noodles | The Little GSP

This past weekend was our first free weekend since before our wedding! No DockDogs events, no traveling, no commitments… just time to ourselves! We celebrated by sleeping in both days, going out to lunch together (because we slept through breakfast) and watching hours of the British Open and Tour de France. I also did a lot of running on our brand new treadmill and Matt started a construction project that involved cutting open our bedroom wall in multiple spots… more on those events in a future post!

For dinner on Saturday we made a new recipe from our trusty cookbook, Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge. I know I’ve said this before but this cookbook is AWESOME! In addition to savory recipes like Kung Pao Chicken and Hot Pepper Beef, this book is also full of helpful cooking techniques, information about ingredients and a whole tutorial on how to select and care for your wok. We have always been amazed by how great the recipes from this book turn out and Saturday’s dinner of Chicken Lo Mein was no exception. Without further ado, here’s the recipe!

Chicken Lo Mein with Ginger Mushrooms (from Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge by Grace Young)

You will need…
12 oz. fresh thick Egg Noodles*
2 teaspoons Sesame Oil
12 oz. boneless, skinless Chicken Thighs, cut into 1/4″ thick bite-sized slices
1 tablespoon Ginger, finely shredded (cut into tiny matchstick-like pieces)
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon Rice Wine or Dry Sherry, divided
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
1 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon Soy Sauce, divided
1 teaspoon Salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon Ground White Pepper
2 tablespoons Peanut Oil, divided
1/4 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
3 cups Napa Cabbage, thinly sliced
4 oz. Shiitake Mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
1/2 cup Scallions, finely shredded (try using a Negi cutter to shred the scallion into even threads)
*We couldn’t find egg noodles so we used a package of Kame Stir-Fry Hokkien Noodles that we simply microwaved to heat up.

Directions:
Cook or heat up your noodles until al dente according to the package instructions. If using fresh noodles that you have to cook in boiling water, drain the cooked noodles and rinse several times with cold water. Place the cooked noodles in a bowl and stir in the sesame oil. Set aside.

Combine the chicken, ginger, 1 teaspoon rice wine, cornstarch, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon salt and the white pepper in a small bowl. In another small bowl combine the remaining 1 tablespoon rice wine and 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

Heat a wok over high heat. Pour in 1 tablespoon of the peanut oil and add the red pepper flakes. Stir fry for 10 seconds then push the flakes to the sides of the wok and add the chicken mixture. Spread the chicken evenly on the bottom of the wok and allow to cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute, then stir fry the chicken for another 30 seconds or until it starts to brown. Add in the cabbage and mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute or until the cabbage wilts. Transfer the wok contents to a plate.

Pour the remaining tablespoon of peanut oil into the wok then add in the noodles and stir fry for 15 seconds. Stir in the rice wine/soy sauce mixture and add the scallions, chicken mixture, and remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt. Stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve and enjoy!

When Matt and I were in college we were lucky enough to live 5 minutes away from a wonderful Chinese restaurant called Sang Kee Asian Bistro. Sang Kee specializes in noodle dishes and it quickly became our favorite restaurant. After college we moved away from Sang Kee but, as luck would have it, a brand new Sang Kee opened up right down the road from our house and we were able to satisfy our need for tasty Chinese noodle dishes once again.

Unfortunately the local Sang Kee didn’t do very well in its new location and it closed about a year ago. We had been going about our lives feeling rather noodle-deprived until last week when we realized that we should just try to make our own version of a Sang Kee dish! (Eureka!) We decided to make one of my favorites, Shanghai Noodles, and, after a quick web search to consult some recipes, came up with the following tasty dish. Enjoy!

Shanghai Noodles (adapted from the recipe on Cooking With Alison)

You will need…
1-2 tablespoons Peanut Oil
2 packed cups of Cabbage, cut into slices (approx. 2” long by 1/4″ thick)
2 Carrots, sliced into long, skinny sticks (approx. 2” long by 1/8” wide)
Splash of Dry Sherry
1 lb. Pork Tenderloin, sliced into thin strips (2-3” long by 1/2” wide by 1/8” thick)
1 bunch Green Onions, cut into 2 inch pieces (plus some thinly sliced as a garnish)
3 tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce
2-3 “pinches” of Ground White Pepper
1 lb. freshly cooked and drained Udon Noodles (these are fat, white noodles, see below*)
1 1/2 teaspoons Sesame Oil

Directions:
Before beginning, make sure that all of your ingredients are prepped as described above. Heat up a wok over medium-high heat and coat with peanut oil. Add the cabbage and carrots and stir fry for 2 minutes, then stir in the sherry and add the sliced pork. Continue to stir constantly for 1-2 minutes until the pork is just cooked through then add the green onions and stir. Add the soy sauce, white pepper and noodles and stir well to combine. Remove from heat and stir in the sesame oil. If desired, garnish the finished dish with thinly sliced green onions.

*A note on Udon Noodles – Dry/uncooked Udons are sold in larger grocery stores, but I’ve found that they are much thinner than the noodles that Sang Kee serves. Therefore, we resorted to buying 4 packages of Japanese-style Udon soups that each included a vacuum-pack of flexible, fat Udon noodles and a dried soup flavoring packet. We discarded the flavoring packets and, after combining the 4 packs of noodles together and boiling them for 2-3 minutes in a pot of water, found them to be a good substitute for the Sang Kee noodles. I’m sure there must be an easier way than this but we haven’t found it yet!