Chinese Noodles, version Feb 09, 2006

These noodles have three components: a vegetable-tofu mixture, and equal volume of cooked noodles, and the flavoring sauce.

Vegetable-tofu mixture:
Tofu
Black mushrooms (dried type, soaked until soft)
Sugar
Dark soy sauce or Mushroom soy sauce
Sambal oelek
Sesame oil
Cornstarch
Celery
Carrots
Bell peppers (red, yellow, green)

Noodles:
I used Wu Mu dry noodles, cooked for about 4-5 minutes, drained and rinsed until cold.
Remember to have as much noodles (by volume) as you have veggies and tofu combined. The tendency is to have too much noodles, resulting in a blander dish.

Flavoring sauce:
Oil
Madras curry powder
Chinese five-spice powder (I used 6 times as much curry powder as 5-spice)
Soy paste
Vegetarian Stir-fry sauce
Vegetarian Hoisin sauce
Sambal Oelek
Prepared mustard – yellow or creole or Dijon
Sesame oil

For a big pot, enough to feed 10 people:

2 boxes tofu
About 20 black mushrooms
5 ribs celery
4 medium carrots
1 each red, yellow, and green bell peppers

The way I measured the noodles, for each person, I used a bunch that was about 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter, and added ten of those to the boiling water.

2 tablespoons Madras curry powder
1 teaspoon five-spice powder
3/4 cup soy paste (or more)
1/2 cup Vegetarian stir-fry sauce
1/4 cup vegetarian Hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon sambal oelek
2 tablespoons mustard
2 tablespoons or more sesame oil
1/2 cup water

If you need more sauce, combine the sauces minus the curry and 5-spice powders, if you’re feeling harried and don’t want to sauté those spices.

1. Cut the tofu into small cubes or strips. Heat some oil and brown the tofu until it is very firm. Set aside.

2. For the mushrooms, drain and gently squeeze dry. Don’t squeeze all of the water out. Cut and discard the stems. Slice the mushroom caps into strips. Sprinkle with sugar, then add the soy sauce, sambal oelek, and sesame oil. Mix well, and sprinkle enough cornstarch to coat the mushrooms. Heat some oil and sauté the mushrooms until the cornstarch is cooked through. Set aside along with the tofu.

3. Saute the veggies until soft. You may cover the pan to speed up the process. Set aside with the tofu and mushrooms.

4. In the same pan that you used to cook the tofu and veggies, heat some oil. Add the curry powder and the 5-spice powder. Saute a bit and add the sauces, along with some water to thin out a bit. Bring to a boil. Use half of this sauce to coat the tofu and vegetables. Use the other half to coat the cooked noodles. You should have “just enough” sauce to coat the veggies and noodles, but not so much that it pools on the bottom of the pot.

5. Combine the noodles with the veggies.

By JMC, Feb 11, 2006