The season of yakisoba
As the temperature grows colder in Japan convenience stores start selling seasonal snacks such as sweet potato flavoured everything! They also start selling Yakisoba wheat noodles coated in a sweet soy sauce-based yakisoba sauce, sometimes topped with mayo and usually with cabbage! This dish has found its way over to the west and I was hooked on them; I even introduced my mother to Yakisoba who was very partially to the duck flavoured version we had. Yakisoba is a dry noodle and can be found at differing price points in Japan. Today I am focusing on the big three convenience stores and their own name brand Yakisoba and reviewing my thoughts on them.
The first offering I had was from Lawson this one came with two sauce packets and cabbage under the dried noodles which rehydrates whilst the hot water cooks the noodles. The two sauce packets are added once the water is drained after three minutes. The noodles are slightly wider, and I loved the texture of them they are springy and the sauce flavour is very strong, I think this is because the sauce you mix in with the oil clings to the noodles better. There is a lot of noodles in this offering perfect to fill you up on a cold day. A solid 7.5/10.
The next one to cross my table was from Family mart this one has three packets one with the dried cabbage which is added prior to the water stage. After the magical three minutes is up you can add the sauce packets and enjoy your noodles. The flavour is strong and sweet just how I like it however for me the noodles are small and round. They do not pick up sauce as nicely and there is no satisfying spring to them. But overall, I would buy again if I was in a pinch. I would award it a 6.5/10.
The last of the big three was 7 Eleven this is coming with four sauce packets outdoing the others for number. There are some differences with this offering the first is the soup it comes with; you pour it into a cup on the side and enjoy your Yakisoba with a side of soup made from the water you pour out after only 1 minute this time. The vegetables are added before the water, and the last big difference is the sauce. The sauce is not a sauce like the other two but a powder which is mixed into the dry noodles and oil. The noodles are like the family mart offering round and thing which I wasn’t a fan of. The sauce is milder out of all the above most likely because it’s a powder and coverage isn’t as good as with a liquid. The soup was very cabbage forward and asides that didn’t really have a taste or add anything for me. Overall, a 6/10 for me.
All in all, Yakisoba is something I recommend trying on your journey over here, it can be found easily and in the instant Yakisoba version it is very quick and easy to make. Yakisoba is also very cheap making it a nice budget meal on your trip if you want to save your yen for a bigger meal. I really enjoy the taste of Yakisoba and often go through phases of wanting to eat it a lot especially during colder months. It is the perfect stress-free snack to eat under a kotatsu whilst watching an anime.
