Thursday, March 22, 2007

Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken Slivers


I had a little bit of a hard time with this recipe for Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken Slivers from the Revolutionary Chinese Cooking cookbook. It was because of the noodles. I found Ho Fun Rice Noodles at the Asian market. They are dried and in one of the many noodle packages you have to look through. This package is mint green colored. The recipe instructions mention "soaking" the noodles but I chose to follow the instructions on the noodle package to cook them first. I think this is what you need to because I don't think you can stir fry them without them being cooked. Does anyone one know the traditional way to stir-fry noodles?

My noodles stuck to my wok. It was hard to stir-fry them. I was able to save most of them but then I had to completely clean out my entire wok before re-heating and cooking the rest of the dinner.

The end result is really tasty though. I like the "chicken slivers" but cutting up the chicken in really long and thin strips. I brought the leftover for lunch and my friend enjoyed it too. I was a little concerned it would be too oily, but it reheated just fine.

If you can find Ho Fun noodles, definitely give this one a try!

Stir-Fried Noodles with Chicken Slivers
ji si chao fen

2 boneless chicken breast halves (12 oz. total)
4 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes in hot water from the kettle
1 1/2 lb. soaked Ho Fun Rice Noodles (about 5 oz. dry)
3 scallions, green parts only
2 tsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
2 tsp. finely chopped garlic
2 tsp. chopped salted chiles (can substitute Sambal Oelek)
2 tsp. soy sauce
Salt and White Pepper
5 oz. bean sprouts
2 tsp. soy sauce
Salt and white pepper
5 oz. fresh bean sprouts
1 tsp. sesame oil
5 Tbsp. peanut oil for cooking

for the marinade:
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. potato flour (can sub cornstarch)
1 tsp. Shaoxing wine
1 Tbsp. Water

Cut the chicken breasts along the grain of the meat into fine slivers. Place a bowl with the marinade ingredients and mix well; set aside.

Drain the mushrooms, squeeze dry, and remove the stems, then cut into fine slices. Cut the scallion greens into thin slivers about 1 1/2 inches long; set aside.

Heat the wok over a high flame until smoke rises, then add 3 tablespoons of the oil and swirl around. Add the drained noodles and stir-fry until hot and fragrant; set aside. (If you have deep-frying oil at hand, you can deep-fry instead, which is faster.)

Rinse the wok if necessary, then reheat with 2 tablespoons fresh oil. Add the chicken slivers and stir-fry until they separate. Add the ginger, garlic, salted chiles, and mushrooms and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the hot noodles and continue to stir-fry, adding the soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the bean sprouts and stir-fry until they are piping hot. Finally, add the scallion greens, stir-fry a few times, then remove from the heat, and stir in the sesame oil. Serve immediately.

Variations: The same dish can be made with egg noodles, and you can use pork slivers instead of chicken if you prefer, or a mixture of mushrooms if you are vegetarian.


5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I've got store-bought (fresh) hor fun rice noodles before too, to cook rice noodles with seafood gravy and fried beef hor fun. Hv tried blanching the noodles in warm-boiling water, before frying the noodles.

DId you get dried ones or fresh ones? It should be ok to "blanch" the rice noodles, and not cook it. Prior cooking introduced too much moisture, I guess, and may lead to the "sticking issue" when you fry them in hot oil. Other than ensuring the oil is hot, you also have to fry them quickly-then set aside while you do the cooking of other ingredients.

But your noodles certainly look ok and delicious to me. :D

Rachel Rubin said...

Thanks for the tips! I actually got dried noodles which is why I thought I needed to pre-cook them. But I was watching a cooking show this weekend and they just soaked the noodles in water. So maybe I should have done that. I just didn't want to end up with un-cooked noodles!

brahmabull71 said...

Blanching noodles is the best way to prevent sticking. Also, using non-stick spray prior to heating the wok helps. Actually, you can semi cook and heat noodles without burning them or making them mushy. Heat 1 cup of chicken broth with 1-2 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 tspn of sesame oil with 2 tbspns of soy sauce to the liquid. When it starts to boil, add your nooodles and stir. Make sure you add enough noodles so that as you stir it, liquid will evaporate and start to be absorbed into the noodles. When most of the liquid is gone, take it out and set it aside. Then, you can cook the rest of your stuff. By the way, you'll also know when it's done when your noodles display a more "golden brown" color to them. Enjoy!

brahmabull71 said...

However, this will only work for dried noodles.

Anonymous said...

I always soak the noodles as well, works fine.

Like Tigerfish says: cooking the noodles let them absorb too much water.