Vegetable Chow Mein (Noodles)

             Yesterday, when we went grocery shopping, I was thrilled to see pack of Snow peas. I knew what I was going to do with that bright green fresh pack of goodies, I was going to cook Chow Mein. It’s first time I was able to get snow peas in India.Yes,they did add extra crunch to my regular noodles.

What are snow peas?

Bright green snow peas – often used in Asian stir-fries –are edible peas with the best features of snap beans (tender and crispy) and garden peas (sweet and meaty). Snow peas are flat with tiny seeds that are barely visible through the pods. Low in calories and high in Vitamins A and C, snow peas are a great addition to a healthy diet. 

 Ingredients :

• 200gm hakka noodles
• Water
• 1 tbsp oil

• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp garlic
• 1 tbsp ginger
• 1 cup onion
• ½ cup carrots
• ½ cup capsicum
• ½ cup sweet corn
• ½ cup mushrooms
• ½ cup snow peas
• ½ cup babycorn

For the sauce:

• 1 tbsp chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp water

Method:

• In a large pot boil 4-5 cups of water, once water tarts boiling add noodles & cook for 2-3 mins
• Drain hot water from noodles, pour cool water over them to stop further cooking. Drain all the water and add 1 tbsp oil and toss the noodles so as to coat the noodles with oil and prevent sticking
• Place a large wok( biggest frying pan you have) on high heat.
• Add sesame oil ( you could use any cooking oil, sesame oil is used in traditional Chinese cooking) & wait till its smoking hot
• Add ginger & garlic which are finely chopped. Saute for a min

• Add onions & vegetables. You can add any vegetables of your choice. The vegetables need to be sliced thinly almost of equal shape. I used slicer to cut onions, carrots, capsicum& baby corn. It’s faster. Snow peas were sliced into 2/3 strips.
• Saute vegetables for 2-3 mins on high flame
• Mix all the ingredients for sauce in a small bowl. I added water so that all sauces mix together & sauces don’t get burnt. Usually everyone has chilli sauce, soya sauce & vinegar. Hoisin & oyster sauces enhance the taste, but could be avoided. Vegetarian oyster sauce prepared from mushrooms, often oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms can be used.
• Add the sauce, mixing well so that sauce coats all the vegetables & noodles
• Cook covered for 2 min.

Voila,, your vegetable noodles are ready

Note:

1. You could add eggs after vegetables are sauted. Keep the vegetables on one side of wok and crack open eggs and scramble eggs. After they r cooked mixed with vegetables
2. You could also add boiled chicken to vegetables