Easy Chow Mein

This is a dish that I like to cook when I'm short on time and energy. Very quick and easy to prepare.

Ingredients

• 350g packet fresh Singapore noodles (3 pkt)

• 2/3 cup chicken stock

• ⅓ cup oyster sauce

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

• 1 brown onion, chopped
• ½ teaspoon ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500g chicken or pork mince

• 2 cups frozen peas, carrot, corn mix

Method

1. Place noodles in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water. Stand for 2 minutes or until just tender. Drain. Using a fork, separate noodles. Combine stock, oyster sauce and soy sauce in a jug. Set aside.
2. Heat a large, non-stick wok over high heat. Add oil. Swirl to coat. Add onion, garlic, ginger and mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 3 to 4 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.
3. Add frozen vegetables and stir-fry for 3 minutes or until just tender. Add stock mixture and noodles. Stir-fry for 1 minute or until heated through. Serve.

Beef & Noodles

Recipe adapted from Recipe +, September 2011 issue, page 16

Ingredients

600g beef rump steak, trimmed, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons bicarb soda
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce, plus 1/4 cup extra
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon cornflour
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
800g hokkien noodles
¼ cup vegetable oil
100g snow peas, thinly sliced lenthwise
1 medium carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 bunch baby bok choy, sliced
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Method

1. Marinate the beef with the baking soda for 20 minutes and then rinse the beef thoroughly (make sure that the beef is properly rinsed clean of the baking soda). Pat the beef dry with paper towels. 
2. Combine beef, teriyaki, mirin, cornflour, garlic and ginger in a medium bowl. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight for a better result. 
3. Soak noodles in boiling water in a small heatproof bowl for 5 minutes; stir to separate strands, then drain.
4. Heat a wok or large frying pan over moderately high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil; swirl to coat surface. Cook beef, in batches, for 2-3 minutes or until browned and cooked; remove from wok.
5. Wipe out wok, then heat remaining oil over moderately high heat. Add snow peas and carrot; stir-fry for 1 minute or until tender. Return beef to wok with noodles, bok choy and extra teriyaki sauce; stir fry for 1-2 minutes or until bok choy begins to wilt. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Pork & Sugar Snap Pea Noodles

Recipe adapted from Recipes +, August 2011 issue, page 45

Serves 4

Ingredients

800g packet fresh hokkien noodles
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large brown onion, cut into thin wedges
1½ teaspoons grated ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
500g pork mince
½ cup plum jam
150g sugar snap peas
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced diagonally
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

Method

1. Soak noodles in boiling water in a large heatproof bowl for 5 minutes; stir to separate strands; drain.
2. Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat, toast sesame seeds. Set aside. Add oil; swirl to coat surface. Add onion, garlic and ginger; stir fry for 3 minutes. Add mince; cook, stirring to break up lumps, for 3 minutes or until browned.
3. Add plum jam, snow peas and carrots; stir fry for 2 minutes. Add noodles and sesame seed oil; stir fry until heated. Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Notes & Tips

Use chicken mince instead of pork
Have all ingredients prepared before you start cooking
Gluten-free version: use rice noodles instead of hokkien

Stir Fried Beef Rice Noodles

If you've ever wondered how to achieve that soft, tender meat that you get from your local Chinese restaurant at home, then wonder no more. The Chinese method of tenderising meat is to marinate thinly sliced meat with baking soda! I've used fillet steak for the following recipe, however you can use a cheaper cut of meat when using this form of marinating since it will tenderise the meat so much, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference! Great tip for home cooks especially when watching the budget :)

Ingredients

600g beef eye fillet, thinly sliced
2 tsp baking soda
4 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 red onion, sliced
1kg flat rice noodles, strands loosened
100g bean sprouts
2 shallots, cut into 2.5cm lengths
Sesame seeds, as garnish

Seasoning

2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (Shao Hsing wine)
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

Sauce

3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
3 tablespoon light soy sauce


Method

Marinate the beef with the baking soda for 20 minutes and then rinse the beef thoroughly (make sure that the beef is properly rinsed clean of the baking soda). Pat the beef dry with paper towels and then marinate with the rest of the seasoning ingredients for at least 2 hours.

Heat the wok over high heat and add 2 tbsp oil. Stir fry the beef in several batches for 20 seconds then set aside.

Heat the rest of the oil in the wok then add the onions and stir fry until they are lightly browned.

Toss noodles in and stir gently until heated through. Add combined soy sauces and stir fry until well mixed.

Return beef slices to the noodles, add bean sprouts and shallots then stir fry until heated through and all ingredients are mixed together well. Dish out and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top as a garnish, if desired.

Chow Mein

Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Kid's Cooking book, page46

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
500g lean beef mince
1 medium brown onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 cup frozen carrot, pea & corn mix
150g rehydrated shitake mushrooms
1 cup (250ml) chicken stock
⅓ cup (80ml) oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
450g fresh thin egg noodles
½ small Chinese cabbage, shredded coarsely

Method

1. Heat oil in wok or large frying pan; stir fry mince, onion and garlic until mince is browned. Add curry powder; stir-fry about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add frozen carrot, pea & corn mix, mushrooms; stir fry until vegetables soften.
2. Add stock, sauces and noodles, stir-fry until combined; bring to a boil. Add cabbage, reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, tossing occasionally for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are just soft.

Udon Noodle Soup with Crumbed Prawn Cutlets

Panko breadcrumbs make these prawns deliciously crunchy but if you don't have any just substitute with fresh breadcrumbs. Dried or long-life udon noodles are great to keep in the pantry, so you can turn out something as light and comforting as these soupy noodles on the spot.

Ingredients

20g instant dashi powder
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
6-8 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30mins and then thinly sliced
250g dried or 400g long-life udon noodles
10 medium green prawns, shelled (tail left on)
1 egg
3 tbsp vegetable oil
½ cup panko breadcrumbs
2 spring onions, cut into 5cm lengths
200g silken tofu, cubed
1 bunch Chinese green leaf vegetables, trimmed (e.g. baby bok choy, baby choy sum, Chinese cabbage)

Serves 2-3


Method

1. For the broth, bring 800 millilitres of water to the boil, then add the dashi powder, mirin and soy sauce and simmer for two minutes. 
2. Add the mushrooms and simmer gently for five minutes. 
3. If using dried noodles, cook them in simmering water for 9 to 10 minutes until tender, then drain and rinse. If using longlife, cover with boiling water for 30 seconds, gently separate with chopsticks, then drain and rinse. 
4. Meanwhile, cut each prawn along the back and remove any intestinal tract. Open it out and run a rolling pin gently over it to flatten the meat and trim neatly. 
5. Beat the egg until light and frothy. Heat the oil in a small frying pan. Dip each prawn in the egg, then the crumbs, and fry the prawns for one to two minutes each side until crisp and golden. 
6. Add the noodles, spring onions, Chinese vegetables and tofu to the soup and heat through for two minutes. 
7. Using tongs, divide the noodles between warm, shallow pasta bowls. Ladle the soup on top, add the prawns and serve.

Pork Hokkien Noodles

Healthy and tasty stir fry that's really easy to whip up!

Ingredients

Pork marinade:
2 tsp corn flour
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Chinese rice wine

400g pork fillet
450g pkt fresh hokkien noodles
1 tbs oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red onion, cut into wedges
500g pkt frozen stir-fry vegetables, thawed
1 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs sweet chilli sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs honey

Method

1. Slice pork into thin strips. Place into a small bowl together with the cornflour, sesame oil, soy sauce and rice wine. Mix together well, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour before cooking. Be careful to not let the pork marinate for more than an hour.
2. Place noodles in a bowl and cover with boiling water. After 2-3 minutes, separate with a fork and drain.
   
3. Place a large wok over a medium-high heat. Add oil, garlic and onion. Cook for 2 minutes. Add pork and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Put onto a plate and set aside.
   
4. Combine the sauces and honey in a jug then pour into the wok. Bring to the boil then add vegetables. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
   
5. Return the pork to the wok and toss through the noodles to heat up. Place into bowls and serve.

Notes & Tips

Frozen vegetables have been picked at the peak of their ripeness, and immediately flash frozen. As a result, all of the minerals and vitamins are locked in, ready for your benefit. This means that in some cases, frozen vegetables might be more nutritious than vegetables purchased from the produce aisle which have been sitting for weeks.

Chilli Fried Rice Noodles

Here's a simple Asian stir-fry recipe, that's on the spicy side! You might want to have a glass of water nearby when eating this dish :P

Ingredients

1kg fresh rice noodles
2 tablespoons oil
1-2 onions, sliced
4 small fresh red chillies, finely chopped
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 cups bean sprouts, firmly packed
2 sticks celery, sliced
4 green shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons oil, extra
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce

Method

1. Heat oil in wok over medium high heat. Add oinons and stir fry until they are lightly browned.
2. Add chilli, Chinese rice wine and garlic. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds.
3. Add bean sprouts, celery and shallots into wok. Stir-fry until vegetables are just tender, then remove them from the wok and onto a plate.
4. Heat the extra oil in wok, add noodles and stir gently until heated through. Add the vegetable mixture and soy sauces, stir-fry until heated through and all ingredients are mixed together well.

Notes & Tips

Halve the amount of chilli in this dish if you prefer a milder and less spicy dish

Udon Noodles

December is a very busy time for most of us, so here's a very simple and easy dish to cook during the week. It's even got the colours of Christmas- red and green! Enjoy :)

Ingredients

400g udon noodles
225g minced pork
½ cup each of julienned green and red capsicum
1 tbsp garlic, chopped
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper, to taste
sesame oil

Method

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Cook the noodles for 2 to 4 minutes, stirring to separate the strands, until they are tender. 
2. Heat the oil in a wok over medium high heat then add the chopped garlic. Stir fry the garlic till fragrant then add the minced pork. Add the julienned peppers when pork is beginning to brown. Stir fry for a few minutes and mix together all ingredients.
3. Drain the noodles and add in to the pork mince and capsicum mixture. Add in oyster sauce and soy sauce. Stir-fry until noodles are heated through and adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
4. Sprinkle with sesame oil before serving.

Singapore Noodles

Get your chopsticks into these aromatic noodles packed with prawns, BBQ meat and flavour. Feel free to add more curry powder and pepper than what the recipe states if you like your noodles spicy!

Serves 4

Ingredients

200g rice vermicelli noodles
Vegetable oil
¼ BBQ chicken, shredded
100g Char Siew (BBQ sweet pork), sliced
50g cooked, peeled, prawns
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2cm piece ginger, grated
1 onion, cut into thin half moons
1 red capsicum, sliced
4 tsp curry powder
2 tsp turmeric powder
a handful of fresh or tinned bean sprouts
2 spring onions, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 red chillies, sliced, to garnish

Method

1. Soak the noodles following the packet instructions and drain. Heat 1 1/2 tablespoon oil in a wok and fry the garlic and ginger until light brown. Add the onion and capsicum and cook until  just beginning to soften, then add the spices and cook for a minute. Remove vegetables to a plate and set aside.
2. Add a bit more oil to the wok. Stir in the eggs and scramble them till cooked. Push eggs to sides of wok, add the noodles and the rest of the ingredients (except chillies) together. Make sure that everything is mixed thoroughly so that the flavours are combined and everything is heated and cooked well.
3. Garnish the meal with the chillies and serve on individual plates.
   

Potato Noodles with Vegetables/Japchae

I, for some reason really enjoy eating noodles, maybe it's cause I'm Asian or maybe it's just the fact that there are so many varieties and so many different ways of cooking them. This noodle dish is one of my favourites and is great if you want a light but filling meal :)

Note: If you don't like cloud ear fungus, you can substitute it with sliced Chinese mushrooms instead

Serves 4

Ingredients

300g dried potato starch noodles
10g dried cloud ear fungus (becomes 50g once rehydrated)
¼ cup sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cm piece of fresh ginger, grated
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 spring onions, extra, cut into 4cm pieces
1 carrot, cut into 5cm matchsticks
1 bunch baby bok choy, roughly chopped
¼ cup shoshoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon sugar
1-2 tablespoons sesame seed and seaweed sprinkle

Method

1. Pour boiling water over the fungus and soak for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly and chop roughly.
   
2. Meanwhile, cook the dried potato noodles in a large pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes or until the noodles are translucent. Drain and then rinse thoroughly under cold running water until the noodles are cold. (Thoroughly rinsing the noodles will remove any excess starch). Use kitchen scissors to roughly chop the noodles into lengths of about 15 cm, to make the noodles easier to eat with chopsticks.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil with the vegetable oil in a large, heavy-based pan or wok. Add the garlic, ginger and spring onion to the pan and cook for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring regularly. Add the carrot sticks and stir fry for 1 minute.
4. Add the cooled noodles, extra spring onion, baby bok choy, remaining sesame oil, shoshoyu, mirin and sugar. Toss well to coat the noodles with the sauce. Cover and cook over low heat for 2 minutes.
5. Add the drained fungus, cover the pan and cook for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sesame seed and seaweed sprinkle. Serve immediately.

Tips & Notes:

• Potato strach noodles are sometimes called Korean vermicelli.
• Cloud-ear fungus is a delicately flavoured dried mushroom- when rehydrated in hot water it triples in size. Substitute with dried shiitake mushrooms if unavailable.
  
• Japanese soy sauce is lighter and sweeter than Chinese soy sauce.
• All the ingredients mentioned above are available from Asian food specialty stores.
  

Pad Thai

This is a quick and easy to cook dish from central Thailand, you add the chilli when it is served, so your guest can choose to make the dish spicy or mild.
For the pounded peanut, it's better to choose a dry unsalted peanut. Roast them in a dry frying pan then chop them up til they form smaller pieces. Store in an airtight container and keep in a cool dry place. This process can be prepared ahead of time.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 small pack of glass noodles/rice stick noodles/pad Thai noodles (approx. 200g)
1 egg
200g Thai flavoured tofu (chopped into small squares)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
50g bean sprouts (ends trimmed)
1 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs light soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce
½ tbs Tean Gourmet crispy prawns chilli
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs lemon juice
12 medium green prawns (peeled, deveined, leave tails intact)

Serve with

Fresh beansprouts
Green lettuce

Garnish with

Sugar
Unsalted peanuts (pounded/chopped to fine pieces)
Dried chilli flakes
Lemon or lime slice


Method

1. Soak the noodles in boiling water for 5 minutes to soften them. Drain. Rinse under cold water.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok on high heat.
3. Add prawns. Stir fry until partially cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on plate lined with paper towels.
4. Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok on medium heat. Add onion and cook til transparent. Then add bean sprouts and tofu. Stir fry for 1 minute.
5. Add noodles, seasonings and stir fry for another minute.
6. Move to one side of the frying pan to make room to fry an egg.
7. Break the egg into the wok and stir fry quickly for a few seconds to break it up.
8. Add 1 tbsp lemon juice, reserved prawns and stir fry til ingredients are mixed through evenly.

Notes and Tips

Prawns can be substituted with chicken