Rachel has a *slight* obsession with making sure that we go to the Asian aisle every time we go to our neighborhood grocery store and here are her favorite noodle dishes.
tips and tricks
Undercook the noodles prior to tossing them in the pan to stir fry. All of the recipes linked below require the noodles to be cooked before adding them to the wok or pan with the sauce and rest of the ingredients. It’s important to shave a few minutes off of the package cooking instructions. The noodles will finish cooking in the wok.
Have chicken stock (or water) on hand during the stir fry process. Often times when stir frying, the noodles will quickly soak up the sauce. Your dish could take a turn for the worst if all of the liquid is quickly soaked up by the ingredients. That’s why it’s so important to have chicken broth or water within in reach to splash into your pan or wok. As the dish cools, the noodles will continue to soak up more and more liquid. If you end up adding too much liquid, mix up a tablespoon of cornstarch and a tablespoon of water and drizzle into the pan. This will help thicken the sauce so that it clings to the noodles.
After tossing the noodles in the wok, don’t touch them for 20 seconds. This technique is especially important when cooking in a wok over high heat. To develop a nice char on the noodles, leave the noodles be and then flip once to create a char on the other side. Adding in brown sugar to the sauce helps caramelize the noodles as well.
Repurpose leftovers by folding them into a spring roll wrapper. I did this recently with a batch of soy sauce pan fried noodles. All you need to do is wet the spring roll wrapper under the sink for 5 seconds, lay out the wrapper on a plate, add in your noodle leftovers, roll up, and enjoy! This is perfect for lunch the next day or even a quick snack.
Recipes
1. Soy Sauce Pan-fried Noodles
This recipe is great because of its simplicity. The only ingredient here that might requires a trip to the asian grocery store is the dark soy sauce. This is primarily used to achieve the dark stain on the noodles. If you don’t have dark soy sauce, replace with regular soy sauce. I like to take the sauce a step further and add in 1-2 teaspoons of rice vinegar, equal parts shaoxing wine (use dry sherry or omit entirely), and sprinkle in some sesame seeds. Feel free to use chicken stock in place of the water or vegetable oil as well.
2. Pad See ew with rice vermicelli
Pad See Ew is one of my favorite dishes to order at a Thai restaurant. When I want to whip up my own version at home, I love to follow Pailin’s version. While different in texture from the fat chewy fresh rice noodles that are typically found in pad see ew, this version still satisfies my craving. I use her recipe as a guide, substituting the chinese broccoli out with either regular broccoli or baby bok choy. I highly recommend trying the chili vinegar. I will warn you, the second you start drizzling this spicy vinegar on this dish, you will want to have this on hand for every dish.
3. Japchae
Japchae is a stir fry dish using noodles which are made out of sweet potato starch. For this recipe, you really do need the japchae noodle, which are only available at asian grocery stores (or online). If you substitute other types of noodles, it won’t be japchae (but I bet it would still be delicious). The japchae noodles are long, translucent, and have a gooey texture. They absorb the sauce and the balance of the noodles with the crunchy vegetables make this dish addictive.
