Stir-Fried Rice Noodles With Egg (Egg Chow Fun, Jidan Chao He Fen, 鸡蛋炒河粉)
Servings: 4 servings (if served with side dishes)
The Mala Market
Ingredients
For Sauce
- ¼ cup Mala Market Guizhou Black Bean Chili Oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce preferably Zhongba
- 2 tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce preferably Zhongba
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Other Ingredients
- 7 to 8 ounces (200 to 225 grams) dried wide rice noodles (he fen) 3 bundles Mala Market Guangdong he fen noodles or 1 pound fresh ho fun noodles
- ¼ teaspoon neutral oil
- 1½ to 2 links (2 to 3 ounces) Chinese cured sausage such as Cantonese lap cheong
- 6 scallions/green onions
- 7 to 8 ounces young yu choy, trimmed and leaves separated or young bok choy or gai lan
- 2 eggs
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon neutral oil to cook egg more if your pan is not truly nonstick
- 2 tablespoons roasted peanut oil or neutral oil for stir-fry
- 1½ cups mung bean sprouts
Instructions
- Mix sauce ingredients together well in a measuring cup or small bowl and set aside.
- If using dried noodles, put them in a large bowl and completely cover with boiling water from a kettle. Let them soak for 3 minutes, gently but thoroughly separating them with a fork as they soak. They should be opaque, somewhat softened and mostly separate at this point. Drain in a colander and rinse under cool water. Run your fingers through the noodles to separate any strands that are stuck together. (It's ok to leave a few.) Drain the noodles, add the ¼ teaspoon oil and work it through the noodles. Set aside. If using fresh noodles, gently separate them into strands.
- Cut sausage into ⅛-inch slices on a sharp diagonal.Trim scallions and cut them in half vertically. Cut into pieces 3-4 inches long, and separate white and green parts. Separate young yu choy (or bok choy) into separate whole leaves. If using mature greens, cut or tear them into smaller, though still good-size, pieces.
- Crack 2 eggs in a small bowl with ¼ teaspoon salt and scramble well with a fork. Add the ½ tablespoon oil to a large nonstick skillet or wok and heat briefly over medium low heat. Add the eggs, swirl around the pan into a flat, even circle and cook until set. Keep the heat low enough that the egg cooks but does not brown. When it is cooked through, use a spatula to flip the egg over and cook the other side, just until done. Remove omelette from pan to a cutting board. When it is cool enough to handle, roll the egg into a loose log and use a sharp knife to cut through it, cutting perpendicular to the log, into ⅛-inch strips. Unspool the egg into ribbons and set aside. Alternatively, just scramble the eggs and remove from the wok!
- As you prepare to stir-fry, check your noodles. If they are dry and at all stuck together, run water over them again and work your fingers through them to make sure they are separated. Shake the water out, leaving the noodles damp. This will mimic fresh noodles, which are usually somewhat oily and moist.
- Heat a wok over high heat until it begins to smoke, then lower heat to medium-high and add the 2 tablespoons oil. Add the sliced sausage and white parts of the scallions and stir-fry briefly, just to get a good sear on both. Shove them to the sides of the wok and add the noodles to the center of the wok. Let the noodles cook undisturbed on one side for about 15 seconds, then mix everything together.
- Working quickly, add the yu choy to the wok and continue mixing the ingredients. It's a bit hard at first to incorporate the leaves, but don't spend too much time trying; they will eventually mix in as they wilt. Pour the sauce around the edges of the wok and into the center and carefully work it through the noodles with your wok spatula or long chopsticks. Finally, add the scallion greens, bean sprouts and egg strips in quick succession and continue to heat and mix everything together briefly. You do not want to cook much longer at this point, as the heat from the noodles will finish off the job.