Chicken Hoisin Noodles
I've never really been a brilliant noodles maker. In the sense, the flavours and all are generally spot on but what I struggle with is boiling it perfectly so that the strands don't cling to each other and make the entire thing soggy. I've tried various ways to overcome this problem...but not totally successfully. Until a friend suggested that the noodles once boiled should be tossed with olive oil and refrigerated overnight to get the desired detachment of strands. Hoping that my woes will finally come to an end, I went around following his advice.
It was almost foolproof. I had nailed it. The noodle strands did not stick to each other, were well coated in the sauce and was ready to be served. But then I decided to add a dash of soy sauce before serving it. And then struck calamity. The cap somehow got squeezed out and half a bottle of dark soy bathed my almost-perfect noodles. My beautiful, luscious hoisin-red noodles were now looking like jet black ink. :(
Now was the turn of disaster management. A good cook is not one who just cooks well, but also one who can modify inedible substances to something relatively tasty. So I went about checking my worth as a cook. I drained out the excess soy, poured the noodles in large kitchen napkins and squeezed the horrible black-ness out of them. Repeated and re-repeated the procedure 3-4 times until what I was left with merited public feeding. 15 minutes later when my Mother was chomping on the same noodles and I told her the story, she said she wouldn't have guessed had I not confided in her!
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Egg noodles: 300 gm
Chicken, cooked and shredded: 1 cup
Olive oil: 1 1/2 tbsp
Garlic, chopped: 1 1/2 tbsp
Onion, carrots, beans, bell peppers (green, red or yellow), button mushrooms (all diced finely): 3 cups
White wine vinegar: 2 tsp
Soy Sauce: 2 tsp (NOT half a bottle)
Hoisin sauce: 3 -4 tbsp
Fish sauce: 2 tsp
Salt, to taste
Method:
1. Cook noodles according to packet instructions and with a dash of olive oill, minced garlic and salt. Once boiled, drain in cold water, toss in olive oil, cover with cling film and refrigerate for as long as possible.
2. Heat oil in a non stick wok, add onions and garlic and stir on high heat for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the vegetables (you can steam the carrots and beans first if you so wish) and continue stirring. Add the chicken shreds now.
4. Pour in the vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and fish sauce and a little salt (if needed).
5. Finally add the noodles and keep stirring till each strand is coated with the sauce.
6. Serve with ANY side dish or even by itself. The last I made it I had with my chilli honey chicken.
It was almost foolproof. I had nailed it. The noodle strands did not stick to each other, were well coated in the sauce and was ready to be served. But then I decided to add a dash of soy sauce before serving it. And then struck calamity. The cap somehow got squeezed out and half a bottle of dark soy bathed my almost-perfect noodles. My beautiful, luscious hoisin-red noodles were now looking like jet black ink. :(
Now was the turn of disaster management. A good cook is not one who just cooks well, but also one who can modify inedible substances to something relatively tasty. So I went about checking my worth as a cook. I drained out the excess soy, poured the noodles in large kitchen napkins and squeezed the horrible black-ness out of them. Repeated and re-repeated the procedure 3-4 times until what I was left with merited public feeding. 15 minutes later when my Mother was chomping on the same noodles and I told her the story, she said she wouldn't have guessed had I not confided in her!
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Egg noodles: 300 gm
Chicken, cooked and shredded: 1 cup
Olive oil: 1 1/2 tbsp
Garlic, chopped: 1 1/2 tbsp
Onion, carrots, beans, bell peppers (green, red or yellow), button mushrooms (all diced finely): 3 cups
White wine vinegar: 2 tsp
Soy Sauce: 2 tsp (NOT half a bottle)
Hoisin sauce: 3 -4 tbsp
Fish sauce: 2 tsp
Salt, to taste
Method:
1. Cook noodles according to packet instructions and with a dash of olive oill, minced garlic and salt. Once boiled, drain in cold water, toss in olive oil, cover with cling film and refrigerate for as long as possible.
2. Heat oil in a non stick wok, add onions and garlic and stir on high heat for a couple of minutes.
3. Add the vegetables (you can steam the carrots and beans first if you so wish) and continue stirring. Add the chicken shreds now.
4. Pour in the vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce and fish sauce and a little salt (if needed).
5. Finally add the noodles and keep stirring till each strand is coated with the sauce.
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