I like to thank you all for leaving comments and feedback on my last stir fry recipe.

I often wonder if people are still interested in stir fry recipes just because I feel they are not as interesting as some other recipes. It seems like we can’t have enough of recipes for mac ‘n’ cheese, burgers, bolognese, pancakes, chili, just to name a few. I could be wrong but, that’s what I gathered from my personal observation.

Whether or not this ketchup noodles is going to be a hit with you guys, this recipe has earned a special place in my palate. For any Malaysians who look at these pictures will know this is mee goreng mamak (basically a popular street food in Malaysia).

So why the name ketchup noodles? Since my beloved is not from Malaysia and has no idea what mee goreng mamak is, to simplify things (plus the laziness of providing explanation right after work), I just renamed it with something he is familiar with. After all, the main ingredient for the sauce is ketchup, so the name is totally justifiable!

{An overview of all ingredients}

FYI – I have made this recipe up as I go based on my memory on how it supposed to taste like. The last time I had this in Malaysia was 3 years ago, and therefore, my version is not as authentic as the one you’ll find on the street of Malaysia.

Ketchup Noodles

(A Fuss Free Cooking Recipe)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 450g (16 oz) fresh Hokkein noodles
• 90g (3 oz) tofu puffs (or you can substitute with a block of firm tofu – need to dice and pan fry)
• 1 lime (garnish)
• 3 lettuce leaves (garnish)
• 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts (garnish) – I used store brought version but you can always make your own
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2.5 tbsps light soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 drops of sesame oil
• 3 tbsps cooking oil

Method:

• Thinly slice the lettuce and set aside on a plate.
• Loosen up the noodles before opening the packet (like photo below).

• Then remove the noodles from the packet. Loosen them further in a mixing bowl by hand. No need to cook the noodles

• Add tofu puffs with the noodles. Set aside.

• Mix ketchup, soy sauce and sesame oil in a measuring jug. I leave out the water for now.

• Slice the onion thinly and make sure the thickness of the slices is even. Otherwise some small bits will burn more easily than the thicker ones. Anyway no pressure, just try your best. If you were to use firm tofu, now is the time for you dice it into one inched cubes.

• Heat a wok (or a large pan) with 3 tbsps of cooking oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and spread the slices around.  We want the onion to be crispy, so try not to stir the onion too much. Just move the onion around when some bits are getting more brown than others.

• It took me about 5 minutes to achieve my desired colour and texture. Turn off the flame and remove the onions from the wok. Spread them on a plate. FYI – they will crips up as they cool.

• Use the oil in the wok to cook the noodles. Turn on the flame to medium and add the noodles and tofu puffs. Saute these ingredients for a minutes. For firm tofu users, this will be the time pan fry the diced tofu BEFORE adding the noodles. Once you have pan fried all the tofu, add noodles and the pan fried tofu and toss them for about a minute.
• TURN THE FLAME TO A MINIMUM and add the ketchup mixture. (Note: this will buy us some time to mix everything together without burning the sauce and noodles).  If you see the noodles start to stick on the wok/pan, add about 1/4 cup water and toss the noodles and tofu to bind with the sauce.
• Once you’re happy that everything is well mixed, turn the flame to high and quickly toss the noodles for a minute or until there’s very slight charring on the noodles. Turn off the flame immediately.

• To serve: Scatter some onion crips, chopped peanuts, lettuce and squeeze some lime juice over just before digging in. For this recipe, I’m sorry to say that these garnishes are NOT OPTIONAL!