Prawn Yakisoba
A copycat recipe of a popular Japanese takeaway + 15 Chickpea Recipes + All Good Things
Hello fellow cooks! Hope you are having a lovely week. I will keep my intro short as I have had a relapse of my injury from 7 years ago and pulled my neck muscle and sprained my upper back. It is hard to move my neck in any direction but forward (hence writing newsletters is not a problem!). But the last week has been a flurry of chiro appointments and being driven around as it is not safe for me to drive if I can’t turn my neck.
How did this happen?
My theory is that because I am short (5ft … Just!), I am constantly pulling up my shoulders for everything - from chopping, cooking, lifting, shooting, eating at a dining table etc. and holding all the stress in there which eventually accumulates so much over the years that a sprained neck/back is the only way out!
But, I have a fabulous new recipe for you that I have been testing over the last 6 months. I have cooked this exactly 17 times. And it is amazing. I hope you make it too!
Prawn Yakisoba (Japanese Stir-Fried Noodles)
A local Japanese restaurant here in Sydney’s upper north shore where I live, makes a really delicious, authentic Yakisoba. It’s called Sushi Mee (fellow Hornsby residents might know this little gem of a place). Yakisoba is one of my favourite noodle dishes and it is often very hard to find a more traditional version.
For those of you who’ve never tried yakisoba before, it is a Japanese stir-fried noodle dish made with thin wheat noodles (like ramen or chow mein), vegetables that add a distinctly Japanese flair (onion, cabbage, mushroom, carrot/sweet potato) and a truly unique sweet and sour Yakisoba sauce punctuated by its key ingredient - Worcestershire sauce.
There are mainly two versions on offering at restaurants and market stalls - the authentic version with a good balance of sweet, sour, salty and the westernized version with an overly sweet, thick sauce coating the noodles (most likely made from a packeted sauce available at stores with the label “Yakisoba sauce” and filled with preservatives, food colouring and too much sugar).
My local Sushi Mee makes a truly restrained and refined Yakisoba and it reminds of the beautiful noodles we had in Singapore 4 years ago. On the last evening of our Singapore holiday, Nick and I found an unassuming little Japanese sushi bar tucked away in the corner of a busy food court in the city. A galley kitchen decked with a bamboo awning and a beige bunting covered in Japanese symbols spanning the long lone wooden counter beckoned us.
As we hopped on the comfy wooden bar stools, two Japanese chefs with proper kimono-style chef coats (I think they are called Happi?) and headbands (Hachimaki) appeared down the counter wishing us enthusiastically in Japanese. We realized it was a little Sake Bar with delicious small Japanese nibbles served in gorgeous earthenware. And we could watch them prep the sushi and toss the noodles as we sipped on our sake.
The Veg Yakisoba that the chef made for us that day was honestly one of the most delicious noodles I had ever sampled. And I loved that he used thin sweet potato slices instead of carrots and these were cooked to sweet, caramelized, al dente perfection in his little hot wok. My Prawn Yakitori is an ode to that little impromptu sake date night we had on our quest for some dinner takeaway in Singapore and my local Japanese, who make it exactly the same. A must-try! It only takes 20 minutes. For veg versions, check my recipe notes.
“How to boost your protein on a veg-heavy diet?”
If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked this question in the past decade, I would have … well … many many dollars.
Protein is really important for your overall well-being and the functioning of your body. And the thing to remember is that you don’t need a whole lot unless you are super active and trying to actively build muscle. For all routine bodily functions and well-being, you need about 0.7 - 0.8g per kilogram of your body weight.
Say if you needed 50g of protein a day - having an egg for breakfast, a cup of yoghurt and handful of nuts for a snack, a glass of soy milk in your smoothie, a serving of chickpeas at lunch or dinner and a cup of veggies like broccoli, spinach, mushroom, peas, kale or cauliflower is enough. Wholesome everyday eating to ensure you get your protein easily.
So when people ask me that question - I say “Chickpeas!”
1 cup of chickpeas has about 15g of protein. So if you had a chickpea salad at lunch and a chickpea curry as part of your dinner, you would already be getting more than half of your daily protein requirement.
Canned chickpeas are a lifesaver! And they don’t have to be boring, you don’t always have to add them to a bowl of salad or pair them with cauliflower. There are so many incredibly delicious and easy things you can make with canned chickpeas.
So, I have put together a little collection of some of my all-time favorite Vegetarian Chickpea Recipes - 17 Easy Chickpea Recipes To Make With Canned Chickpeas. I make one or two from this list every week! They are delicious and nutritionally dense.
What To Cook This Week?
Mangoes are in season. It is time to make Mango Lassi Chia Pudding (yes! another protein bomb of a recipe that is utterly addictive)
A delicious 5-star recipe - Kale Mushroom Cashew Stir Fry! So much flavour.
Those Viral Tahini Cookies! Yes, those cookies that have been baked hundreds of times (based on comments on the blog and Instagram)
A really good Chinese Chilli Eggplant Stir-Fry recipe (vegan!) - big flavours, very little oil!
And if you are looking to try something different this weekend, try my Noodle Free Pad Thai! You won’t believe the fresh, crunchy ingredients that go into this dish along with that gloriously thick, satay-like noodle sauce. Slurpworthy and a great recipe that doesn’t require cooking!
“Live More Veg”, the paid section of my newsletter is filled with brand new, veg-loving recipes from my ongoing online cookbook plus weekly cooking inspiration to get you cooking and eating more fruit and veg. More than 80 exclusive recipes in a year, delivered every week to your inbox! A little sneak of what’s coming ….
All Good Things - To read, cook, watch and explore.
Emiko Davies’s Love Letter To Rice - a much-loved comfort food that has been demonized in modern times for being nutritionally lacking. But there are two sides to every story and food is more than just numbers citing nutrition values. Food at its core is the nourishment of the body and soul, it is memories and comfort and salvation at the end of a hard day for a lot of people.
A 4-Minute Vietnamese-inspired snack. Yum!
Chard, Leek & White Bean Soup. Gosh, so good!
Watch Succession over the last few weeks. Finally! It is a brilliant show. A modern-day Shakespearean tragedy. The fictitious story of the Roy family - America’s richest, influential news empire unravels as the patriarch in his final years pits his children against each other to ultimately crown a successor to his business. Loved how hateful each and every single character was in this show - kudos to all the actors!
Thats all from me folks! Eat well, Be well! x