WW: Chicken Lo Mein with Ginger Mushrooms

Wok Wednesdays wokking through Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge
by Grace Young





Delicious!

As is the norm with the recipes from this book, we have another winner. I went one step further and made my own noodles!

I did an Internet search for Chinese noodles so I could make my own. Unfortunately I came up empty handed; so I left a comment on WW Facebook page asking what is the difference between Chinese and Italian noodles. Not only did I get an explanation (type of flour/ratio), but a recipe as well! Thank you Wai Ming Yau!!!

I have made my own pasta once or twice before, but only sheets for making ravioli, using a cookie cutter to shape them. I thought it would be fun to try my hand at making spaghetti shaped noodles. My pasta making skills need work to say the least, but I was stoked they turned out as well as they did.

Being I was cooking for one this evening, I decided to halve the recipe - still this made more than enough to feed two people. My plan was to have the leftovers the following day; however this was so good, and before I knew it, the bowl was empty.  

Success meter (1-3): 3

 

You start by making a well in the flour, then add the egg and water. With a fork, gradually incorporate the flour from the well into the liquid ingredients, being careful not to break the wall of the flour or the eggs & water will escape as they almost did here. (I used a pastry scrapper to help hold the liquid in that was escaping from a crack in the levee!)

Take small portions of dough and run through a flat roller a few times till the pasta is smooth.

 

I cut the sheets to make handling of the dough easier.

 

You may notice that I folded the dough in thirds (like a letter) because it was too thin to make spaghetti strands. The book I used for reference instructed me to roll the dough down to the thinnest setting before running through the spaghetti attachment. I must have misunderstood the instructions in some way.

 

These may not be the prettiest of noodles, but fun to make! If you have the means and the slightest desire to giving it a try, I highly recommend it. Fresh noodles are wonderful.

First you boil the noodles (fresh pasta cooks quicker than dried), run under cold water, drain and set aside. I spun them gently in a salad spinner to remove any excess water. As you know with stir-frying, your ingredients need to be as dry as possible to avoid splattering when added to the hot oil.

After stir-frying the chicken and vegetables, remove from the wok and set aside.

Give the noodles a quick fifteen second stir-fry, swirl in some soy sauce, then add back the chicken mixture, scallions and salt.

 

 

Not bad looking noodles if I say so myself. If they look a bit oily that would be because I halved the recipe; as is a common occurrence, I forget that I am reducing the amounts - as I did here with the oil. This was fabulous even with this little mishap.

 

Have a Happy Chinese New Year!

You will not find the recipe here on my blog or within the Wok Wednesdays community. We encourage our readers to purchase this book at their local independent bookstore or on-line to support the publishing industry and to help keep books alive! I know I prefer to flip through the pages of a book rather than read them electronically; nothing compares to the feel and smell of a printed book.

Make sure to visit my co-wokkers to see their results on this stir-fry.

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