heat a 12-inch nonstick or carbon-steel skillet over high heat for 2 minutes, until a drop of water skitters. Add 1 tablespoon of the neutral oil, then the shiitake and onion. Cook undisturbed 1 minute to get color, then stir and cook 1 minute more.
5. Add the carrot, cabbage and scallion whites with a pinch of salt. Stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes, tossing every 20 seconds, until the cabbage has wilted at the edges but still has snap. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Scrape the vegetables onto a plate.
6. Return the skillet to high heat, add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, and add the loosened noodles in an even layer. Let them sit undisturbed 1 to 2 minutes to blister and brown on the bottom, then toss and press flat again for another minute. Add the 2 tablespoons water if they stick or seem stiff.
7. Return the vegetables to the skillet, pour the sauce down the side of the pan, and toss constantly with tongs for 60 to 90 seconds until every strand is coated and the sauce has reduced to a glaze with no liquid pooling in the pan.
8. Kill the heat, fold in the scallion greens, and divide among four bowls. Top with sesame seeds and, if you like, beni shoga, a sprinkle of aonori and a zigzag of Japanese mayonnaise. Eat immediately — yakisoba waits for no one.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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