Shrimp Yakisoba is a favorite Japanese dish of stir fried noodles with plump shrimp and tender vegetables in a savory-sweet sauce. It’s an easy and delicious weeknight meal.
Like Beef Yakisoba, this Shrimp Yakisoba combines tender Japanese wheat noodles with protein and veggies. In this case, shrimp, cabbage, thin slices of onion, mushrooms, and carrots are tangled up with the nooodles.
A sweet-savory sauce made of oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, and other ingredients finishes off the Shrimp Yakisoba recipe.
If you love Beef Yakisoba, this Shrimp Yakisoba is a nice change of pace. It has all the same great flavors, but is a bit lighter and lets the veggies really shine. For another seafood-plus-noodles dish that makes a quick, easy and delicious weeknight dinner, try this Tuna Pesto Pasta.
WHAT INGREDIENTS DO YOU NEED?
Shrimp Yakisoba is a great weeknight dish because it requires just a few basic ingredients. If you don’t have the exact ingredients listed, you can substitute what you do have. This stir fried noodles recipe is super flexible.
- Cooking oil—You can use any high smoke point, neutral flavored oil. I like peanut oil, avocado oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil, canola oil, etc.
- Shrimp—Save yourself time and effort and buy shrimp that is already peeled and deveined.
- Noodles—Yakisoba noodles are different from soba noodles (the ones made from buckwheat and usually served cold). They are more similar to ramen noodles. Yakisoba noodles are made from wheat flour with kansui (an alkalinizing agent), which gives them a springy texture and yellowish tint. Use dry yakisoba noodles or chuka soba noodles or fresh or frozen yakisoba noodles. You can substitute udon noodles or even spaghetti noodles, but the texture will of course be different.
- Vegetables—Use a mixture of cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, and onions—or substitute what you have on hand. For instance, try adding sliced bell pepper, bean sprouts, or broccoli, if you have them.
- Homemade yakisoba sauce—The Shrimp Yakisoba Sauce easy to whip up using soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, chile paste, and sugar. Try adding a splash of sesame oil if you like. If you don’t want to make your own yakisoba sauce, you can purchase it in an Asian supermarket or online.
- Garnish—You can top your Shrimp Yakisoba with sliced green onions or toasted sesame seeds.
HOW DO YOU MAKE IT?
Making yakisoba is really easy! You just cook the noodles and then saute all the other ingredients in a skillet. Add the noodles to the skillet along with a quick sauce and toss to mix everything together. Here’s the step-by-step:
- Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain them well in a colander.
- Stir the sauce ingredients together.
- Heat a bit of oil in a large skillet or a walk set over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring, just until they are pink, opaque, and cooked through. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl or plate.
- Add more oil to the skillet and stir fry the vegetables until they are tender.
- Add shrimp back to the skillet along with the cooked noodles and the sauce. Cook, tossing to coat to mix everything together and coat it with the sauce.
- Serve immediately.
WHAT DO YOU SERVE WITH IT?
Shrimp Yakisoba combines noodles, shrimp, and veggies in one pan, so it is a full meal by itself. If you want to add sides, Japanese Cucumber Salad, Spicy Cucumber Salad, or quick Cucumber Kimchi are refreshing and add some nice crunch.
more japanese recipes you’ll love
If you love Japanese food as much as I do, try my Spicy Miso Ramen or Chicken Karaage. For sides and snacks, don’t miss my Onigiri, Yaki Onigiri, Soy Sauce Eggs, Stir-Fried Lotus Root, or Chawanmushi.
For breakfast or brunch, try Japanese Souffle Pancakes with a nice cold Matcha Milk Tea!
Shrimp Yakisoba
Ingredients
For the noodles
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil divided
- 1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp
- 8 ounces dried yakisoba or chuka soba noodles or 16 ounces fresh or frozen yakisoba noodles
- ½ small onion sliced
- 1 carrot peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 6 shiitake mushrooms stemmed and sliced
- ¼ green cabbage thinly sliced
- 2 green onions sliced
For the sauce
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 teaspoons chile paste
- 1 ½ teaspoons sugar
Instructions
- Cook the noodles al dente in a pot of boiling water—about 2 minutes for dried chuka soba noodles or 1 minute for fresh noodles. Drain in a colander and rinse with cool water to stop the
cooking. Leave in a colander in the sink to drain while you continue with the recipe. - In a bowl whisk together the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, chile paste, and sugar.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring frequently, until pink and cooked through, about 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp
to a plate or bowl. - Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the skillet along with the onion, carrot, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the cabbage and green onions and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute, until the cabbage begins to wilt. Add the shrimp and noodles and cook, stirring to mix well, for about 2 minutes more until everything is warmed through and the cabbage is beginning to wilt.
- Add the sauce and cook, tossing to coat the noodles well with the sauce and mix everything together, for about 2 more minutes.
- Serve hot.
Notes
noodles or fresh or frozen yakisoba noodles.
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