Yokote Yakisoba (横手やきそば)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide frying pan or teppan griddle
• •Tongs or cooking chopsticks
• •Small frying pan for eggs

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the sauce

   Stir together the chuno sauce, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and dashi. Taste it now. It should be sweet-salty and a little stronger than you want the finished noodles to be, because the cabbage and egg will soften it.

   Dashi gives the sauce depth without making it heavy. If you need a meatless table, use konbu and dried shiitake dashi. That belongs to the Japanese kitchen and isn't a compromise.
2. 2

   Loosen the noodles

   If the noodles are tight or starchy, rinse them briefly under warm water and drain well. You are separating the strands, not washing away their character. Loose noodles meet the pan evenly and take the sauce without tearing.

3. 3

   Brown the pork

   Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wide frying pan or teppan over medium-high heat. Add the ground pork and spread it out so it browns before it steams in its own juices. Cook until the edges smell savory and the pink is gone.

4. 4

   Soften the vegetables

   Add the onion and cabbage and stir-fry until the cabbage turns glossy and bends at the edges, about 2 minutes. Keep a little crunch. The vegetables should sweeten the noodles, not disappear into them.

5. 5

   Warm the noodles

   Add the noodles and toss them through the pork and cabbage. Pour in 2 tablespoons of the mixed sauce and let the noodles warm and loosen, using chopsticks or tongs to lift rather than mash. Lifting keeps the strands whole.

6. 6

   Glaze with sauce

   Pour in the remaining sauce and toss for 1 to 2 minutes, just until the noodles are evenly coated and glossy. Stop before the pan turns dry. Yokote yakisoba should look lacquered, not scorched.

7. 7

   Fry the eggs

   In a separate small pan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Crack in the eggs and fry until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft. The yolk is meant to break into the noodles, so don't cook it hard unless you must.

8. 8

   Plate and finish

   Mound the noodles on two plates with a little height, set one egg on each, and spoon fukujinzuke alongside. Finish with a small pinch of aonori if you like. Eat by breaking the yolk through the top first, then taking a little pickle with every few bites.

Chef Tips

• •Straight noodles matter here. Yokote yakisoba is not built on the curly steamed noodles most people picture first, so look for thick straight yakisoba noodles if your market carries regional styles.
• •Don't drown the pan in sauce at the beginning. The sauce belongs at the end, where it can glaze the noodles instead of making them slump.
• •Fukujinzuke is not the same as beni shoga. The red pickle for this dish is sweet, crisp, and mixed from vegetables, and its sweetness is part of the local balance.

Advance Preparation

• •The sauce can be mixed up to 3 days ahead and kept refrigerated.
• •Cabbage and onion can be cut a day ahead and kept chilled in a covered container.
• •Cook the noodles just before serving. They lose their spring if held after saucing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 410g)