Pea Shoots Chow Mein

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You see, I was given the privilege to name our two super adorable conures (like a miniature parrot if you are wondering what is a conure). Even though we have agreed to name them Mango and Pineapple, I tend to call them by their nicknames, Mang Mang and Pi Pi. Oh believe me,  the nicknames sounded cuter than they look on my blog post! My beloved thinks they sound silly…but you got to agree with me that they sound cute right?

But names aside, the two words I could describe this dish are simple and delicious. It may not seem like a lot of flavours going on, but it does. You see, I start by making some crispy shallots. In the same oil which was used to make the crispy shallots, I sauteed the garlic until aromatic. Coupled with the nuttiness from the sesame oil, smokiness and savouriness of soy sauce and sweet caramelly kecap manis, you get the idea – it’s fragrant and flavourful. Not to mention pea shoots add a touch of lightness and playfulness in the dish.

Pea Shoots Chow Mein

(Feed 2 to 3 people)

What you need:-

• 450g / 16 ounces fresh Hokkien noodles (I used Fantastic brand)
• 50g / 2 ounces pea shoots (aka pea sprouts)
• 1 French shallots
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 2 dashes of white pepper
• 3 tbsps kecap manis aka Indonesian sweet sauce – click here to make your own
• 2-3 tbsps light soy sauce (Kikkoman soy sauce) – to taste
• 2 tbsps cooking oil
• 3 – 4 drops sessame oil
• A kettle of recently boiled water

Let’s get started:-

(1) Chop garlic finely; slice a French shallot finely and pat the sliced onion with a kitchen towel to remove excess moisture. (2) Add 2 tbsps of cooking oil and shallot over medium flame. When the shallot starts to sizzle, lower the flame to low and fry until golden brown as per photo above. Set aside in a bowl to cool. (3) Add chopped garlic and saute over the lowest possible heat settings. In the meantime, in a mixing bowl, add noodles from the packet and pour boiling water over the noodles. Try to loosen the noodles in the hot water using a chopstick or a tong. As soon as the noodles are loosen, drain the water and add into the pan.  (4) Saute the noodles for a minute, then add kecap manis, 2 tbsps of light soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and pea shoots. Toss all the ingredients until well mixed. Taste the noodles and add more kecap manis and/or light soy sauce if you like. If the noodles feel a little try, add a tbsp of water. (5) When the pea shoots are wilted slightly and noodles are well heated, the noodles are ready to be served. Sprinkle the fried onions just before serving. To add a little kick, sprinkle some dried chilli flakes.

Re: Step 3 – You have to work quickly for this step to avoid the garlic being burnt. Or you can blanch the noodles before sauteing the garlic.