Wednesday, January 20, 2010

(Shanghai) Stir-Fried Noodles with Julienne of Vegetables

Photobucket

Stir-fried noodles in Shanghai-style have some features that are very different from Cantonese one - Shanghai style the noodles are bigger, the sauce is darker, it uses cabbage and a bit of sugar which both give out a very mild sweetness in taste. This style surely brings you a nice change from salty Cantonese noodles with bean sprouts.

It is sad that the family-run Shanghai restaurants are found less and less in Hongkong. Their dishes are hundred times tastier than the chain restaurants'. Besides, there could be many interesting things going on in a tiny restaurant, like, ladies and children (usually relatives of the owner) taking over the biggest table for making dumplings, or some 'clogging' sound - the chef wearing wooden clogs - was echoing around the tiled-walls... The owner and workers were always Shanghaiese, whether their cooking different from their home town's I couldn't tell, but their dishes were very shinny (as a lot of oil) and always carried some wine and sweet taste, I just love that!

Photobucket

Recipe of Stir-friend noodles in Shanghai-style:

(for 2 persons as one of the dishes in a meal)

  • 150 g shanghai noodles (or Linguine as alternative)
  • some salt
  • a big pot of water

for the vegetable:

  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 very small carrot
  • 1/2 green bell pepper
  • cabbage, 4 - 5 big leaves,
  • 1/4 tsp chicken powder
  • a half cup of water (adjustable)
  • oil and salt

for the sauce:

  • 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce (or more)
  • 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1/8 or 1/4 tsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp Chinese rice wine (or white table wine as alternative)
  • 1/4 tsp sesame oil
  • salt (optional)
  • veg oil

Steps:

  • Bring a big pot of water to boil, add a pinch of salt and the noodles, cook until just right. Drain and rinse the noodles under the tap immediately, drain and set aside.
  • juilenne the carrot, green pepper and cabbage. Set aside
  • In a big skillet, pre-heat some oil and stir-fry the carrot and pepper with a pinch of salt for 2 minutes, scoop them on a plate and set aside.
  • Use th same skillet to stir-fry the garlic, cabbage, oil and a pinch of salt until the veg looks soften, then add a small cup of water and the chicken powder, cook the cabbage over medium-low heat until it cooked. Raise up the heat and stir in carrot, pepper, noodles and the sauce until everything heat through. Taste and re-season if necessary.
  • Serve hot, it goes well with any Chinese dishes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 comments:

La Table De Nana said...

They look so comfy and pretty I bet they are delicious.

MaryMoh said...

Looks delicious. Lovely comfort food.

cookeaze said...

So beautiful, fresh, and delicious!Very comfort and thanks for the complement..

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Fantastic! I love stir-fried noodles!

Cheers,

Rosa

indosungod said...

Lovely noodles, so tasty and so good. Of course you make them look beautiful as always.

ChichaJo said...

These noodles look so gorgeously glossy! Making my tummy rumble...and it's almost midnight over here! Belated new years greetings! :)

Cynthia said...

Look at perfection - I love how the noodles are plated (bowl) in the first photograph.

eliza said...

love this!

Ravenous Couple said...

so glad to now know of your site..you have a amazing skills in cooking and photography..those noodles look perfectly nestled in it's home.. :)