Chicken Yakisoba

This simple chicken yakisoba recipe combines the savory flavors of stir-fried noodles with bite-size pieces of soy-soaked chicken thighs for a satisfying dinner you can pull off any weeknight. A classic Japanese noodle dish, yakisoba (literally “fried noodles”) is made with wheat-based egg noodles that are stir-fried and slicked in a savory-sweet yakisoba sauce, often made from Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, oyster sauce, and more.

Our version skips the Worcestershire in favor of heavier doses of soy and oyster sauces to really home in on their particular umami profiles, and rounds out the sauce ingredients with a bit of mirin (Japanese cooking wine). The resulting glaze coats the noodles and chicken, helping them caramelize as they sauté in the pan, and adding depth and complexity to each bite. We’ve opted to use bell peppers, cabbage, and mushrooms to enhance the dish, but you can swap in whatever vegetables you have on hand, such as bok choy, thin strips of zucchini, bean sprouts, scallions, or carrot matchsticks.

If you can’t find yakisoba noodles at your local market, seek them out at an Asian grocery store, or swap in fresh ramen noodles (like the ones from Sun Foods), or homemade udon or miki noodles.