Considering what to cook does consume a lot of energy, don’t you think? When this what-to-cook dragging me down to the bottom and I still don’t know what to cook, I usually go with stir-fry noodles — quick, straight forward, veg-friendly and always tasty.
Why I Love Thai Stir-Fry Noodles
- Forgiving: Stir-fry noodles always allow enough margin for a tasty meal. I seldom measure when stir-frying. Put more this, reduce that, it doesn’t matter so much. Only to remember taste test as proper seasoning is always the key.
- Versatile: Stir-fry noodles itself is a good fridge-cleaner. Use whatever you have in the fridge and pull off a delicious quick meal.
- Healthy: Not like western food using a lot of butter and fat, it only requires a reasonable amount of oil to stir-fry. And it often combine a small quantity of meat and more veg, which is healthy!
- Unbeatable sauce: Same part each of lime and fish sauce, with some sugar to balance the flavour, it’s just that simple yet indulgent!
Variation — Yum Woon Sen
If you like lime fish sauce, then probably you’ll like Thai glass noodle salad yum woon sen also.
It consists of minced pork, shrimp, sweet pepper, glass noodle and chilli. I tried a meatless version, using only sweet pepper and cucumber but kept the fish sauce, and added loads of scallions and coriander. It was really refreshing and tasted unexpectedly good!
Thai Stir-Fry Noodles Recipe
I have to admit that this stir-fry noodles takes a little effort to prep, but you’ll be paid off! It’s a nutrient-balanced, fresh and flavourful one-plate meal.
Ingredients
Serves 2
- 2 portions of rice vermicelli
- 4 frozen cooked and flavoured chicken drumsticks
- Vegetables
- 1 pak choi
- 1 large mushroom
- ¼ sweet pepper of your choice
- Aromatics
- ½ banana shallot
- 1 scallion
- ½ small onion
- 1 clove garlic
- a finger long cucumber
- 15 g fresh coriander leaves
- 2 tbsp roasted peanuts
For the Seasonings
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 to 3 tbsp lime juice (about ½ of a juicy lime)
How to Make
- First, cook the chicken. Heat a tsp of oil in a pan and throw in the chicken. Cover with a lid to speed up the process.
- Meanwhile, prep all the vegetables. Slice the onion, shallot, garlic and mushroom; cut the scallion into rings; for the sweet pepper and pak choi, cut them into strips, and same as cucumber but thinner.
- After that, soak the dried rice vermicelli into boiling water for 3 minutes, then drain and set aside.
- When the chicken is cooked through, let it cool down a bit, then slice the meat off the bones and set aside.
- Add a further tsp of oil in the same pan, fry the aromatics over medium-low heat until fragrant. Then add the vegetables with a generous pinch of salt to stir fry. Cover with a lid for 1 minute to let them cook through.
- Return the hydrated vermicelli into the pan and give everything a nice stir. Pour in the seasonings, stir-fry well, and also add back the chicken to warm through. Have a taste and adjust. You may want more acid or sugar to balance the flavour.
- Divide the contents into 2 bowls, top with cucumber, coriander and peanuts. Serve hot or warm.
