Sweet Soy Noodles

Also known as Fung Mee Mein or Red Hakka Noodles. This recipe includes the homemade sauce, but you can also buy Sweet Soy Sauce instead of making your own.

Makes about 4-6 servings

Ingredients

Vegetable oil

1 chicken breast, sliced thin and small

1 tsp baking soda

1 tb soy sauce

1 tb cornstarch

1/2 tsp vegetable oil

1 package of instant noodles (Such as this)

2 tbs sesame oil

1 small cabbage, sliced thinly

1 carrot, julienned (Check out this tool!)

About 2 cups of bean sprouts

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 cup molasses

1/4 cup water

1 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

2 tbs brown sugar

1 orange peel

2 small slices of ginger

1 lemongrass, trimmed and bruised (View this source on how to bruise lemongrass.)

Green onion to garnish

1. Tenderize the chicken: In a bowl, mix the chicken and baking soda. Add the soy sauce, cornstarch and 1/2 tsp of vegetable oil, and mix well. Set aside.

2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the noodles with 1 tb of salt for about 1 minute, or right before it’s done. Drain in a colander. Rinse the noodles with cold water, and drizzle with about 2 tbs of sesame oil. You can use your hands or tongs to do this. Set aside.

3. Make the sauce: In a medium sized pot, combine the soy sauce, molasses, water, cinnamon stick, star anise, brown sugar, orange peel, ginger and lemongrass. Bring this mixture to a boil, and stir with a spoon. Let the mixture cook on medium-low for about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and strain using a sieve, or remove the cinnamon, orange peel, star anise, ginger and lemongrass with tongs. Set the sauce aside.

4. In a wok or large pan over high heat, stir fry the chicken with vegetable oil until cooked and browned. Remove from the pan, and then stir fry the vegetables over high heat. Add the noodles and chicken, and then the sauce. Toss and mix for about 3-4 minutes. The noodles should “finish cooking” in the sauce. Adjust the sauce by adding more molasses to thicken the consistency, or more water to thin it. The dish shouldn’t be too saucy, and should have a somewhat similar consistency as chow mein, with a bit more stickiness.

5. Garnish with green onion.