Yakisoba with Marinated Chicken

Tonight I made Yakisoba, or something similar to that. Yakisoba is a wheat-based noodle that is popular in Japan and apparently similar to ramen noodles. The problem with yakisoba noodles is that no one carries them in Philadelphia (at least not outside of chinatown, but I haven't looked there yet). Brit and I weren't too surprised when Trader Joe's was lacking, but just kept getting frustrated when we couldn't find them at Maxx's produce (a great local produce store at 255 S 20th St.), South Square Market, and even Whole Foods! We eventually went with an udon noodle from Whole Foods since it was probably the closest we could find.

This dish is a hallmark of my childhood and was very popular in my house while growing up. The recipe is actually from a restaurant located not too far from where my parents live and had been published in a cooking magazine at the request of some subscribers who wanted to replicate the dish themselves at home. I can recall my mother always having the hardest time making this dish until one day she found a shortcut. Turns out the yakisoba noodles come pre-cooked and are therefore kept cold until used. My mom learned that if she let the noodles come to room temp and ran them under hot water to soften them, they'd be a lot easier to stir-fry later.

Chicken Yakisoba

Serves 4

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
4 x 7 oz packages fresh yakisoba noodles, uncooked (We couldn't find yakisoba noodles and eventually bought 3 x 9 oz packages udon noodles)
1 large carrot, peeled and finely julienned
1 large yellow onion, finely julienned
Sesame seeds
Sliced green onions

24 hours prior to cooking:
Mix soy sauce, water, sugar, 2 tbsp sesame oil, garlic, and ginger. Use only 6 oz of this sauce to marinate the chicken for 24 hours. Reserve the remaining marinade in the fridge until the next day.

24 hours later:
In our case, since we bought udon noodles, they were cooked according to the packaging and set aside.

Saute the carrots and onion in the sesame oil over high heat until almost brown. Lower the heat and add the noodles. Stir fry 3-4 minutes or until the noodles begin to stick to the pan. Add the remaining marinade and stir fry another 1-2 minutes. At this point we transferred everything back into the larger pot in which the noodles had cooked.

Meanwhile, saute the chicken breasts in the remaining sesame oil until cooked through. Cut the chicken into julienne strips and, when the pasta stir fry is ready, add the chicken to the pasta and mix. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onion.

This dish was delicious! Brit really liked it and I was happy to have replicated something from my childhood. The marinade used for both the chicken and the stir-fried veggies/noodles is incredible. Brit and I kept sneaking tastes from the marinade the night I had prepped it and used some on the chicken. Brit suggested we cut down on the amount of noodles in this dish since it seemed to overwhelm the veggies and chicken. I think I'll just try to convince her that we can add more carrots and onions and maybe even throw in a few peppers or mushrooms.