Stir Fried Noodles - Soul Comforting

I have always loved Chinese food and still am head over heels in love with it! Back home, while I was growing up, my mum made sure she cooked up a delicious Chinese meal atleast once a week. During my younger days, I used to be an extremely poor eater, but Chinese food in any form was something I absolutely never refused!

This love and craving for Chinese have led me to trying out some of the dishes at home. Experimenting with Chinese cooking have not always resulted in happy endings but this time it turned out pretty well. Phew!! For those of you who love Chinese, this dish tastes great and will definitely nip your craving for Chinese food in the bud!

It was a lot of fun to make and it turned out delicious. The simplicity and fresh flavours involved made me realize why it is such a popular go-to meal. I had a pack of egg noodles and a few bottles of sauces lying in my pantry. Then I scrounged around in my veggie rack and took out everything I needed. I knew I had some shredded chicken and beef and home-made stock in my refrigerator and a plan started coming together. All the flavours worked great resulting in this lovely stir fry. This dish was a simple and quick meal to put together. If you don’t have all the veggies or meats I put in my stir fry, try using what you have on hand. This is what makes preparing a stir fry so fast and easy. And so I went to work trying to remember the ingredients (recipe passed down from my mama) added into the dish. I rolled up my sleeves, got out my wok and started the comfort procedure.

Today's recipe is my mum's version of a simple Chinese stir fry with noodles and a host of other ingredients. I made it over the weekend. It's easy and yet quite tasty. You can do a whole lot of variations with different sauces, meats and veggies. Most of the ingredients I have used today can be found in anybody's kitchen.This quick stir fry is a healthy fast food that you can make at home. A perfect recipe for a lazy day in the kitchen and is sure to be a kiddies’ hot favorite.

While I go enjoy the rest of my day cooking and reading and doing all the things I love, I wish you a good day too.

Ingredients

Noodles (Egg) - 1 pack (200 gms)

Egg (beaten with a pinch of pepper and salt) - 2

Chicken (cooked & shredded) - 1/2 cup

Beef (cooked & cut into bite size pieces) - 1/2 cup

Veggies (julienned) - 1 cup (refer notes)

Big Onion (finely sliced) - 1 (medium)

Scallions/Spring Onion (finely chopped) – 7 to 8 (chop up the leaves and keep aside)

Ginger (finely chopped) - 1 small piece

Garlic (crushed) - 3

Green chillies (slit lengthwise) - 1 to 2 (adjust as per spice tolerance)

Red Chilli paste (refer notes)

Chicken/Beef stock (optional) - 1/4 cup

Soya Bean sauce - 1 tbsp

Green Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp

Red Chilli sauce - 1 tbsp

Pepper - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Method

Cook noodles as per instructions on the cover. Keep aside. (refer notes)

Heat oil in a large wok. Pour in the beaten eggs, scramble them and keep aside. (you can also prepare an omelette and cut into thin strips for better presentation) Into the same wok, pour in some more oil and add chopped ginger, crushed garlic, spring onion bulbs, finely sliced onions and green chillies. Saut'e till onions turn translucent. Throw in the veggies one by one. Add each vegetable according to the time it takes for it to cook. Make sure you cook each vegetable a little, like a couple of stirrings before you add the next.

Once all the veggies are cooked, add the sauces and mix well. At this time, add the cooked noodles along with pepper and salt and toss well on high flame till steam comes. (2 to 3 minutes approximately) If you are adding leafy vegetables like cabbage and spinach leaves, add it at this time so that it does not get overcooked. Add the red chilli paste and saut'e well. Now add the shredded chicken and beef and stir till combined well. (gently toss or saut'e the noodles to avoid noodles from breaking) Check for salt and add if necessary. Pour in the stock along with scrambled eggs and toss on high flame for a few minutes. Add chopped spring onion leaves and toss.

Switch off flame and serve piping hot. And there you have it – Spicy egg noodles with crisp vegetable, eggs and meats. After you have eaten a huge portion, you just sit back and this satisfying and comforting feeling takes over.

Enjoy! I'm sure you will love it.

Notes:

1. You can add veggies of your choice. These are the veggies I used - Carrot, Beans, Capsicum, Cabbage and Baby Spinach leaves.

2. To prepare Red Chilli Paste: Soak 3 to 4 red chillies in hot/warm water for 15 minutes. Drain water and take out some of the seeds (optional) and grind into a coarse paste with a hint of vinegar.

3. I add a little oil into plenty of water to cook the noodles and run it under cold water once cooked. I then splash some oil to keep the noodle moist.

4. You can add ajinomoto (about ¼ tsp) to help enhance flavour of the dish. When I need to add a little spark to the noodle I do that sometimes. On a regular basis, I prefer to avoid.

Source: Mum