Shrimp Yakisoba (Shrimp Yaki Soba) is a Japanese stir fried noodle dish. Packed with succulent juicy shrimp, veggies, noodles and a soy based sauce, it has great flavour and texture. Yakisoba shrimp is perfect whatever night of the week takes your fancy for it!
Recipes like my Shrimp Yaki Udon, Chicken Yaki Udon and Beef Yaki Udon get us into the kitchen and getting our Japanese on.
My Beef Yakisoba and Pork Mince Noodles are similar, however, use a different protein or veggie combo.
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Recipe Highlights
Of the many reasons that you will come to love this recipe, these are the top points that I think will draw you in the most:
- Packed with vegetables: we use 4 different types of veggies in the dish, so you can be sure that you are getting a good daily serving!
- Food prep friendly: this is a great recipe to get the little things together for and then it is prepped for later. Eg prep the veggies on the Sunday so you can come home and home cook Japanese on the Monday night.
- Everyday ingredients: everything you need to make the recipe is easy to get a hold of. With substitutions and variations for some of the ingredients you can cater to your personal preferences.
- Fuss free and effortless: this recipe gets cooked in the one pan and by following the instructions on the packet to cook the noodles. In the end, we simply combine it all to get the dish on the table.
- Versatile: there are so many vegetables that can be used, the list is endless. If you make the dish regularly, you can easily switch it up a little by changing the combination of vegetables used.
Ingredients
Everything that you need to make the recipe is shown in the photo below. For exact measurements and detailed instructions, scroll to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
As you can see, the recipe calls for:
- Shrimp (Prawns): I am using fresh banana prawns which I peeled and deveined myself. You can used frozen thawed prawns, but I find their texture more watery than fresh ones.
- Noodles: I am using Instant (Ramen) noodles. You can use these or your favourite noodles. Some Asian grocery stores will sell 'yakisoba noodles', but I find it isn't necessary to go to that extreme as regular noodles are almos identical and can be sourced from the local supermarket.
- Cabbage: I love using this in stir fry recipes as it is easy to finely chop and cooks quickly. Simply slice thinly and cut any chunky core bits away.
- Onions: peel and thinly slice. I use ½ an onion which measures about 1 cup.
- Carrots: these are great to stir fry as they cook quickly but also keep their crunch. You can either peel and cut into thin slices (as shown in the photo) or leave unpeeled. You can also slice into rounds instead of strips if you wish.
- Pickled ginger: benji shoga is the traditional garnish which is shredded picked ginger. If you can't find it, you can use gari, which is pickled sushi ginger (shown in the photos throughout the post). The main difference between the 2 is in their texture, one is shredded and the other sliced. They are also pickled with different vinegars, benji shoga uses plum vinegar and gari uses sweet vinegar.
- Sriracha sauce: optional ingredient to use when serving to add a little heat to the dish.
Top Tip: try and use vegetables cut in a way that they will be easy to be picked up whilst using chopsticks. Long thin strips are good, small pieces of diced vegetables can be harder to pick up and require greater dexterity or a fork.
Shrimp Yakisoba Sauce
- Soy sauce: this is the regular most common type of soy sauce available at the shops. You can use a salt reduced version if you wish.
- Oyster sauce: this is thick and salty! It is a great way to thicken the sauce as well being readily available and budget friendly.
- Worcestershire sauce (Worcester sauce): this is unique to yakisoba and how to get the umami flavour into the dish (savoriness).
- Ketchup: also known as tomato sauce. Is added for sweetness and flavour.
- Brown sugar: just a little bit which balances the high saltiness from the noodles and soy/oyster sauce.
Instructions
Here are the step by step instructions to make the recipe. We start by making the sauce. You need a mini whisk and glass jug.
- Gather the sauce ingredients (Photo 1)
- Whisk to combine (Photo 2)
- Add oil then shrimp to pan and cook (Photo 3)
- Add vegetables and stir fry for 2 to 3 mins (Photo 4)
How to Make Shrimp Yakisoba
Start by gathering the ingredients needed to make the sauce. Whisk them together in a small jug and then set side.
Next cook the shrimp by heating the peanut oil and adding them to the pan.
Once they are done, you can remove them from the pan and add the vegetables. Stir fry these for 2 to 3 mins. They will have a sweaty wet look about them.
Read the instructions on the packet for the noodles and cook them (at the same time as you are cooking the veggies), then drain them and discard the water.
- Add cooked noodles to cooked vegetables (Photo 5)
- Transfer cooked shrimp back to the pan (Photo 6)
- Pour the sauce over the dish (Photo 7)
- Stir to combine and heat the dish through (Photo 8)
It is quite magical to see the sauce transform the bright white or light noodles into a golden brown delicious looking yum kinof colour.
It is important to stir (I use chopsticks at this point) to ensure that the sauce coats and covers everything and it is mixed in well together.
Once the dish is cooked, hot and ready to serve, you have the option to garnish with a few ingredients for extra flavour and texture if you wish.
Picked ginger and sriracha sauce are good ideas (shown in the ingredients photo) as are sesame seeds and or finely sliced green onions.
The dish itself has plenty of colour and texture, so it is not necessary to add too much to it for serving, but you can if you wish!
As you can see chopsticks are so handy as they let you get your noodle on and also collect and chow down on the juicy shrimps, crispy veggies and all together yum that you have just created.
Yakisoba with shrimp is so easy, you can make it any night of the week!
Serving Suggestions
Portion and plate the dish into bowls and provide chopsticks for serving.
You can also provide little bowls for the table with sriracha sauce, picked ginger, toasted sesame seeds and finely chopped green onions.
If you want to serve an entree or starter, I recommend my Air Fryer Frozen Spring Rolls or gyoza with dipping sauce.
How to Guide
How to Store
Allow the dish to cool before transferring and storing in an air tight container for 1-2 days.
How to Freeze
If you have used frozen thawed shrimp in the recipe, it is not always a good idea to refreeze them as they loose their bit.
If however, you used fresh shrimp/prawns, you can let the dish cool, portion into air tight containers and freeze.
How to Reheat
Reheating noodles can have mixed results if they have been frozen.
You can heat leftovers in the microwave easily for 2 to 3 mins.
If you want to freeze any leftovers, ensure that they have had a chance to fully thaw before reheating. Again, either in the microwave or a pan on the stove with a couple of drops of oil to ensure they don't stick to the pan.
Substitutions and Variations
Regular readers know I like to give a few options in my recipes so that you have some choices and can mend things to your preferences. Try the following add ins or outs and let me know what you think in the comments below the recipe card!
- Switch in gluten free noodles if that is your preference.
- Add a few drops of sesame oil to the noodles if they are sticking together.
- Drop toasted sesame seeds over the dish as a serving suggestion.
- Change the protein and try cooked beef, pork or chicken to the recipe.
- Switch the veggies to your favourites, try mushrooms, buk choy, capsicum, wombok and bell pepper for alternatives to my suggestions.
- Serve with pickled ginger (shredded is traditional for the dish), sushi ginger is another serving option.
🤓 Frequently Asked Questions
Is yakisoba the same as lo mein?
Yakisoba and Lo mein are very similar dishes, both consisting of noodles, stir fried vegetables, a protein and soy based sauce.
The main difference between the 2 recipes are the taste. This is largely due to the addition of worcestershire sauce and ketchup in the yakisoba, where as lo mein tends to stick to a quite specific Asian flavoured sauce combination.
How do you make shrimp yakisoba?
There is 5 main steps to making shrimp yakisoba.
- Make the sauce
- Cook the shrimp
- Stir fry the vegetables
- Cook the noodles
- Combine all ingredients and pour the sauce over
What is the difference between udon and yakisoba?
Udon refers to the thick white wheat based udon noodles.
Yakisoba refers to the name of the stir fried Japanese dish.
They are different as one is an ingredient and the other the dish itself.
How many calories are in yakisoba shrimp?
This recipe has 4 x portions, which each portion having 218kcal.
What kind of noodles are yakisoba?
Whilst you may find yakisoba noodles at the Asian grocery store, you can also use regular instant, ramen or 2 minute noodles to make the yakisoba.
Discard any flavoured seasoning or dried vegetables that come with the noodles, but cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet.
What do you eat with yakisoba?
Yakisoba noodles are hugely popular in Japan and often sold by market vendors at shrines and temples.
It is common to have a protein in the dish, such as pork, chicken or seafood. You can also use beef as an alternative. Shredded pickled ginger is often served with the stir fried noodles as a garnish.
😍 Related Recipes
If noodles and pasta dishes with these textures are right up your alley, then here are some more of my favourites for you to try:
- Seafood Yaki Udon
- Soy Sauce Noodles
- Chilli Garlic Noodles
- Ginger Scallion Noodles
- Prawn Stir Fry Noodles
- Salmon Noodle Stir Fry
- Hungover Noodles
- Creamy Garlic Prawns
- Coconut Prawns
Get your shrimp on my friends, in the pan not the barbie!
Adrianne xx
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📖 Recipe
Shrimp Yakisoba
Equipment
- 1 Glass jug
- 1 Mini whisk
- 1 Large fry pan
- 1 Wooden spoon
- 1 Spoon holder
- 1 Chopsticks
- 1 Kitchen Tongs
- 1 Saucepan or Bowl to cook the noodles
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon peanut oil
- 500 grams shrimp (prawns) peeled, deveined, Note 1
- 2 cups cabbage cut into long thin strips
- ½ cup onion peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 green onions roots and tips trimmed, cut into 4 sections
- 1 cup carrots peeled and cut into long thin strips
- 4 cakes instant noodles Note 2
- pickled ginger optional to serve
- sriracha sauce optional to serve
Shrimp Yakisboa Sauce
- 2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon ketchup (tomato sauce)
- 2 teaspoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Make the sauce: gather the sauce ingredients, use a mini whisk to combine and set aside.
- Cook the shrimp (prawns): heat 2 tbs of peanut oil in large pan at high heat. Add shrimp and cook for 3-5 mins. They will be bright orange when they are done. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cook the vegetables: add cabbage,onions, green onions and carrots to pan. Stir fry for 2- 3 mins.
- Cook the noodles: read and follow the instructions on the packet to cook the noodles. Drain and discard water.
- Combine: add the cooked noodles to the stir fried vegetables, add the cooked shrimp and pour the sauce over the dish. Use chopsticks to combine and ensure sauce is consistenly mixed throughout.
- To serve: portion into bowls and serve with chopsticks. Add pickled ginger, chopped green onions (green bits) for garnish (optional).
Notes
- Note 1 - Shrimp: I am fresh prawns that I peeled and deveined. Whilst I feel that sometimes frozen prawns (shrimp) are more conveninet, I feel some brands can lack taste and texture, so whilst it is a little bit fiddly I would almost always prefer fresh over frozen.
- Note 2 - Noodles: I am using Instant noodles (ramen noodles). I buy a large packet that has no seasoning or dried vegetables. This way I am not discarding anything from the packet. They are budget friendly and are usually in the Asian foods section of the supermarket. You might know them as 2 minute noodles.
- Note 3 - Nutritional Information: is provided as a user friendly guide. Portion size and ingredients will impact kcal information
Carmen says
Another great one we cannot wait to make, thank-you for such great recipes Adrianne.
Adrianne says
Awww thanks Carmen! That is great feedback. Appreciate it.