Singaporean Noodles

Posted on April 1, 2020 Updated on April 15, 2020

Every time I deep clean my freezer or pantry, I make a silent and personal vow that I will use up what I have and not buy any more until we’ve made a significant dent in my stock of provisions. That vow usually lasts about two weeks, but nobody knows about my failure to keep it except me, and maybe my family. Well, about a month ago, at the very beginning of the virus escalation I renewed that vow and broadcast it about to all and sundry. “Hear ye! Hear ye! I hereby make a vow!” My daughter and I even made a list of food ideas incorporating some of these products. This is unheard of in our household. And do you know what? So far I’ve been keeping my vow and mostly buying essentials like fresh produce and dairy products. It feels good, people. Primitive and domestic and frugal, all rolled into one.

One thing on that list was an Asian-inspired meal. Singaporean Noodles has topped our list of personal favourites for many moons. We like it because it’s highly flavoured and uses a variety of items. With a few exceptions it’s also very adaptable to whatever ingredients you have on hand.

Here’s what I used.

Shrimp. Freezer score!

Chopped, sliced and julienned vegetables.

Seasonings

As with many Asian meals, I find that if you chop your ingredients ahead of time, it facilitates a speedy assembly once you’re ready to cook it. Generally the cooking steps are very quick.

Everything added, and tossing

Add the shrimp

Stir-frying vegetables

So. Order of recipe is thus. 

• Chop all vegetables and meat. 
• Have your seasonings ready.
• Cook noodles and begin frying chopped items at the same time.
• Combine ingredients and add seasonings. Fry until it starts browning a bit. 

This post is sponsored by Martin’s Family Fruit Farm. Normally a lot of these produce items are stocked in our retail store, which is closed at this time to protect our customers, staff, and apple packing facility. Thank you for your understanding. 

Singaporean Noodles

• Servings: 6
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Ingredients

• 10 oz. (about 4 cups) dry thin noodles*
• 3 tablespoons oil, divided
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4″ strips or 3 cups of precooked chicken strips
• 10 oz. raw or cooked shrimp, if desired (This happens to be something that was in my freezer. But now they’re gone. Sad, sad day.) 
• 1 small to medium onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 cup green vegetable (i.e. Frenched green beans, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, garden, snow or snap peas)
• 1 cup bean sprouts, coarsely shredded cabbage, cauliflower or a mixture
• 1 – 2 Tbsp. curry powder, depending on how spicy you want it
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce* 
• pepper
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil (This is not essential, but it definitely adds a lovely Asian flavour. A little goes a long way. And yes, it was in my pantry, so there.)
• Green onions, if you have them. If not, tuck in a few more of the green vegetables.

Directions

Prepare all the vegetables and chicken for cooking. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in frying pan to medium-high and begin frying your raw chicken strips. Remove when the chicken is browned and continue stir-frying the vegetables and raw shrimp, adding a bit more oil if needed. Fry only until crisp-tender. If you’re using pre-cooked chicken and shrimp, just add them with the noodles.

Cook the noodles in unsalted boiling water with 1 tablespoon of oil added. The oil keeps the pot from boiling over. That is a beautiful thing. Don’t overcook the noodles; five minutes max. Drain them well. 

Add chicken and noodles to the pan of veggies and start adding all the seasonings. Stir everything together gently and fry until you start seeing some brown bits. Lift and turn about twice. You don’t want to create a mushy mess. This may take about 3-5 minutes. 

Sprinkle with green onions to serve, if using them. Oh, and if you like heat, have some red pepper flakes on the table. Enjoy!

*This dish can easily be made gluten – free by using GF noodles and soy sauce.