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| Pork Chow Mein ~ with variations for Chicken, Beef, and seafood. Another of the popular Chinese Chow Mein dishes. 1 pound noodles 6 Chinese dried mushrooms 3 tbsp golden needles (tiger-lily buds) 3 scallions ½ pound lean pork (1 cup) (want a more more authentic dish? Use slab bacon) 6 tbsp bean sprouts ¼ cup vegetable oil ½ tsp salt 3 tbsp soy sauce 2½ tbsp dry sherry 1 tsp sugar pepper to taste Preparation: Boil the noodles until they are al dente, rinse under cold water, drain, add small amount of oil to prevent sticking. Set aside. Soak the mushrooms and golden needles separately in warm water for 30 minutes. Cut the golden needles and the scallions into 2-inch pieces, Slice the pork and mushrooms into matchstick size strips. Cooking: 1. Heat 1½ tablespoons of the oil in a large frying pan. Add pork, salt and golden needles, and stir-fry together for 3 minutes over high heat. Add the mushrooms, scallions, and bean sprouts; continue to stir-fry for 1½ minutes. Add half the soy sauce, sherry, sugar, and pepper, and stir-fry for a further 1½ minutes. 2. Remove vegetables with a spoon and keep hot. Add the remaining oil and soy sauce to the pan. Pour in the noodles and turn them over in the oil/soy gravy for 1½ minutes over medium heat, to heat well through. 3. Add a quarter of the topping to the noodles, blend and stir-fry together for 1½ minutes and remove to a well heated serving dish. Return the remainder of the topping to the pan, adding a small quantity of oil, soy sauce, or sherry at this point if necessary. Stir-fry over high heat for 30 seconds, then arrange the topping on the noodles. ** This is a fairly standard way of cooking Chow Mein. Other meat ingredients can be substituted for pork, and other sliced vegetables such as leeks, cabbage, broccoli, celery, or greens can be substituted for bean sprouts, golden needles, etc with equal success; however dried mushrooms and scallions are always essential. If carrots, broccoli, cauliflower are used they may require a parboiling first, or given an added stir-fry time. You may want to experiment with different vegetables as this recipe is easily adaptable. Variations: Fried Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables Repeat the recipe above, substituting 4-5 oz ( ½-3/4 cup ) of chicken breast meat for the pork, and 2 ounces (3 tablespoons) of wood ears (soaked in water for 30 minutes) for the golden needles. Fried Noodles with Beef Ribbons and Vegetables Repeat the recipe for pork above, substituting the same quantity of beef for the pork, and about ½ cup celery and 1 leek for the bean sprouts. Cut the leeks and celery into 1-inch pieces and stir-fry them with the meat and 1 slice of ginger root. Remove the ginger, and put the meat/leek/celery mixture aside. Add a quarter of the vegetable ingredients when stir-frying the noodles; the remainder should be retained for the final stir-frying process and then placed on the top of the noodles. Fried Noodles with Seafood and Vegetables Repeat any of the recipes above, reducing the meat by half, and adding an equal amount or greater of whatever seafood you have decided to use (shrimp, crab, or lobster are all suitable). The meat and seafood can be stir-fried together, but it is preferable to cook them separately. The same vegetables should be added to both; a slice or two of ginger root and a clove of crushed garlic should also be added to the seafood. When the meat and seafood have been stir-fried, a proportion of each can be stir-fried into the noodles. |
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