Vegetable Fried Noodles

A lot of you checked in with me via instagram or email to see how we fared with our Big Blizzard Bo Ssam Dinner, and my answer is…well let’s just say I wouldn’t be too upset if the forecast called for another two feet of snow this weekend. It wasn’t our first attempt making Bo Ssam — Momofuku’s famous sweet, slow-roasted pork that gets wrapped in lettuce leaves and topped with all sorts of sauces — but I’m going to say it was our most memorable. I’m not sure if it was because, over the course of six hours, the pork infused the house with its sweet, rich aroma, or because our friends drove a mile through 26 inches of snow to be there for it, or because cooking when we’re snowed in tends to upgrade everything we make in our kitchen — from the ginger-scallion sauce to the Ssam sauce to the uh, chocolate chip cookies. (Let’s call it Blizzard Umami.) Whatever the reason, the whole thing was just right on the money.

Another fortunate dividend: The Bo Ssam recipe called for a few wildcard ingredients (gochujang, ssamjang) which was all the justification I needed to visit my favorite Asian superstore two towns over.  It’s impossible for me to walk out of places like that without stocking up on some authentic pantry basics: fish sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegars, noodles (lots and lots of noodles), and a few other head-scratchers that only set me back a few dollars, and that I file under “Buy Now, Figure Out Later.” (Read: Dried Fried Scallions.) It was a good thing I did, because by the time the eight pounds of meat was in the oven and well on its way to miracle melty-ness, I remembered something important. Maddie, the 13-year-old daughter of our dinner guests, had fallen in love with pigs at farm camp a few years ago, and decided then and there to swear off pork for good. Not only do I, of course, respect this one hundred per cent, I was psyched to have a chance to experiment with my newly purchased supplies. I’d been meaning to recreate a fried noodle recipe that Andy and I used to order in Chinatown a hundred years ago — and it seemed as though all the stars and storms were aligning. Here’s what I came up with:

Vegetable Fried Noodles
Feel free to experiment with different vegetables. I would’ve added just about any green, but spinach was all we had. Cooked broccoli or steamed bok choy would’ve been great additions, too.

Stir-fry Sauce

2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
squeeze Sriracha
squeeze fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup grapeseed oil
tablespoon or so of packaged dried fried scallions (optional)

Noodles
1 tablespoon minced shallot (I would’ve used scallions but I ran out)
1 stalk lemongrass, minced
1/2-inch piece of ginger, minced
peanut oil
1 garlic clove, minced
16 ounces “Oriental Style” noodles (see photo) cooked, cooled, and tossed with a little grapeseed oil (they should pull apart, but still be a little sticky)
1 cup cooked baby spinach or thawed frozen spinach
Stir-fry sauce (above)
fried shallots (optional)
cilantro, chopped (for garnish)

In a small blender, whirl together all sauce ingredients. Set aside.

{Note: You’ll see in the next paragraph that I cooked the noodles in two batches. This is because I don’t have a very large wok — so feel free to do it all in one batch if you are better equipped than I am.}

In a wok set over medium heat, add half of shallots and half of lemongrass, and half of ginger to peanut oil, and cook for about one minute. Turn heat to medium-high and add half of garlic, stirring for about 10 seconds. Add half your noodles and toss once so garlic is distributed as much as possible (and not sitting on the bottom of the pan where it will burn). Let sit for about 2 minutes so the noodles get nice and crispy. Toss again and let rest to crisp up more. Add spinach and half the sauce, then toss to distribute and slide into a bowl. Wipe out the wok, add more peanut oil and repeat with remaining ingredients.

Top with cilantro and fried shallots. Serve warm.

What brands? Since a few of you asked me what brands I picked up, I thought I’d just post this photo, which shows the bounty from my latest trip. (It changes all the time, I’m not advanced enough to have brand loyalty.) I, too, get overwhelmed in stores where 90% of the labels are not in English, but I usually end up asking someone who works there for recommendations. I’ve also been known to choose products based on google image-ing…so forgive me if I label something completely wrong. (But please do correct me.) From Left to Right: Gochujang (red container, top), ssamjang (green container), oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar. Hope that helps.