A Recipe for Yakisoba & Naporitan Pan (+ a Konbini Love Letter)
carbs 🤝 carbs from Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng's "A Day in Tokyo"
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Konbini (コンビニ)—the Japanese name given to the country’s ubiquitous convenience stores—first arrived Japan-side in the 1970s when retailer chain Ito-Yokado joined forces with Southland Corporation to open up the first 7-Eleven store in Toyosu, Kōtō, Tokyo. Over the next few decades, konbini have grown to become thoroughly integrated into Japanese culture and daily life. Today, there are more than 55,000 of them across the country, with familiar names like 7-Eleven, Lawson, and Family Mart operating 24/7 that have become beacons of reliability—safe, sacred places that have just about anything you could ever need. Withdraw your cash there, pay your bills, top off your Suica card, grab some household necessities, buy tickets for museums and other tourist attractions, pick up packages, or send home some luggage. Truly, do konbini live up to their name as places of convenience.
But its crowning glory is the plethora of foods available; it’s more than possible to live solely off konbini fare, or even throw together a whole three-course meal on the fly. Think bento boxes, a sheer variety of instant ramen, and packets of instant soups and porridges that require nothing but hot water (conveniently offered at the checkout counter) to bring to life. Pre-prepared grilled meats like pork belly and chicken that need only a minute in the microwave before digging in. On-the-go snacks like onigiri filled with salmon roe (ikura), dried bonito flakes, or umeboshi (pickled plum). Seasonal ice creams and candies that are impossible to source outside of Japan. Entire shelves of teas, coffees, juices, and milks of every flavor. An array of baked goods, from fried buns filled with Japanese curry and a soft-boiled egg, to sweet, pillow-soft sponge cake (castella) to soft, wobbly creme caramel (purin). I know that, for me, visits to Lawson for my 6am iced coffee and tuna mayonnaise onigiri quickly became an integral part of my routine during my two weeks in Tokyo—not to mention, ready-made soy-seasoned eggs (ajitama), spinach salad with sesame dressing (goma-ae), and roasted pork belly for dinner on evenings when I was too tired to leave my hotel.
Today I’m sharing with you guys not one, but two recipes today for some quirky, but beloved konbini favorites via Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng’s “A Day in Tokyo,” a cookbook that showcases the diverse tastes and ingredients of Japanese cuisine, taking you on a culinary journey through one of Asia’s most vibrant cities—including an entire chapter dedicated to the konbini’s unique food culture, with a recipe for the beloved yakisoba pan.
Yakisoba pan is a konbini favorite in which yakisoba—fresh noodles stir-fried with vegetables and pork—is nestled inside a bread roll, and finished off with beni shōga (pickled ginger), or perhaps a drizzling of mayonnaise (Kewpie, obviously) and a dusting of aonori (powdered seaweed flakes). It’s said to have originated in the 1950s; the story goes that Tokyo-based bakery Nozawa-ya received a request to combine yakisoba with one of their koppepan (an oblong-shaped bread roll, akin to a hot dog bun). Since then, it’s integrated itself into both Japanese pop culture and soul food culture, becoming a tried-and-true favorite for quick, but deeply satisfying on-the-go meals. I’m also including this recipe for napolitan pan—a twist on the yakisoba pan featuring spaghetti napoletana, a yōshoku (Western-style) favorite in Japan. Enjoy, and I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!
Serves 4
4 store-bought mini hot dog rolls
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or margarine, softened
7 ounces dried spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ an onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 cup pureed tomatoes
Chopped parsley, to garnish
Split the bread rolls in half and spread the butter inside. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package instructions, then drain and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Stir in the ketchup and pureed tomatoes. Add the cooked spaghetti to the frying pan and mix well. Divide the spaghetti napoletana evenly between the rolls and top with parsley.
Serves 4
4 store-bought mini hot dog rolls
1 tablespoon unsalted butter or margarine, softened
10 ½ ounces prepared yakisoba (recipe below)
Beni shōga (pickled ginger), for serving
Mayonnaise (preferably Kewpie), for serving
Aonori, for serving
Yakisoba
1 pound fresh ramen noodles
1 tablespoon neutral oil, for frying
3 ½ ounces pork belly, finely sliced
1 onion, finely sliced
1 carrot, julienned
¼ a cabbage, cut into square pieces
Yakisoba sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon akamiso (red miso paste)
1 teaspoon superfine sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Make the yakisoba sauce. Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan over low heat and cook just long enough to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool.
Cook ramen noodles according to package instructions. Drain well and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Fry the pork until colored, then add the onion and carrot and cook until softened. Add the cabbage, followed by the noodles. Fry until the cabbage begins to soften (it should still retain some crunch), then add 3 ½ ounces of the yakisoba sauce to the pan. Toss the noodles to distribute the sauce evenly.
Split the bread rolls in half and spread the butter inside. Divide the fried noodles between the rolls and top with some beni shōga, a dollop of Kewpie mayonnaise, and a sprinkling of aonori. Serve immediately, though they taste fine cold.
Note: Any leftover yakisoba sauce can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 month.
Recipes adapted from “A Day in Tokyo: A Japanese Cookbook” by Brendan Liew and Caryn Ng. Copyright © 2024. Used with permission of Smith Street Books. All rights reserved.