Singapore noodles

preparation time: 30 minutes
cooking time: 20 minutes
emergency contact: carol or amy

The trick to cooking dried rice stick noodles is moisture control. They need to absorb quite a lot of liquid to attain a chewy consistency, but if you douse them too much, they’ll turn into a sticky, soggy clump. Probably most well-known is the Cantonese dish called Singapore noodles (yes, you read that correctly), but this general preparation technique for dried rice stick noodles adapts easily to any combination of ingredients and sauces. It’s an excellent way to use up leftovers.

dried rice stick noodles (“Chewy Brand” is pretty good)
shallots
shiitake mushrooms
green onion, ginger, yellow chives
cabbage, carrot, celery, sprouts
ham, barbequed pork
vegetable oil

Sauce:
dark soy sauce
light soy sauce
powdered chicken broth
Maggi
sugar
Shaoxing rice wine
oyster sauce
Madras curry powder
hot chile paste
salt and pepper

Soak the dried rice stick noodles in hot water for 20-30 minutes. They’re ready to cook when they turn solid coloured (they’re sort of translucent when they come out of the package). In the meantime, prepare the meat and vegetables by slicing each ingredient into batons or slivers.

Heat up several tablespoons of oil in a wok. Cook the shallots over medium heat until they’re nicely browned (5-7 minutes). Turn the heat up to medium high and throw in the vegetables and meat but leave out the bean sprouts for now if you’re using them. Add more oil as needed. Add some salt or powdered chicken broth mix. When the vegetables are cooked, transfer everything out of the wok onto a plate.

Pour some more oil into the wok and toss in the soaked rice stick noodles. Add your sauce ingredients. Cook for several minutes until the noodles begin to soften. Then turn the heat up a bit and return the vegetables and meat to the wok. Add bean sprouts.

Timing is crucial at this point. You want some crunch to the bean sprouts so don’t cook them for too long (no longer than 2 minutes). They will release some liquid, but if the noodles are still too firm, you may need to add some chicken broth or water. Essentially, you want to remove everything from the heat as soon as the noodles have cooked fully and have browned a bit (for flavour). Serve immediately.

Singapore noodles: shiitake mushrooms, onion, celery, green onion, Chinese barbequed pork, shrimp with a sauce of 1.5 Tbsp Madras curry powder, 2 cloves garlic, 2 Tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tsp sugar, chicken broth, 1 tsp hot chile paste, 1 Tbsp minced ginger, 1.5 Tbsp oyster sauce

popular 54leacock version: shallots, cabbage, carrot, celery, bean sprouts, ham, shiitake with a sauce of powdered Knorr chicken broth mix, 1-2 Tbsp light soy sauce, 1-2 Tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 Tbsp Shaohsing rice wine, dash of sugar, salt and Maggi sauce