Vegan Yakisoba Noodles

Yakisoba is a stir-fried noodle dish and popular street food in Japan. In this recipe by Joyful Dumplings, Shu-Chun uses pre-cooked yakisoba noodles available from most supermarkets and seitan as her preferred protein. The vegan version is quite easy to make with colourful vegetables and a protein of your choice, such as firm tofu, seitan, tofu puffs, tempeh, etc.

Serves 4 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cooking time: 10 mins

INGREDIENTS

• 600 g Pre-cooked Yakisoba Noodles (can use ramen noodles or other dried noodles that don’t contain eggs)
• 100 g Brown Onion, thinly sliced
• 70 g Carrot, cut into matchsticks
• 75 g Green Bell Pepper (Capsicum), cut into thin strips
• 75 g Red Bell Pepper (Capsicum), cut into thin strips
• 200 g Seitan (Wheat Gluten) (can be store-bought or make your own seitan)
• 260 g Cabbage, slice into thin strips
• 3 Tbsp Cooking Oil (I used grapeseed oil which has a neutral flavour, and a high smoking point for high heat cooking, same as avocado and peanut oil)

Yakisoba Stir-fry Sauce

• 2 Tbsp Vegan Oyster Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce
• 2 Tbsp Ketchup
• 2 Tbsp Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 tsp Maple Syrup
• 1/2 tsp Toasted Sesame Oil
• 1/4 tsp Ground White Pepper
• 2 Tbsp Water

METHOD

1. Preparation: Slice seitan, brown onion, carrot, green and red bell peppers, and cabbage into thin strips. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the yakisoba stir-fry sauce in a bowl, combine all of them together then set aside.
2. Stir fry seitan and veggies separately: In a large wok or skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the seitan and cook until slightly golden in colour then take out. Do the same to sliced onion, carrots, green and red bell pepper, and cabbage, cook until they are softened, remove, and set aside.
3. Prep the noodles: Remove the pre-cooked noodles from their package, and place them in a colander. Quickly boil the noodles in hot boiling water for a minute until the noodles are separated. (If you use dried ramen noodles, please cook them according to the instruction on the package).
4. Heat up the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the noodles into the skillet then pour the yakisoba stir-fry sauce mixture onto the noodles, stir and mix well.
5. Finish the dish: Add the cooked seitan and vegetables back to the skillet. Toss everything together using tongs. Cook for another 2 minutes until everything heats through.
6. Serve: Serve immediately with garnish (sliced green onion, Nori Fume Furikake*) if preferred.

Note: *Nori Fume Furikake is a Japanese seasoning made with sesame seeds and seaweed flakes

Thanks to https://www.veganeasy.org/