The most popular person at any Japanese street festival is the yakisoba guy. Standing at a small cart with a hot griddle, he wears a twisted hair band and holds two giant spatulas, one in each hand. With great energy and fanfare he stir-fries a heap of vegetables and pork with chukasoba noodles—the yellow, springy Chinese-style wheat noodles more commonly known as ramen. He finishes with a glug of the special bottled sauce that tastes like a spicier version of tonkatsu sauce, and customers walk toward him like zombies. At home, however, the dish is best cooked one portion at a time.

　　

Ingredients

Serves 1

　　2 tablespoons vegetable oil

　　2 ounces pork belly, thinly sliced, then cut into 3/4-inch pieces

　　1/2 cup thinly sliced yellow onion

　　1/4 cup 2-inch-long matchsticks peeled carrot

　　1 cup roughly chopped (about 2 by 3/4-inch pieces) loosely packed white cabbage

　　1 (5 1/2-ounce) package yakisoba noodles (a heaping cup)

　　2 tablespoons jarred yakisoba sauce, preferably the Otafuku brand

　　1 tablespoon shredded beni shoga (red pickled ginger)

　　1 heaping tablespoon bonito flakes

　　1/2 teaspoon aonori (powdered seaweed) or finely chopped nori seaweed sheets

　　

Step 1

Heat the oil in a medium-wide nonstick or cast-iron skillet over high heat until the oil shimmers. Add the pork belly, onion, and carrot and cook, stirring frequently, for about 30 seconds. Add the cabbage and cook, stirring, until it wilts slightly and the onion is lightly browned at the edges, about 3 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Add the noodles and cook, tossing with tongs, until the noodles are heated through, about 3 minutes. As you toss, gently separate the strands. (If the noodles don’t separate easily, add a splash of water to the pan.) Add the sauce and continue to cook, tossing, until thoroughly coated, about 1 minute. Season with more sauce to taste, toss well, and transfer to a bowl. Top with the beni shoga, bonito flakes, and aonori. Eat right away.

　　Cooks' Notes:

　　At Japanese grocery stores, chukasoba are sold in the refrigerated section in bags with sauce packets, and labeled “yakisoba.” I typically ignore the packets and instead use the tastier Otafuku brand yakisoba sauce. Why don’t I make my own? Well, then the stir-fry would be a chore (you wouldn’t make your own ketchup for a burger, would you?) rather than a quick lunch or perfect late-night snack.

　　From Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking © 2016 byMasaharu Morimoto. Reprinted by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.Buy the full book from HarperCollins or from Amazon.