What’s so funny? Noodles.
Hello, All! Um, Mom, sis, I’m talking to you. Well time certainly does fly when you’re not blogging, eh? Yes, It’s been a year since I published my (self-annointed) masterpiece “Cooking With Kaya Ep. 2: Fried Chicken!!!” As you might recall (especially if you’ve just re-read that brilliant entry) Kaya and I made the fried chicken video (which received an unheralded 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – no need to fact check that) the week before she entered kindergarten. Fast forward one year to the present, or the present of few weeks ago. Once again, Kaya and I had a week and a half to hang out before she started school – this time 1st grade! And so we conspired to make another postmodern masterpiece/ recipe video for a dish that both have a deep and abiding love for: stir-fried noodles aka chow mein.
Now I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying that noodles in whatever form (soup, pan fried, deep fried, saucy, dry) are soul food for Asians. Its the perfect peasant food: a starch (it could be rice, wheat, buckwheat, potato, buckwheat, mung bean, semolina, etc.) in long strand form that when cooked correctly is chewy, springy, slurpy and soaks up whatever sauce or flavor surrounds it. Marco Polo definitely knew what was up when he brought them from China and introduced them to the West. I don’t even know if that story is really true, but it sounds good and if it is, I’d like to think it’s because Marco knew that a life without noodles was really not worth living. I know that in my own experience, whenever I’ve been traveling or in a place where noodles are not well represented, the first thing I’ll gravitate towards when I’m back on familiar ground is a big bowl of pho, pad thai, chow fun or chow mein. One of my favorite meals as a kid was my mom’s chow mein. She’d make it with thinner Hong Kong style egg noodles with celery and pork. Obviously they were delicious out of the wok, but we’d eat them with a dollop of Dijon mustard and a drizzle of black vinegar. I have no idea if this was a Chinese tradition, a Hong Kong mash-up or a family predilection. All I know is it was delicious. And so now that I’m a parent – you know circle of life and all that – I feel that is my privilege to introduce to my kids the joy of eating noodles. That’s how culture is passed on folks. Trust me. I was an Anthro major so that basically makes me an expert.
The go-to chow mein in our house is a Shanghai style chow mein, made with thick wheat-based noodles. We buy packages of these fresh noodles at our local 99 Ranch. They should look something like this.
This is a package of fresh Shanghainese noodles that I actually froze so I can use at a later date.
This is the after shot of these noodles. That’s what I’m talking about! I usually eat them with a healthy spoonful of sambal and and a drizzle of black vinegar. It’s heaven in a bowl.
It’s a really simple recipe that that draws on my time working at an Asian Fusion restaurant back in the day when Asian Fusion was THE new thing, at least in the Bay Area. Yes, I’m totally dating myself since that was a long ass time ago and Asian inspired food has long since entered the mainstream. It’s also a recipe derived in part from watching my parents cook and cooking with my sis. Shout out, Cheryl! Don’t we look hella young in those videos?
Here’s the basic recipe. As usual, because I’m not a baker, amounts are approximates.
Ingredients:
2 lbs Shanghainese noodles (fresh, uncooked)
4-6 carrots
1/2 head of red cabbage
1-2 tbsp of chopped garlic
1-2 tbsp of chopped ginger
salt to taste
white pepper to taste
1/3 cup of mushroom soy
3 tsp of sugar
Now check out this most excellent and entertaining vid to so how we do it:
Did you notice that unlike most of the other posts on this blog, this recipe is vegetarian? In fact, it’s so vegetarian is vegan?!? Yup, I got you, my non animal product eating brothers and sisters! But I’ve also got your back if you like to eat the meat. So as a bonus, because you deserve it, I’m including the following recipe for The World’s Easiest Stir Fried Chicken. I kid you not, this will take you 15 minutes to prepare and it adds a bit of chicken protein to whatever vegetarian or vegan meal you cook up, but especially these noodles.
Case in point:
Chow mein topped with the worlds easiest stir fried chicken.
Ingredients:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into pieces (don’t even think about using breast meat)
1-2 tsp of sesame oil
2 tbsp of fish sauce
1-2 tbsp of soy sauce
1-2 tsp of sugar
1/4 tsp of corn starch
And here’s how I do it:
