On a noodle trip

I have a small obsession with noodles.  I think they are amazing.  They are so quick and easy to cook and always taste great (providing you don’t glue them together!).  I’m not fussed – rice, egg, wholeweat – I’ll eat them all.  If you’re hungry and want to eat quickly they are just perfect.

So here are a couple of noodle recipes I made this week.  The first one, was so quick to make and we were so hungry, I didn’t have time to take a photo – before I knew it the plates were empty!  But I do have a photo for the second one.

They’re also quite cheap and good things to have in your cupboard for when you’ve run out of food.  So they make excellent food for when you’re skint.

The first recipe is vegetarian, although, with the egg it’s not vegan, but you could just leave that out.  The great thing about this recipe is the colours of the vegetables, and somehow, don’t ask me how, Ravinder Bhogal manages to combine seemingly unlikely things like mild curry powder and sweet chilli sauce, into something delicious.  Of course, its a Ravinder recipe – who else?!  The second recipe I made with lamb although the original recipe was for beef and you could just as easily do it with fish or chicken too.

In the first recipe, I suggest some vegetables, but really you could substitute them for anything – the more different colours the better really.  Baby sweetcorn, corgettes, all make good options.  Just go with whats in your fridge.

Vege noodle stir fry with cashews

Serves 2

2 bricks of egg noodles (about 100g)

1 tbsp oil (I used chilli oil)

handful of cashew nuts

1 onion, finely sliced

1 carrot, julienned (finely sliced into batons)

1 red pepper, finely sliced

handful of green beans chopped in half

handful of sugar snap peas

Green leaf (like bok choi) roughly chopped

2 eggs, beaten

1 inch knob of ginger peeled & grated

2 red chillis finely chopped (de seed if you don’t want too spicy)

1 tsp mild madras curry powder

2 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp thai sweet chilli sauce

juice of 1/2 a lime

1. Cook the noodles according to packet instructions until part done – normally boiling water for 2-3 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until hot, and add the cashew nuts.  Then add the onion, fry for a minute until softened but not browned, then add carrots and any other hard vege (broccoli for instance), followed by softer vege like the peppers and beans (corgettes, sweetcorn etc), followed by the vege that need a light cooking such as the green leaf, mange tout or sugar snap peas.
3. When all the vege has been added and has started to cook, push it up to one side of the pan and add the beaten eggs.  Let them set slightly before messing up and combining with the vege.
4. Add the ginger, curry powder and chillis, followed by the noodles and mix well.
5. Add the soy & chilli sauces and mix again.
6. Turn off the heat and squeeze over the lime
7. Serve immediately and feel your hunger deliciously slip away.

This next recipe is slightly more technical, but not much really. It requires marinading first, so it’s not as fast as the first, but once the meat is marinaded, it takes minutes to cook and the marinade makes the meat really tender.

I didn’t have any shop bought teryaki sauce, so I made my own from a recipe out of the Wagamama cook book.  It’s really quite simple and doesn’t take long to do.  This recipe (and the sauce) require sake or sherry.  It’s not the kind of thing you’d just have hanging around but it’s great to get a cheap bottle from a supermarket for cooking.  It lasts ages because you dont’ use much at a time and it’s very handy for Italian as well as Japanese or Chinese cooking.  I normally use a dry pale sherry as a sake substitute and a medium dry sherry for Italian cooking.

Teryaki Lamb stir fry

Serves 2

175g lean lamb steak, de boned and any excess fat removed.

2 bricks of egg noodles (about 100g)

1 tbsp oil

1 onion finely chopped

2 red chillis, finely chopped (de seed if you don’t want too spicy – or leave out all together)

handful of oyster or other chinese mushrooms, rehydrated and torn up

300g chestnut mushrooms (or button or closed cup)

handful of sugar snap peas or mange tout

For the marinade

55-60ml teryaki sauce

1 tbsp sake or dry sherry

2 tsp dark soy sauce

For the teryaki sauce (if not shop bought) – makes 55-60ml

60g caster sugar (or granulated is fine)

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sake or dry sherry

1 tsp dark soy sauce.

1. To make the teryaki sauce, combine the sugar and light soy sauce in a small saucepan over a low heat until the sugar is disolved, continue stiring for a further 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened (but isn’t too caramelised).  Remove from the heat and add the sake and dark soy, and mix to combine well.  Set aside.  The sauce will continue to thicken a bit after this, so err on the side of slightly too runny rather than slightly too thick when making it.  And don’t leave it when it’s cooking, or it might burn.
2. To make the marinade, combine the cooled teryaki sauce with the sake and dark soy (essentially giving it more flavour than the teryaki sauce on its own) and add the meat to it.  Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. When the meat is marinaded, cook the noodles until partially done, according to manufacturers instructions, normally boil in water for 2-3 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
4. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan, add the onion and fry on a medium heat until browned.  Add the chillis, and stir well.   Then add the mushrooms and fry until the chestnut mushrooms have browned and al the mushrooms have released some juices.
5. Remove the meat from the marinade and reserve the marinade.  Chop up the meat (or you can fry as a whole steak and slice after cooking) and add to the vegetables.  Fry until browned on all sides.
6. Then add the sugarsnap peas or mange tout and the noodles.  Stir well, then add the marinade.  Stir again to mix well.
7. Turn off the heat and serve immediately with a nice cold beer.
8. Do your lady and the tramp impression whilst gobbling it all up!

---