Stir-Fried Fresh Rice Noodles with Rainbow Chard & Leeks

This is such a satsifying dish – and the result of shopping in the fridge. I had one bunch of rainbow chard and a leek from the farmers market that had been in the fridge a couple of days too long. I also had a package of fresh rice noodles that also had been in the fridge a couple of days too long and thus had hardened. The good thing is, all of these ingredients still could fulfill their potential together as a gorgeous and quick dinner for the family.

The rice noodles were from Rose Brand, made by local noodle and fortune cookie company, Tsue Chong, that has a factory in the International District. When the noodles are fresh, they are silky soft. You usually can find them in Asian groceries fresh. If the noodles feel hard, then it means they've been sitting around longer than a day. They also harden once stored in the refrigerator. But they are still useable, because they'll reconstitute in the sauce. They just won't be as pliable.

I visited the Tsue Chong factory and watched them make the rice noodles:

If you find yourself in the ID, you can visit the retail shop to get fresh rice noodles. They store them behind the counter, so you'll have to ask for the noodles. They come in sheets or pre-sliced. For this dish, get the sliced. The factory address is 800 S. Weller St., but the retail shop is located on the corner of South King St. and 8th Ave. S. The storefront is covered in bars and does not look like a welcoming retail shop. But if you see the giant bags of fortune cookies on the shelves, you know you're at the right place. The best part, one package of noodles is less than $2.

STIR-FRIED FRESH RICE NOODLES WITH RAINBOW CHARD AND LEEKS

1 package fresh rice noodles, pre-sliced (I suggest Rose Brand, which comes in a 2-pound package.)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 bunch rainbow chard, chopped

1 medium leek, halved and sliced

2 1/2 cups water

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Salt to taste

Separate the noodles and set aside. Heat the wok over high heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat for a few seconds. Add the chard and leeks and stir fry for 1-2 minutes until soft. Add the water, soy sauce and hoisin. Stir to combine. Quickly taste the sauce to see if it needs more salt and add as needed. (The sauce needs to be slightly over-seasoned to accommodate the noodles.) Add the noodles and stir fry gently but quickly and thoroughly until all the noodles have been coated with sauce. Serve immediately.

Dofu Gan & Chinese Sausage

I always keep a package of Chinese sausage in the refrigerator. It has a long shelf life and just a little bit can add dimension to a stir fry. I also stock packages of dofu gan in the freezer and keep one pack in the refrigerator at all times. Dofu gan is dofu (tofu) that's been marinated, pressed and baked. It can be homemade, but most people buy it from the store. On days when I need to make a quick meal, I can rely on these staples to stir fry something the whole family loves.

On this day, when the refrigerator was an "empty" reminder that I needed to go grocery shopping, I julienned the two remaining skinny carrots, a few stalks of celery heart, two mini sweet peppers to stir fry with the dofu gan and sausage.

DOFU GAN & CHINESE SAUSAGE

3-4 Chinese sausages, sliced thinly on the bias

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3-4 squares of dofu gan, sliced (about 2 cups sliced)

1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, julienned (or 1 small)

1 medium carrot, julienned

2 stalks celery, sliced thinly on the bias

1 jalapeno chile, sliced (optional)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup water

Sesame oil

In a wok over medium-low heat, render the sausage. Be sure to stir and turn the sausage frequently to prevent it from burning. You will get some char around the edges, but that's ok. Once the sausage has turned to a darker shade of maroon, remove from heat. Scoop out the sausage pieces and drain on a paper towel.

In the same wok – no need to rinse – heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add the sliced dofu gan and spread out in a single layer. Let the dofu sear for about 10 seconds seconds. Stir the tofu to let sear on other sides for a few seconds. Remove the dofu and set set aside.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and let heat. Add the jalapeno slices, if using. Stir fry for a few seconds. Add the bell pepper, celery and carrots. Stir fry for about 1 minute or until vegetables start to soften. Add the dofu and sausage. Stir to combine. Add the soy sauce and water, and continue to stir fry for 1-2 minutes, adjust the heat as needed. Add a light drizzle of sesame oil and stir fry to combine. Taste for seasoning. If needed, you can add a splash of soy sauce or a pinch of salt, if needed. Serve right away.

INGREDIENT NOTES:

This is the Chinese sausage I used for this dish.

This is the dofu gan I used for this dish. If you live where there is a local dofu maker, that would be a great place to look for fresh dofu gan.

What To Do With Leftover Shortribs

 

My husband made braised shortribs last night and we had the meat from about three ribs leftover. I cut them into thick bite-sized chunks and heated them up in a skillet with a splash of soy sauce and water. By the time the meat was heated through, the sauce had caramelized a bit. Separately, I stir fried some frozen corn to serve with the leftover beef. Sometimes, frozen vegetables taste like they were frozen. But stir frying added some sear, and seasoning with a touch of soy sauce and sesame oil enhanced the natural sweetness of the corn.

It was a winner with the kids – so much so that my son had seconds and thirds.

WOK-SEARED CORN

Serves 4

1 10-ounce bag of frozen corn

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons soy sauce

Drizzle of sesame oil

Heat wok over high heat. Add the oil and let heat for a few seconds. Add the frozen corn (it will sizzle). Stir fry the corn for about 1 minute. Add the soy sauce and continue to stir. After about 30-60 seconds, the corn should have a light sear and be fully heated through. Add a light drizzle of sesame oil, stir and serve.

Note: If desired, you can add chopped green onions and/or minced garlic before adding the corn to flavor the oil a bit.

Garlic Eggplant

This dish can go in any number of directions depending on the ingredients. In this version, I used bacon because that's what I had in my refrigerator. Normally, I brown a little bit of ground pork to flavor the eggplant. Some diced Chinese sausage, with its sweetness, would taste great, too. You can adjust the amount of chile paste and garlic according to how pungent you like it. Sometimes, I'll add a splash of rice vinegar to get some hot-and-sour action. Traditionally, the eggplant is oil blanched, but I find that roasting the eggplant in the oven minimizes the amount of oil you have to use.

GARLIC EGGPLANT

Serves 4

4 Chinese eggplant

1 teaspoon salt

3 slices bacon, optional

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon crushed garlic

3 stalks green onions

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 teaspoon chile bean paste

3 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon red wine

2 tablespoons water

Drizzle of sesame oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the eggplant into roughly 2-inch chunks. Spread pieces on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and roast in oven for about 30 minutes, or until soft.

Meanwhile, if using bacon, cut crosswise into slivers. Render bacon until browned and just to a light crisp. Set aside.

When the eggplant is done, you are ready to stir fry. Heat wok over high heat. Add the 2 tablespoons oil and let heat for a few seconds. Add the garlic, green onions and ginger. Quickly stir the aromatics around for about 15 seconds. Add the bacon, if using, chile paste, soy sauce, wine and water. Stir for a few seconds to combine. Add the eggplant. Toss the eggplant in the sauce. Continue to stir fry for about 1-2 minutes or until the eggplant has absorbed the sauce. Add a drizzle of sesame oil, toss one last time and remove from heat. Before serving, sprinkle the chopped fresh cilantro over the top.

Refrigerator Stir-Fry

Even though I own more cookbooks than I can count, I still cook from my refrigerator, which is to say that I open the door, look at what I have and decide what to cook. (This is the opposite of how my husband cooks -- if he cooks. He opens a cookbook, decides on what looks good and then makes his shopping list. Seasonality, difficulty level and what we actually have available in the pantry are secondary.)

What often happens is that I will make "refrigerator soup" or "refrigerator stir-fry." These are dishes determined purely by what I have on hand. Today, I had tofu, fresh yellowfoot chanterelles from the farmers market, cremini mushrooms and some leftover wonton filling (ground chicken, green onions, seasonings) from earlier in the week. So I made a stir-fry of these ingredients, which I paired with udon noodles that we buy by the five-pack in the freezer aisle at Waji.

A couple of notes on technique: While you don't need a wok in order to make this recipe, the benefit is that after you cook the ground chicken, you can just push the meat up the side of the wok (see photo) and let it rest as you cook the mushrooms. There's no need for the extra step of removing the chicken as you would if you were to use a normal skillet. Also, while I give specific amounts for the ingredients, they are based on what I had. You can take the principles of the recipe and apply it to what you have on hand. If, for example, I had only a half cup of ground chicken instead of a cup, then the dish would have been made with that half cup of chicken.

I also chose to make a dark sauce. The dish would have worked as well with a light sauce made from a combination of chicken broth and white wine or simply water and white wine. Since I was serving this to my 2-year-old daughter, I didn't season the dish too boldly. I might have added some chili paste or started by

searing some sliced fresh jalapenos. Of course, you can serve this with hot sauce on the side and maybe some chopped fresh cilantro. Another option would have been to add some dried cellophane noodles directly to the sauce at the end, let it simmer until soft and serve. I probably would have increased the liquid a tad to turn it into a soup.

CHICKEN & TOFU REFRIGERATOR STIR-FRY

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup ground chicken (or pork)

1/2 block Chinese-style firm tofu (about 7 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch (approx.) cubes

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon sweet bean sauce

1-2 tablespoons soy sauce, to taste

Drizzle of sesame oil

Chili sauce and chopped cilantro, optional

Cooked rice or noodles to serve

Method: Heat wok or pan over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Once heated, add the ground chicken and cook, breaking up the meat as you go. Once the chicken is mostly cooked-through, about 3 minutes, push it up the side of the wok to rest or, if using a skillet, remove the meat from pan. Add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry/saute the mushrooms until soft. Add the chicken back in. Then add the water, sweet bean sauce, soy sauce and combine. If you'd like to make this dish spicy, you can add the chili sauce at this point, too. Gently stir in the tofu and let everything simmer for 2-3 minutes, or just until the tofu has heated through. Drizzle with a touch of sesame oil. Garnish with chopped cilantro, if desired. Serve with rice or noodles.