Yasai Itame – Japanese Stir Fry Vegetables Recipe (野菜炒め)

July 17, 2021Mrs. Lin's Kitchen
Yasai Itame japanese stir fry vegetables

Yasai Itame is a healthy, quick-and-easy Japanese stir fry vegetables. You will be able to make it in just about 30 minutes.

Yasai Itame japanese stir fry vegetables

In this post, I’m going to share with you the recipe for Japanese stir fry vegetables, yasai itame. In Japanese, yasai means vegetables and itame means stir fry. This recipe is a common home dish. However, you’ll be able to find it at a teishoku or a set-meal restaurant.

Since the majority of the ingredients are veggies, this dish is quite healthy. You can easily make it vegan or vegetarian by substituting the meat with tofu and omitting the oyster sauce. Adjust the amount of soy sauce to make up for the oyster sauce.

Other vegetables that can be used are napa cabbage, Chinese chives, mushrooms, broccoli, and baby corns. For the meat, you can choose between chicken, beef or pork.

Yasai Itame japanese stir fry vegetables

The key to a good stir-fried dish is to work fast when you’re stir-frying. Therefore, all the ingredients need to be prepped and ready to go into the pan. Ideally, any stir-fried dish will taste better when cooked in a wok. However, I know that not everybody owns one. So, to demonstrate, I’m stir-frying in a regular pan today. Your yasai itame will still taste delicious.

Yasai Itame japanese stir fry vegetables

Ingredients

Yasai Itame japanese stir fry vegetables
Yasai Itame japanese stir fry vegetables
  • 4 oz of sliced pork belly
  • 4 cups of chopped cabbage (4 – 5 cabbage leaves)
  • 4 oz of bean sprouts
  • 1/2 cup of sliced carrot
  • 1 cup of string beans/snap peas/green pepper
  • 1 cup of sliced yellow onion
  • 8 – 9 slices of ginger
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

I used a combination of string beans, bell pepper, and snap peas but you can just use one cup of either one of them. Make sure you thoroughly rinse and dry all the vegetables before using them.

Yasai Itame – Japanese Stir Fry Vegetables

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Yasai Itame - Japanese Stir Fry Vegetables Recipe (野菜炒め)

Ingredients

  • 4 oz sliced pork belly, (chicken or beef)
  • 4 cups chopped cabbage, (about 4 - 5 leaves)
  • 4 oz bean sprouts
  • 1/2 cup sliced carrots
  • 1 cup string beans/snap peas/green pepper
  • 1 cup sliced yellow onion
  • 8 - 9 slices ginger
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce, (gluten-free)
  • 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 1/2 tsp salt

Method

Prepping the Ingredients

  • 1)

    Thinly slice the yellow onion

  • 2)

    Peel the carrot skin before cutting it diagonally into thin slices. I use about half of a carrot.

  • 3)

    Thinly slice the green bell pepper

  • 4)

    If you use snap peas, remove the stem, then pull the string with it and cut them in half

  • 5)

    Do the same for the green beans and cut them into 2” long

  • 6)

    Peel the ginger skin and cut 8 to 9 thin slices

  • 7)

    Thinly slice the garlic clove

  • 8)

    Chop the cabbage leaves into bite-sized pieces. I have about 4 or 5 leaves.

  • 9)

    Cut the pork belly slices to about 2” long

  • 10)

    The key to a good stir-fried dish is to work fast when you’re stir-frying. Therefore, all the ingredients need to be prepped and ready to go into the pan.

Stir-frying

  • 1)

    Turn the heat on medium-high or high depending on your stove. Heat up 1 tbsp of oil

  • 2)

    Add the ginger and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant.

  • 3)

    Add sliced yellow onion and continue to stir fry for another minute. Ideally, any stir-fried dish will taste better when cooked in a wok. But not everybody owns one so I’m stir-frying in a regular pan. Your yasai itame will still taste delicious.

  • 4)

    Add the pork belly and cook until it’s no longer pink. Pork belly is a fattier cut. Therefore, I didn’t add a lot of oil in the beginning. The fat released from the pork belly will be enough to stir fry everything.

  • 5)

    Add the carrot. You want to add the veggies that take longer to cook in first. Stir continuously.

  • 6)

    Add the green beans, snap peas and bell pepper to the mix and stir for a few seconds

  • 7)

    Add the cabbage and bean sprouts

  • 8)

    For the seasoning, add 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce and 1/2 tsp of salt. Keep stirring. You can adjust the salt according to your liking.

  • 9)

    The entire stir-frying process takes me between 6 to 8 minutes. You want the vegetables cooked but still crunchy, not soft and wilted. Turn off the heat and transfer yasai itame into a serving plate.

Serving

  • 1)

    Stir-fried vegetables are best served immediately with hot steamy rice. Enjoy!

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