5 Ingredient Mazesoba

Most everyone’s tried udon, soba, and ramen, but have you ever tried (or heard of) mazesoba? Mazesoba is a Japanese mixed noodle dish that’s fast to make, fun to toss,and delicious to eat.

What is mazesoba?

Mazesoba is a Japanese take on a Taiwanese dry noodle dish. “Dry” noodles don’t sound particularly appealing, but in this case, dry means “not in soup”. Instead the noodles are tossed or mixed in a flavorful sauce and topped with a bunch of different, customizable toppings. The typical toppings include pork, green onions, seaweed, and egg.

Where is mazesoba from?

Mazesoba comes from Nagoya, Japan and is considered a regional delicacy. The lore goes: an owner of a Nagoya ramen shop was trying to make ramen but was really struggling with the ramen broth. An employee suggested a dry noodle topped with minced pork and mazesoba was born. The reason why it’s considered Taiwanese is because the pork topping is reminiscent of Taiwanese meat sauce, a Taiwanese dish famous in Japan, eaten over rice. 

How do you eat mazesoba?

Mazesoba is served in a bowl. From there, you can either add the noodles first or the sauce first. Either way, the noodles are un-sauced in the bowl then topped with a generous amount of minced pork and other toppings. When you get your bowl of mazesoba, you mix it all up, coating the noodles with the sauce and tossing the pork amongst the noodles, then you dig in and enjoy.

What kind of noodles for mazesoba?

Contrary to the name, mazesoba isn’t made with soba noodles. Soba noodles are delicate buckwheat noodles that are incredibly popular and delicious, but not used in this dish. The confusion lies in the word “soba” which can mean buckwheat noodle, but can also simply mean “noodle.” In this case, mazesoba means specifically ramen noodles. It makes sense because the noodles originated from a ramen shop and to be honest, in Japan if you say soba most people can discern whether or not you mean buckwheat noodles or another type of noodle.

For this mazesoba you can use fresh ramen noodles, if you have access to them. What’s even easier is taking the dry ramen from a packet of instant ramen. Grab a premium pack of instant ramen, one where you like how they taste. You can even use spaghetti.

What is the sauce for mazesoba?

The sauce for mazesoba is a Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue-based sauce to give us the maximum amount of flavor. Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce has traditionally brewed soy sauce, direct from Japan, so you know it’s authentic and delicious. It also contains aged mirin, a sweet cooking wine - again sourced from Japan. To those ingredients, organic rice vinegar, as well as organic ginger, garlic, and green onions come together to give you the absolute best sauce to toss your noodles in.

Mazesoba ingredients

garlic - a bit of garlic is going to add so much flavor to the pork. Cook it on low heat, garlic has a tendency to burn and turn bitter if you cook it too long. The best thing to do is to cook it on low and keep an eye on it. You want it just softened; once it starts giving off those good garlic smells, you’re ready to add the ground pork.

ground pork - get ground pork that has a bit of fat content, the fat will add flavor and make it easier for you to break the ground up into small pieces. The smaller the pieces of ground pork, the easier it is for it to cling to the noodles ensuring you get a balanced bite every single time.

Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce - we’re going to use this twice in this recipe, both to sauce the noodles and to season the pork.

toasted sesame oil - a bit of toasted sesame oil is going to add an incredible layer of flavor. Make sure you get toasted sesame oil, not clear sesame oil for frying. Toasted sesame oil is rich, earthy, and delightfully tasty. Toasted sesame oil is very common in Asian cooking and you can find it in the Asian aisle in most conventional grocery stores. It’s a deep amber brown and a little goes a long way.

noodles - the noodles are up to you. Fresh ramen or bricks of instant ramen or even spaghetti. Truly, the sauce and pork combination tastes amazing on anything, even rice if you’re not a noodle person.

How to make Mazesoba

1. If you are going to add the optional eggs, make the jammy eggs by bringing up a pot of water to boil on medium-high heat. When boiling, add the eggs and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and plunge into an ice bath and cool completely before peeling and cutting in half.

2. Lightly cook some minced garlic until soft and fragrant, then add the pork and cook, breaking up into small pieces. When cooked through, stir in Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce and a bit of toasted sesame oil. Cook, stirring until the pork is coated and well seasoned.

3. Cook the noodles according to the package and drain well. Add them to a bowl. Add drained noodles to a bowl and top with a generous drizzle of Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce. Scoop on the pork topping and finish with a jammy egg.

4. Enjoy. Mix everything up and enjoy hot. Optionally, you can add some extra toppings like toasted sesame seeds, nori, and sliced green onions. For extra flavor, you can add more Bachan’s Original Japanese Barbecue Sauce. If you feel the sauce is too rich, mazesoba is traditionally brightened up with rice vinegar, added at the table to taste. And finally, if you’re looking for a little kick, Bachan’s Hella Hot Japanese Barbecue Sauce is a great addition.

What to serve with mazesoba

Mazesoba is a meal in itself but some vegetables alongside is always a good thing. Try marinated cucumbers or grilled zucchini.