Veggie Yakisoba with Avocado is a quick and easy recipe for busy weeknights. It tastes great as a cold leftover too.
Veggie Yakisoba with Avocado was just what I needed as the weather starts to cool down. it has been too hot for ages. I swear every summer seems hotter and hotter. I may have to start vacationing somewhere like Alaska or someplace that promises never to hit triple digits. I still love California weather overall though.
Traditionally the finished noodles are topped with a variety of garnishes, like seaweed that has been crushed into a powder, pickled ginger, katsuobushi (fish flakes), and mayonnaise. I avoid regular mayo when possible. I did find some So Good miso mayo that is pretty tasty. You could try some of these garnishes, or keep it simple with a sprinkling of thinly sliced scallions. I used avocados on the side since I wanted a sort of meaty flavor in the absence of chicken I normally see in this dish.
I used Hakubaku Organic Soba, Authentic Japanese Buckwheat Noodles. You can use any brand that’s available though. Just follow package directions.
One of my favorite noodle dishes is yakisoba, Japanese stir-fried noodles. Soba means thin, spaghetti-like noodles made from buckwheat flour, which are stir-fried along with vegetables and tossed in a sweet and savory sauce. Hot or cold, these are a bowl of yum.
Chilled soba is often served on a sieve-like bamboo tray called a zaru, sometimes garnished with bits of dried nori seaweed, with a dipping sauce known as soba tsuyu on the side. The tsuyu is made of a strong mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce and mirin. Using chopsticks, the diner picks up a small amount of soba from the tray and dips it in the cold tsuyu before eating it. Many people think that the best way to experience the unique texture of hand-made soba noodles is to eat them cold, since letting them soak in hot broth changes their consistency.
Hot soba dishes:
- Kake soba: Hot soba in broth topped with thinly sliced scallion.
- Haikara soba: Topped with tenkasu (bits of deep-fried tempura batter).
- Tsukimi soba: (moon-viewing soba): Topped with raw egg, which poaches in the hot soup.
- Wakame soba: Topped with wakame seaweed
- Nameko soba: Topped with nameko mushroom
Cold soba dishes:
- Mori soba: Basic chilled soba noodles served on a flat basket or a plate.
- Zaru soba: Mori soba topped with shredded nori seaweed.
- Hadaka soba (naked soba): Cold soba served on its own.
- Hiyashi soba Cold soba served with various toppings sprinkled on top.
I decided to whip up a version that includes carrots, red onion, savoy cabbage, garlic, and ginger, but instead of adding chicken or pork, I topped the noodles with fresh avocado & green onions.
- 2 8 oz.packages fresh yakisoba noodles
- ⅓ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup mirin
- 3 Tbsp. low sodium soy sauce
- 2 tsp. toasted sesame oil
- 1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil, plus additional oil as needed
- ½ medium carrot (about 2 ounces), peeled and cut into small strips
- ½ red onion, vertically sliced
- ¼ savoy cabbage (about 10 ounces), cored and shredded
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
- 2 ripe, avocados, seeded, peeled, cut into thin slices, then halved
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- Heat and separate the noodles according to the package directions. Set aside.
- Combine ketchup, mirin, soy sauce, & sesame oil in a small bowl, set aside.
- Heat the grapeseed oil in a large sauté pan or work over medium-high heat.
- Add the carrots and onions and stir-fry from 1 minute
- Add the cabbage and continue to stir-fry until the veggies have softened.
- While cooking, drizzle in additional grapeseed oil as needed.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the noodles to the pan and toss to combine
- Add the ketchup mixture and stir constantly until everything is well coated,
- Stir until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Remove from the heat, top with avocado slices and scallions, serve
Cooking tunes:
V/A – Dope, Guns and F*^*ing in the Streets, Vols. 4-7
Rollins Band – A Nicer Shade of Red
DEATH – spiritual, mental, physical
Writing tunes:
The Misfits – Collection 1 and 2 – Box set
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree
