Asian Stir Fry Noodles

Like with a lot of our cooking, this recipe is a bit of mix and match between chinese and thai ingredients. Again, it serves 2.

Ingredients
1 carrot
2 spring onions
1/2 capsicum
8-10 beans
Small piece cabbage (about 1/2 cup once chopped)
1 onion
1" piece ginger
6-8 garlic cloves
6-8 dry red chillies
1 tsp sugar (white or brown)
1 1/2 packets egg noodles (if using fresh noodles, directly add to wok without pre-cooking)
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp oil (any veg oil will do)

Note:The veggies can be varied - sprouts, mushrooms, baby corn, bok choy.

For sauce:
4 tbsp soya sauce
1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp corn flour

For Garnish (completely optional):
Chopped basil, coriander leaves and roughly-crushed roasted peanuts
Chopped omelette

Method
Cut onion length wise. Julienne carrot, ginger and garlic - I cut thin diagonal slices first, and then cut length wise into matchsticks. Cut capsicum into strips. Cut beans and spring onions diagonally, separating the green and white parts of the onion. Reserve some chopped green leaves for garnish.Finely slice cabbage. All the vegetables should look like thin strips. In a mortar and pestle, pound the chillies - you want smallish pieces, not a powder. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce with 1/2 cup water and set aside.

In a large vessel, boil 2 litres of water. As the water boils, add noodles. After a minute or two, take off heat and drain noodles into a colander. Run cold water over the noodles to stop further cooking. Toss with sesame oil and set aside.
Note:the cooking time of the noddles will vary from brand to brand. Essentially, you want the dry noodles to soften - that's it. if you over-cook at this stage, you will end up with one big mass of mush when you reach the wok stir-frying stage.

Now, you are ready to go! All your cooking should be done a high flame so it is important to have all your ingredients ready and handy. In a wide wok, heat oil. Add ginger and garlic. Briskly stir. After a minute, add onion and whites of spring onions. Stir. Add all the vegetables. At this point, I usually lower the heat and put a lid on the wok for 2 minutes to allow the vegetables to steam a little. remove lid, increase flame again. Add sugar and red chillies. Next, add the sauce and stir. Now add the noodles and toss. Using 2 spatulas helps! Also, lower the heat to prevent noodles from sticking too much. You could add a dash of sesame oil to enhance flavor. Don't over-stir the noodles - 2 to 3 minutes is good enough. Remove from heat and garnish with topping of your choice. We like an omelette (couple of eggs beaten with some soya sauce) cut into thin strips.

Tip:If you are not going to eat the noodles right away, remove from wok into a wide, shallow container (like a large plate). Spread noodles around to prevent over-cooking and the dreaded mush.

All in all, Yenjai!