Noodles
Yakisoba
焼きそば
23 varieties
Yakisoba is steamed Chinese-style noodles stir-fried with toppings and seasoned with sauce, salt, soy sauce, or miso; it is said to have spread nationwide as stall and festival food. Local forms differ in the noodle itself (Fujinomiya's steamed noodles, Yokote's thick boiled ones) and in how the flavor is set (Kuroishi's broth, Nasushiobara's soup, Itoigawa's squid ink, the curry of Omigawa and Aizu), while port towns add seafood and inland regions add offal or mountain produce. This section follows each style of flavor and noodle to the reasons it took shape.
Dishes tied to a place19
- Abura Zomen油ゾーメンKagoshimasomen fried with pork and a splash of broth until the oil turns silky
- Aizu Curry Yakisoba会津カレー焼きそばFukushima Aizuwakamatsusauce yakisoba topped with a curry roux in Fukushima
- Fujinomiya Yakisoba富士宮やきそばShizuoka FujinomiyaPostwar Shizuoka yakisoba with chewy steamed noodles and pork-lard bits
- Hiruzen Yakisoba蒜山焼そばOkayama Maniwa (Hiruzen)Okayama highland yakisoba fried in a house miso sauce
- Hita Yakisoba日田やきそばOita HitaOita noodles fried hard on the griddle until the edges turn crisp
- HorusobaホルそばTottori City, TottoriTottori's beef-offal yakisoba fried in a miso tare
- Ina Romen伊那ローメンNagano InaNagano's steamed-noodle stir-fry of mutton and cabbage
- Ishinomaki Yakisoba石巻焼きそばMiyagi IshinomakiMiyagi yakisoba made from noodles that start out brown, twice-steamed
- Itoigawa Black Yakisoba糸魚川ブラック焼きそばNiigata Itoigawasquid-ink-darkened yakisoba from Niigata's coast
- Joshu Ota Yakisoba上州太田焼きそばGunma OtaFactory-town yakisoba carried in by postwar migrant workers from Tohoku
- SobameshiそばめしHyogo Kobe (Nagata Ward)Kobe's chopped yakisoba and rice fry-up
- Kuroishi Tsuyu Yakisoba黒石つゆやきそばAomori KuroishiAomori's fried noodles served drowned in a savory broth
- Nakaminato Yakisoba那珂湊焼きそばIbaraki Hitachinaka (Nakaminato)Ibaraki's fishing-port yakisoba with hand-stretched steamed noodles
- Namie Yakisobaなみえ焼そばFukushima NamieFukushima yakisoba built on noodles about three times the usual thickness
- Omigawa Curry Yakisoba小見川カレー焼きそばChiba Katori (Omigawa)Chiba's ramen-like curry-dusted yakisoba
- Otaru Ankake Yakisoba小樽あんかけ焼そばHokkaido OtaruHokkaido's thick-sauced fried noodles, credited to a harbor-town diner
- Soup Yakisobaスープ入り焼きそばTochigi Nasushiobara (Shiobara)Nasushiobara's sauce yakisoba drowned in soy broth
- Ueda Ankake Yakisoba上田あんかけ焼きそばNagano UedaNagano's fried noodles under a mustard-spiked sauce
- Yokote Yakisoba横手やきそばAkita YokoteAkita stall food finished with a fried egg and pickled red ginger
No single place of origin4
Before you go
- How to read a ticket machineShops that use a ticket machine (shokken-ki) often place their most popular items in a similar spot.
- Foods to look for in summerA guide to foods often seen in Japan around summer — eel on the Day of the Ox, hiyashi chuka, somen, shaved ice, edamame with beer, and hamo — with rough pointers for finding them.
- Tanabata and festival food stallsA guide to the somen said to be eaten on Tanabata, and to festival-stall staples like yakisoba, takoyaki, candy apples, and shaved ice.
The dishes behind chain flavors
The flavors of national chains are said to trace back to dishes from particular places. Pick a chain to see the dish behind it.
Yakisoba no Marusho — Chiba's yakisoba specialty chain
Yakisoba no Marusho is said to be building sauce yakisoba, long seen as street-stall food, into a proper restaurant specialty.
Nagata Honjoken — Kobe's bokkake yakisoba specialty chain
Nagata Honjoken's bokkake yakisoba is said to combine yakisoba with "bokkake," a simmered beef tendon dish loved in the working-class Nagata district of Kobe.
Sofuren — Oita Hita's teppan yakisoba chain
Sofuren's yakisoba is said to be spreading "Hita Yakisoba," born in Hita, Oita, nationwide through franchising.