stir fry

Secret to Stir Fry Noodles That Don't Stick

March 8, 2018 By Eleanor Hoh 15 Comments

Everyone loves stir fried noodles but not when they stick to your wok. My simple rules will guarantee NO-stick noodles if you use a well seasoned cast iron wok. I must confess I was always intimidated frying noodles especially after watching my mom and then my sister fry them so expertly. They did use a LOT of oil but after experimenting a few times, I realized you don’t have to use a ton of oil if you use my technique. You don’t even need to visit an Asian market for any of the ingredients I used in this noodle dish.

Please don’t make this in front of guests till you’ve experimented on your own, less pressure and you’ll be able to think clearly. You’ll notice I was making this for a dinner party with an appetizer of Egg Drop Soup and Apple Galette for dessert. I’ll share those dishes in another post.

HERE’S THE 101 FOR NO-STICK NOODLES…Once you understand the WHY, it’ll be a breeze.

About your wok…
If you are a new Wok Star…don’t make this dish for at least a month till you’ve built up enough patina when your cast iron wok becomes glossy and slick. The MORE YOU USE YOUR WOK, the BETTER the PATINA. If you don’t have a wok, use a wide stainless steel pan but you WILL need to use a lot more oil and I cannot guarantee they won’t stick. This is why I put together a KIT to eliminate all those issues of sticking, it’s not just the wok, you need the heat and then the technique which I’ll share below.

About the heat..
It’s vital to use high heat especially when cooking noodles, otherwise they will stick. If you have an electric stove, good luck.

About the noodles…
If you can’t find Asian noodles in your local supermarket’s Ethnic section, just get thin Italian egg noodles which work FINE! You do know that the Italians learned how to make pasta from the Chinese, right? See technique below. The trick is to get the noodles as dry as possible so they DON’T stick and use OIL in the boiling water to keep them separated while cooking AND add oil while they’re drying as well as when frying of course. Same concept as stir frying vegetables and meat.

Technique for NO-stick noodles…

Boil noodles in the morning if using for dinner. Keep them Al Dente, if too soft, all the starch comes out and that’s what makes them stick to wok!
BIG TIP: squeeze in a few drops of oil (avocado or olive oil) into the water, this prevents them sticking. Use chopsticks and separate the noodles while they are boiling.
Drain really well, wet noodles are another reason for noodles sticking to your wok. Sprinkle toasted sesame oil and make sure oil is covering all the noodles well, use chopsticks and separate them.
Use kitchen cloth towel and cover noodles to prevent from drying out till you’re ready to use.

Marinade pork shoulder with hoisin, tamari, chili garlic sauce

Grill till slightly golden, doesn’t take long

Marinade shrimp with TSPC: tamari, sherry, pepper, cornstarch

Note: you can use just one kind of meat or seafood to keep it simple. You can also just slice the pork and stir fry instead of grilling. My reason for grilling was I wanted to make it like Char Siu (Chinese roast pork.)

Ingredients:
1 head Bok Choy (sub with Broccoli, Broccolini, Cabbage, Baby Boy Choy, Kale, endless choices) cut into diagonals
1 bag multi colored mini sweet peppers (sub with bell peppers, carrots, golden beet)
4-5 scallions, cut into diagonals, green and white
1 big bunch cilantro
1 thumb size ginger, shredded or thwacked
4-5 cloves garlic, diced or thwacked

1 pound shelled, deveined, shrimp (31-40 count)
2 big pork shoulder or spare rib chops

Avocado oil
Toasted sesame oil (NEVER use for high heat cooking please! It’s not stable and become carcinogenic!)

You know the drill…
Seasonings
for marinading shrimp and pork if you are stir frying instead of grilling

Tamari
Sherry
Pepper (white ground)
Cornstarch

Next…
slice grilled pork into bite size pieces

You know the drill…
Heat wok, add oil, add garlic and ginger…
Fry Vegetables – Bok Choy and Mini Sweet Peppers, scallions, sprinkle Tamari and sherry, plate

Heat wok, add oil, add garlic and ginger…
Fry Shrimp – add to plate of vegetables

Heat wok till you see first whisp of smoke, add 4 rounds of oil and let it heat a little before adding noodles…
Fry Noodles – sprinkle a little Tamari and keep tossing the noodles. Since they are well oiled from both boiling and dry AND in the wok, you should be guaranteed NO-sticking! Taste and adjust flavor, add in vegetables, shrimp and pork and keep tossing till all warmed through.

Dish onto big platter, boom, done!

ENJOY! Would love to hear how your NO-stick noodles turned out and what subs or combos you used?

Keep it simple with only Bok Choy & Multi Mini Sweet Peppers. Always have scallions, cilantro for garnish.

Line up everything so you’re ready to FRY!

Shanti Christensen's Book Giveaway and Umami Kale (updated)

April 6, 2017 By Eleanor Hoh 16 Comments

Book Giveaway details below, ends tonight Sunday, April 16: 12am ET, good luck!

If you crave real home cooked Chinese food, you can win Shanti Christensen’s book, “Family Style Chinese Cookbook: Authentic Recipes from My Culinary Journey Through China!” (see details below!) It’s a MUST. Shanti’s quest to learn authentic Chinese cooking led her into 40 families’ homes over a 3 year period and culminated in this treasure trove of family recipes. Her superb story telling makes us feel like an extended family, privy to secrets that have been passed down for generations.

You’ll learn about Chinese traditions, the importance of family and with meager ingredients, you can cook up feasts. Lamb Fried Rice Xinjiang Style (p.161) and Braised Pork Ribs in Aromatic Sauce (p.111), umm, not bad bedtime reading or to dream about.

Simple, no frills recipes. They won’t intimidate you or make you keel over with impossible-to-find ingredients like many Chinese cookbooks. My favorite part of the book? Reading Shanti’s endearing stories about the families gave me a sense of what life was like in China. I was born in China and left when only 9 months old.

You can experience more of Shanti’s China trip here.

And if you’re lucky enough to live in San Francisco,
she produces outrageous popup dinners serving dishes from all over Asia.

To celebrate this book giveaway, I chose Shanti’s Stewed Kale (p.156) because the day I wanted to experiment from her book, that’s all I had in the fridge. And I loved that because it reflects my whole philosophy of using what you have and make the best and tastiest dish you can!

Creating a sauce to put over veggies is a very efficient way of adding flavor
to a big batch of veggies and gives them a different texture and flavor.

As always, I couldn’t help being a Wok Star and put my personal spin on it…

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb. kale (ready washed and torn into pieces)
Grape seed oil
Sesame oil

Sauce:
1 tsp Koon Chun brown bean sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp i.e. few dashes of sherry
1 tbsp i.e. few dashes of tamari
1/4 cup chicken broth

METHOD…

Combine all sauce ingredients in bowl
Heat cast iron wok till hot, add sauce and fry till fragrant
Immediately add kale and cover with sauce. Add broth, tamari and sherry.
Cook till kale is wilted, taste for doneness, if not enough sauce, add a little more broth and cook till tender.

This kale goes well with ANYTHING.
I’d love to hear about some of your favorite ways for preparing kale in the comments.

Ready for Book Giveaway? Keeping it simple, here you go:

1. Subscribe to my free newsletter in right sidebar —->
2. Follow Shanti Christensen on Instagram @showshanti
3. Follow Eleanor Hoh on Instagram @wokstar and leave comment on Book Giveaway post
4. Leave a comment below why you deserve to win Shanti’s cookbooks? Then email me eh at eleanorhoh dot com so I have your email if you win.
5. Eligibility: Only for United States residents. Closing date: Sunday, April 16 , 12 am ET. Check back here for winner announcements Monday, April 17.
6. A random winner will be picked and contacted via email. Respond ASAP, otherwise I will pick the next winner.
7. Your book will be sent directly to you, good luck everyone!

If you didn’t win, you can still buy Shanti’s cookbook here.

Want more ideas for vegetable dishes?…

Simple Kale Stir Fry

Three Ingredient Broccolini

How about more Kale recipes?

Serious Eats: 15 Kale recipes

All the Kale Recipes You’ll Ever Need

Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts from Chris Kimball's Milk Street Magazine

October 28, 2016 By Eleanor Hoh Leave a Comment

Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts will turn Brussels Sprouts haters into LOVING them and vegetable eaters into die hard Brussels Sprout addicts! They have 3 qualities I always talk about: flavor, texture, color in that order. Wok Charring is a fail proof technique that’s quick and easy and will get you perfect results every time. Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts go with anything whether it’s a western dish with meatloaf, BBQ ribs or an Asian cheat dinner like mine with Mui Choy Pork Belly and Roast Duck, see below.

Tada, the yummiest wok charred brussels sprouts!

I learned how to make Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts from the charter issue of Milk Street magazine, published by Christopher Kimball, yes, that Christopher Kimball. Ex-America’s Test Kitchen TV and radio show host and the man behind Cooks Illustrated that pivoted him into the stratosphere of a “cooking god!” Below is the recipe by kind permission from Milk Street’s Editorial Director, J.M. Hirsch (previously AP food editor.)
If you hurry, you can still get a free charter issue and yearly subscription discount here.

You’ll want to hear more about his new project, Milk Street Kitchen, it’s very exciting because we share a lot of the same philosophies and the project deserves a separate post, working on that.
Cooking isn’t about following a recipe, so don’t just skip to the “recipe,” take a moment to understand WHY certain ingredients or techniques are used. When you understand WHY, you will have more chance of success and this is one philosophy Chris Kimball and I share! I’ve made Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts three times, all were successful and delish. My hubby whose my tester adores Brussels Sprouts devoured them and couldn’t stop saying, umm…
What you need to know…
1. Smaller is better…
Cutting sprouts smaller creates more surface area = more charring = more flavor! I pride myself as a Wok Star to think and do things outside of the norm but I didn’t think of the obvious which is to cut them smaller so they cook faster, what a revelation, it changed the whole cooking process and flavor profile.
2. What ingredients do…
– lemon juice “wakes” up any ingredient and make it shine
– honey caramelizes and gives charring color, however, I used only half of honey in recipe and didn’t add honey at the end, I find honey/sugar masks the natural flavors of vegetables, we like vegetables with a bit of bite.
– extra-virgin olive oil handles high heat
– pepper flakes gives a wonderful kick but do NOT include at beginning of your stir fry or fry in oil, they will gag you, sprinkle in at the end
3. Wok Star Way
– adapt to the recipe with what you have e.g. I had no anchovy, so I used fish sauce for umami flavor or use tamari.
– no fresh lemons, try a sprinkle of rice vinegar which has a sweetness or just leave out
4. Wok Char vs grilling vs oven roast
– a lightweight, round bottom cast iron wok is BEST for charring sprouts, its wide opening and shape makes it easier to move sprouts around vs a flat skillet
– a steel spatula used with a wok can turn lots of sprouts vs using tongs to flip each sprout
– wok charring give sprouts an even and overall char vs grilling which has hot spots and oven roasting for me has never resulted in crispy sprouts, maybe it’s my oven.

Here’s recipe…

I eliminated step 2 (frying the seasonings) and 4 (adding more honey etc.) altogether and tossed sprouts in bowl with everything except garlic which I added to the oil with some shredded ginger like I always do when I stir fry vegetables.
I’d love to hear how your Wok Charred Brussels Sprouts turn out, whether you’re using Milk Street Magazine’s complete recipe or used some of my tips?
Here’s a short video to show just how fast those sprouts cooked!
How about trying my Ginger Honey Brussels Sprouts, it’s hard not to compare with charred version, trust me!

stir fry

You can experience more of Shanti’s China trip here.

And if you’re lucky enough to live in San Francisco, she produces outrageous popup dinners serving dishes from all over Asia.

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And if you’re lucky enough to live in San Francisco,
she produces outrageous popup dinners serving dishes from all over Asia.