Mee Goreng

I realize that this is not a very timely post. Asian Noodles after Thanksgiving week sounds so hm.. out of place. I should be posting about what to do with leftover Thanksgiving turkey or something like that. Truthfully, I was going to post this a couple of weeks ago but never got around to it.

But then I thought that this dish is just be perfect for after Thanksgiving. It is light and healthy, and might just be what our body needs after all the over-eating these past few days. I know my body is craving something lighter for sure.

I got a new cookbook recently, Plenty,by Yotam Ottolenghi. I browsed through it, cover to cover, wanted to make everything. Lots of photography in the book and for my first dish I choose to make this one.

The dish is called Mee Goreng. Translated, mee = noodles and goreng = fried. But you see from the picture below that this looks more brothy than fried.

Also, there is no noodles in the picture above. Well, that is because I modified the recipe quite a bit. I used whole wheat spaghetti and boiled them separately.

I want to make this healthier by substituting the egg noodle in the recipe with whole wheat pasta. Also I use less oil and add miso paste and soy sauce for more flavor.

Here are my changes:

- use whole wheat pasta

- adds cremini mushroom and carrots

- adds miso paste for extra flavor

- freshly fried shallots instead of store-bought

- use an all-clad pan instead of a wok

I think this is one of those dishes that you can easily build on or change. Use what you feel like eating or use whatever leftover vegetables you have in the fridge. Next time I want to try adding sliced zucchini and green cabbage.

Mee Goreng
serves 2
Adapted from Plenty

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp of oil
1 yellow onion, diced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 medium-sized carrots, sliced thinly on a bias
1 lb of bok choy, cleaned, ends trimmed, and cut into 1-inch pieces - separate the stalk from the leaves as their cooking time is different
8 oz of cremini mushroom, quartered
8 oz of firm tofu, drained and cut into cubes

2 Tbsp of soy sauce
1 Tbsp of miso paste
whole wheat spaghetti pasta, or any other pasta of your choice, cooked according to the package instruction
cilantro, for garnish
your preferred hot sauce (optional)

Method:
Heat up the oil in a wok or a pan over medium-high heat.

Saute the onions until they have softened, about 3-4 minutes.

Add the carrots, saute for 5 minutes.

Add in the boy choy stalks and mushrooms, saute for 5 minutes until the boy choy stalks look more translucent.

In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, miso paste, and 2 Tbsp of water and mix with a whisk or fork until combined. Add to the vegetables.

Add in the boy choy leaves and tofu.

Bring to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve on top of the pasta, garnish with the cilantro and fried shallots.

My err.. collection of hot sauce. We should have tabasco too but I think hubby brought it to work.



I love the Panda Brand Chili Garlic Sauce the most. It is very salty - 850 mg (38%) sodium for 1 Tbsp (18 g) of serving size. So when I know I am going to use it for a dish, I usually undersalt that dish.