A Recipe Blog

I’ve been interested lately in the idea of ‘simple'(r) foods (see note no. 1 for more on why) and came up with something yum, where the flavour of the vegies and sesame oil really comes through. The water chestnuts add a beautiful crunchiness too (thanks to Mum for serving these when I was a kid, I love ’em!). The mushrooms sort of substitute for meat in this dish, but I imagine it’d work well with beef or chicken instead, I was just feeling lazy :-P

The recipe calls for a wok. Thank you to James’s grandparents for the awesome Scanpan brand Wok I used, it’s a dream to use! Very easy to clean too.

Ingredients (Makes 4 small serves, 2 large)

• 500g fresh tapioca noodles (rice noodles will also suffice, available at some Harris Farm Stores & Asian Grocery Stores – see note no. 2)
• 1.5 tbsp sesame seed oil
• 1 tbsp peanut oil
• 250g snap frozen Coles Malaysian-style Stir-Fry Vegetables (e.g., Broccoli, Yellow Beans, Water Chestnuts, Sugarsnap Peas, Capsicum)
• 1 small bunch of baby bok choy, coarsely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 100g portbello mushrooms (chopped into small chunks)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp soy sauce (I use fountain brand as it’s gluten free; most soy sauce has wheat flour in it)

Directions

1. Soak the noodles in boiling water for about 10 minutes, then drain and leave aside.
2. Heat the peanut oil in a wok. Cook frozen vegetables & mushrooms until frozen vegetables are defrosted over medium heat (about 5 minutes), seasoning with mint leaves, 1 tsp garlic, salt & pepper. Stir occasionally.
3. Add noodles and stir well.
4. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, bok choy and remaining garlic. Simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently to coat the noodles and bok choy in seasoned oil mixture.
5. Remove wok from heat and serve dish immediately (see below picture for the meal in wok before serving ^_^).

Note

No. 1: A lot of people only confirm they have food tolerances, and what exactly they are, after ruling out a lot of various preservatives, colours, fructose, lactose, etc. I don’t appear to be intolerant to anything but gluten (which I discovered by completely removing it from my diet), but I thought it would be interesting to try and make a meal with less ingredients than I’d normally use to see what the result would be. Conclusion = Can still make a very tasty and easy meal!

No. 2: Unfortunately I’ve noticed that more and more of the fresh tapioca noodles and rice noodles available at the moment have ‘wheaten cornflour’ listed as an ingredient (gah), therefore they are NOT gluten free if this is a concern for you. There’s always dried rice noodles though, such as Chang’s brand gluten free ones. Fresh are better if you can get them though; tastier.

Tags: boiled, gluten free, noodles, quick, stir fried, vegetarian