Ankake Yakisoba is a great lunch but it is not very famous. Chewy Chinese noodles with Ankake, a flavored sauce that is thickened by adding cornflour/corn starch, and some vegetables on top make it really delicious. It is also a quick dish so even if you have a busy day, you can make it quickly!
I don’t think Ankake Yakisoba is a well-known dish, but this is an amazing dish that you should try to cook! This was one of the most special lunches I ate when I was middle school student. When the kyushoku (school lunch) menu mentioned Ankake yakisoba, all the students were happy including me. It is a memorable dish and I hope so many people can try this!
What is Ankake?
Ankake (餡掛け) is a generic term for a flavored sauce that is thickened by adding cornflour/corn starch or any other kind of starch. The flavor of the sauce can be almost anything, but the most traditional Ankake flavors are a simple torigara soup base or soy sauce flavor. Ankake can be used on just about anything – rice, noodles (ankake yakisoba), veggies, tofu, eggs (ankake omelettes/omurice), meat, and more.
In this recipe, I use pork but you can add shrimp, some fish, other meat, or just vegetables. It is up to you but I personally love thinly sliced pork for this meal!
The Ingredients for Making Ankake Yakisoba
Here are the ingredients for making Ankake Yakisoba! Chinese noodles might be difficult to find at your local grocery stores but Amazon sells them (HERE)! Also, if you have corn starch at home it’s fine but if not, you should buy Katakuriko! Katakuriko is potato starch and a lot of Japanese recipes use it so it’s worth having!
Ingredients for Ankake Yakisoba
- chinese noodles
- thinly sliced pork
- large onion
- shiitake mushroom
- chinese cabbage
- carrot
- green onion
Ingredients for Ankake Sauce
- water
- sake
- torigara soup base
- salt
- black pepper
- sesame oil
- katakuriko or Potato Starch
Q&A Which Noodles Should I Use for Ankake Yakisoba?
I recommend Welpac Chow Mein Stir-Fry Noodles if you can find them! I can find them at my local grocery store with no problem but I don’t think all the groceries sell them. Amazon also has them. If you can’t find them, Japanese Yakisoba noodles are also good. You can find them at Asian or Japanese grocery stores!
Similar Recipes to Ankake Yakisoba on Oishi Book
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Ankake Yakisoba
Ingredients
- 1 pack chinese noodles
- 160 g thinly sliced pork
- 1/3 large onion
- 4 shiitake mushroom
- 100 g Chinese cabbage
- 100 g carrot
sauce
- 1 ¼ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon sake
- 1 Tablespoon torigara soup base
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 ½ Tablespoon katakuriko or Potato Starch
Instructions
Preparation
- Boil water in a medium pot. Once it's boiling, add Chinese noodles and cook until the noodles are loosened. Strain the water.
- Cut pork into 1 inch (2.54cm) long pieces.
- Cut onion into thin slices.
- Cut shiitake, carrot, and Chinese cabbage into bite size pieces.
Let's cook Ankake!
- Use a medium frying pan, turn the heat to medium and add pork. Cook until the pork is no longer pink.
- Add the onion to the pan, and cook until the onion gets softer and clear in color.
- Add shiitake mushroom, Chinese cabbage, carrot, water, sake, torigara soup base, salt, and freshly ground black pepper into the pan. Bring it to a boil and once it's started, boil for 1 minute.
- Cover with a lid and cook with medium low heat for 5 minutes.
- Open the lid and add katakuriko and stir quickly to avoid clumping.*1
- Add sesame oil to finish. Stir.
Let's eat!
- In a deep plate, add the noodles and put the Ankake you just made! This is a great lunch!
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