I seldom have noodles for dinner when I was living with my parents. This is mainly because my dad considers rice-with-three-dishes- and-a- soup is a proper dinner as compared to one pot of stir-fry noodles. In my household, we normally prefer to have noodles for breakfast and lunch instead of dinner.
However since living away from home, I don’t remember the last time I have cooked my dad’s so-called “proper” dinner. Don’t get me wrong, I truly enjoy a full on meal like I used to have with my family. It’s hearty, fulfilling and often well-balanced meals. Nowadays, the only time I have more than one dish on my dinner table is either I’m at a restaurant or potluck parties. I actually count my blessing whenever I make simple home cooked meals let alone trying to make a “banquet” dinner. 😛
Whenever I have my favourite tv shows coming up (showtime during dinner time), I’ll make sure the food is ready when the show starts. My daily little pleasure is to eat and watch tv at the same time – a habit which I have cultivated since childhood. On the night of the final episode of Masterchef (Australia), I was contemplating whether I should go out and quickly grab some take-out. Then I decided against the idea as it can sometimes take up more time than expected. Also, a good portion of Australian population would be tuning in to the final and probably shared the same thought of getting take-outs as well. So I deduced that I was better off by cooking something simple like this stir-fry noodles.
All the ingredients in this recipe requires little time to cook. The longest cooking process in this recipe is probably blanching the noodles, other than that, it’s just a step up from salad making or frying an egg. 😛 You can use any asian greens of your choice. Personally, I have this fondness towards chinese kale (aka chinese broccoli and gai lan). It has thicker leaves as compared to bok choy and choy sum and because of this, it’s more forgiving if you have accidentally over-stir-fried the dish (especially I need to run back and forth from the kitchen to the living room to make sure I haven’t miss the show).
Anyway, I’ve got to run to catch another show now. Can you believe it, it will be Thursday tomorrow! 2 more days to weekends. Woohoo!
Noodles with Chinese Kale & Shitake Mushrooms
Serves 3 people
Ingredients:
350g fresh hokkein noodles (blanch as per packet instructions)
7 -8 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4-5 stalks of asian kale
2 tbsps sweet soy sauce / ketjap manis
2-3 tbsps oyster sauce (to taste)
Method:
1. Saute sliced shallots in 3 tbsps of oil until golden brown (see photo above). Remove the fried shallots and spread them out on a flat plate. Leave the remaining shallots-infused oil in the pan/wok.
2. Heat up the oil and saute the mushrooms until aromatic.
3. Add garlic and saute further until aromatic.
4. Add kale and 2 tbsps of water. Cook until the vegetables become slightly soften.
5. Add noodles, sweet soy sauce and oyster sauce and mix to combine all the ingredients. If the noodles start to stick at the bottom of the pan/wok, add a little water. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
6. Sprinkle fried shallots over the noodles just before serving. You can garnish the noodles with some fresh spring onions and chilles. It also goes well with sambal.
What a vibrant dish! I’d be happy to eat this for breakfast, lunch, or dinner!
Hi Sommer,
Thanks for your comment. I’m happy to eat this on any day, at any time too! 😀
Yum! I just got a package of these kinds of noodles in Chinatown. I’ll have to try it.
I have a weakness for watching TV too while eating. 🙂
Hi Melissa,
I hope you’ll enjoy this dish.
We have one more thing in common besides reading tabloid magazines. 😛
Thanks for your comment.
Looks like a great recipe!
I love these kind of noodles. The meals you grew up with sound amazing!
i always have snacks whenever i watch food shows too!
Snacking is a must while watching food shows – it’s already a torture for not being able to taste the food on tv, it’d be worse if there nothing to munch to distract that cravings. 😛
Thanks for visiting my site. 🙂
Looks fantastic, I adore noodles and shitake mushrooms plus it looks very healthy.
Hi Magda,
Thanks for your comment. A girl needs to keep her waistline under control once in a while. Just look at how much baking I have doing lately! haha.
I think it’s my first time here! Love your blog, all the pictures and recipes! This noodle dish looks so delicious and beautiful!
Hi Sook,
Firstly, welcome to my blog. I’m glad you like my blog and this dish.
Take care.
I cooked something yesterday! I used shallots just the way you did too. Pre-frying them and using the shallot oil to fry my noodles, Kailan, mushrooms. Just so good, I tell ya!
Using the shallot oil is my favourite way to transform the otherwise bland vegetable and noodles into a flavourful dish.
It’s a trick that I’ve learned from my mum.
Thanks for your comment. 😀
Looks absolutely delicious! I could eat noodles for breakfast and lunch, so your childhood doesn’t sound too bad! 😉
Thanks for your comment. I guess you’re right about that! hehe 🙂
Emily,
I left you a small gift — stop by when you get a chance! 🙂
Thanks for the gift. 😀
your noodles look like they would be perfect any time! The kale is such a nice addition, and shitakes are just so flavorful!
thanks for such a wonderful dish!
Thanks for your comment. I’m glad that you like my simple recipe. 😀
This looks super appetizing! I love mushrooms!!
Thanks for your lovely comment. I love mushrooms too! 🙂
oh YUM! Those mushrooms look incredible. So simple, but I’m sure so wonderful.
http://www.theladyintheapron.blogspot.com
made this for dinner tonight. very easy and delicious!!
This is a wonderful dish 🙂 Looks very tasty…
As a white girl making this, I was pretty nervous due to my limited background in cooking, but with this recipie, it turned out awesome. Thanks so much!