Shanghai Noodles With Chicken & Vegetables (with vegetarian option)

I love Asian or Asian inspired noodle dishes. I could eat them morning, noon and night. Why? I have no idea. I certainly didn't grow up with them. But from the first taste I was hooked. While I love all kinds of noodles from rice to udon, those fresh, fat Shanghai noodles are probably my current favourite. 

One of the dishes I tried though Goodfoods was a noodle dish using fresh shanghai noodles with ground beef and greens. It was wonderful - my hands down favourite! Goodfoods gives you a recipe card listing all the ingredients in your meal kit as well as cooking instructions, so I thought I might be able to figure out a recipe that would taste similar. Unfortunately, while you can find most of the ingredients used in this dish, the company always add a dry spice mix of their own creation that you can't replicate.

After perusing some recipes on-line, as well as looking at my Goodfood recipe card, I thought I had come up with a combination that might be as similar as possible.  I want to say right up front, while I thought it turned out tasty, it wasn't to the taste level of the one I loved as that spice mix really took the overall taste to another level. 


What I'm sharing here is a recipe in progress. It a great combo, but somehow I need to figure out what seasonings to add to elevate it even higher - a spice mix a la Marilyn. When I get it figured out I'll be updating this recipes, so be sure to check back! 

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Shanghai Noodles With Chicken & Vegetables (with vegetarian option)
Serves 2 

Ingredients - 

1 T           Vegetable oil
1              Chicken breast OR 1 cup shelled edamame beans for veggie option
1              Small package sliced mushrooms
1              Clove Garlic minced
1-2 T       Fresh Ginger minced
1              Shallot minced OR 1 bunch green onions sliced
1               Large bunch bok choy (or Yo Choy or Gai Lan)
1               Small or medium sweet bell pepper (red gives the best colour)
1 T           Chinese cooking wine or cooking sherry
1/2 T        Sesame oil
3 T           Sweet Soy Sauce 
1/4 C        Ponzu Lime Sauce
2 T           Water
1 T            Brown sugar
1/4 tsp      White pepper powder
1 pkg.       Fresh Shanghai Noodles (300 - 550 g usually)
Optional - chopped peanuts for garnish
Optional - small amount of cornstarch if you want to thicken the sauce.

Instructions - 

Slice chicken (very thin), mushrooms if not pre-sliced, shallot or green onion, bell pepper and bok choy. Mince garlic and ginger.  Mix together cooking wine, sesame oil, sweet soy sauce, Ponzu lime sauce, water, grown sugar and white pepper. Set aside.  Heat a pot of water to boiling. Add noodles and stir gently to separate. Boil 5-7 minutes until al dente. Drain, then drizzle with oil to prevent sticking.  

Heat oil in large pan over high heat. Add chicken and stir until partly cooked.  Add mushrooms, shallot (if using green onion add at the end), and bell pepper. (edamame beans would go in here if using).  Cook a few minutes. Add bok choy and continue cooking until crisp tender. Do not overcook.  Add the seasoning sauce mix (and green onions if using). Mix gently until well combined. Heat through.  

You have 2 choices. You can add the noodles back in here and toss until well mixed, then serve. OR you can put the noodles on the plates first and top with the chicken/vegetable mix. I tend to do this as it's easier to the same mix stir fry on each portion.  Sprinkle with chopped peanuts if using and serve.  A pre-heated bowl or plate will help keep this dish warm longer. 

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