I haven’t finished “Yakitate!! Japan” yet, so I don’t know what bread the protagonist picks as the official bread of Japan.

But I do know the one that was the most intriguing to me so far came in episode 15: yakisoba bread! I thought Americans putting macaroni and cheese in bread bowls was revolutionary, but it turns out Japanese people have been engaging in the pasta served inside bread tradition for decades.

This popular dish is also known as yakisoba pan or a yakisoba dog. Our version is vegan and gluten-free, making 4 “servings.”

Ingredients
1 packet (4 servings) of soba noodles, cooked
1 tablespoon chili oil
2 tablespoons tamari
1 tablespoon vegan “fish” sauce
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
4 tablespoons vegan mayo
4 gluten-free, vegan hot dog buns
4 tablespoons furikake, for garnish (optional)

Instructions
Cook the soba noodles per the packaging instructions.

Fry the noodles with the chili oil, tamari, vegan “fish” sauce, mushrooms and red pepper flakes. If you don’t like spicy food, you can omit the red pepper flakes or decrease the amount to just 1 teaspoon.

Toast the buns. Spread the mayo on them (1 tablespoon per bun) so the bread doesn’t get soggy from the noodles.

Use tongs to carefully place the noodles in the buns.

Sprinkle the furikake over the top. We ran out of premade furikake, so we made our own by crumbling nori sheets and combining them with sesame seeds and a pinch of salt.

Serve and enjoy with an episode or two of “Yakitate!! Japan.”

The Easy Route
You might be able to find premade vegan, gluten-free yakisoba at a store or restaurant.
If you want to make the at-home process faster, you might be able to find a premade sauce for the noodles instead of making your own.

The Pairing
It’s probably become very apparent that I love cooking shows. When my husband first suggested we watch “Yakitate!! Japan,” I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I quickly fell in love with the show.

It is an anime that centers on the employees at a chain of bakeries in Japan called Pantasia. As I mentioned up top, the protagonist, Kazuma Azuma, is intrigued by each country around the world having bread they’re known for, and he wants to figure out which bread Japan should be known for making.

I love that in addition to being a very entertaining show, it also shares the bakers’ tips and tricks in the kitchen, perfect for home bakers like me.

(Full disclosure: my first recipe pairing idea for this was vegan, gluten-free shogupan, a.k.a. Japanese milk bread, which is featured in the show’s opening credits. But I don’t have the bread mastery that Kazuma and his cohorts do, so that recipe test failed.)

We’re only 15 episodes into “Yakitate!! Japan,” and I can’t wait to watch more.

If you decide to make yakisoba pan and/or watch “Yakitate!! Japan,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes