PAN FRIED NOODLES

Pan Fried Noodles! People who are from Kolkata love their Indian-Chinese food. During our family weekend dinners one of the frequent visited restaurants was Bar-B-Q in Park Street. They have two separate seating areas. One for Chinese & Continental and the other one for Mughlai and Tandoor. Our preferred seating area was always the Chinese side. One of my favourite dishes in that restaurant is their cantonese/pan fried noodles with dark soy gravy. I love having gravy/cantonese/pan fried noodles. But my family on the other hand loves hakka noodles. So I thought of making something which is a bit of a fusion. The cooking style and the ingredients make this a wholesome meal. You won’t need anything on the side with it.

Preparation:

STEP 1- First marinade the boneless chicken with 1 TBSP of dark soya sauce, ½ TSP of salt, 1 TSP of black pepper powder and 1 TSP of honey. Then marinade the prawns with 1 TBSP of dark soya sauce, ½ TSP of salt, 1 TSP of black pepper powder and 1 TSP of honey. Keep them aside.

For a vegetarian version of this dish avoid the step.

STEP 2- Then, fill a saucepan with water. Put it on the gas stove. Add 4 TSP of salt and 1 TBSP of refined oil. Let it come to a boil. Once it comes to a boil add the Ching’s noodles. Don’t break them. After 5-7 mins your noodles should be cooked through. Take a string of noodle and eat to check if it’s cooked properly. It should have a light bite to it. Strain the noodles. Wash them nicely under cold water to get rid of any starch. Then lightly coat it with 1 TBSP of refined oil so that it does not stick to each other.

If you want, you can substitute veg noodles with egg noodles as well.

STEP 3- In a bowl mix, 3 TBSP of dark soya sauce, 2 TBSP of oyster sauce, 3 TBSP of white vinegar, 1 and ½ TBSP of Green chilli sauce, 1 TBSP of red chilli sauce and 1 TSP of ketchup. Keep this sauce mixture aside.

STEP 4- In another bowl, add 2 TBSP of corn flour and 2 TBSP of cold water. Mix it well to form a slurry. Keep it aside.

STEP 5- Next, in a saucepan pour 8 TBSP of oil. In about 2 mins on high flame the oil should be hot enough to fry the noodles. Add 3 handful of par boiled noodles and reduce the flame to medium. Don’t stir it. In about 3 mins the noodles should be done. Take it out of the saucepan and keep it on a plate. We’ll use this fried noodle later.

STEP 6- In the same oil, add the marinated prawns. Fry them for 30 secs. Take it out. Next, add the marinated chicken. Fry them for 2 mins then take them out.

STEP 7- Next add all the aromatics, onion, ginger and garlic. Fry them for a min. Next, add the capsicum and cook it for another min on medium high flame.

STEP 8- After a min, add the remaining vegetables, cabbage, spring onion, spinach, chopped and green chillies.

I used whatever vegetable was available at home. You can also add, carrot and pak choi to this dish.

STEP 9- After 1 min, add the mushrooms. Cook it for 30 secs.

STEP 10-   Time to put the sauce mixture in. Cook it for another min.

STEP 11- Add 3 TSP of pepper powder, 2 TSP of salt and the fried chicken. Pour 150 ML of water. Throw in the prawns and add 3 TBSP of the corn flour slurry. Mix everything well and reduce the flame to low. Cook it for another min.

STEP 10- Next, divide the sauce into two separate saucepans, so that it becomes easier to coat the sauce with the noodles. Add the noodles and mix it well. Place the fried noodle on top. Break it into 4 parts and mix it well along with the sauce laden noodle.

For gravy noodles, you will not need to follow this step. First place the par boiled noodles on a plate, then the fried noodles and finally laden it with the gravy on top.

STEP 11- Your panfried noodle is ready to be served.