Stir-Fried Rice Noodles 乾炒河粉

These days my favorite breakfast is toasted bread and good-quality butter, like pure Irish Kerrygold butter. A nice loaf of bread made with love and attention can be so full of flavor and enjoyable.....the simple pleasures of life.

In my earlier years back in Asia, the breakfast I usually ate was very different. One of my favorites was stir-fried rice noodles or vermicelli, paired with fishcake, luncheon meat or an egg. Where I grew up this is a popular breakfast (or lunch) choice and is fondly known as "economical noodles". As the name implies, it is economical both in terms of cost and effort to make it. Some of my colleagues from other cultures would look at me in amazement, wondering how I could eat such a heavy breakfast and survive through the morning. Somehow I did......well, those were the days.

Nowadays this is something I tend to cook for lunch more so than breakfast. It's very easy and quick to toss everything together, and a great use of any leftover ingredients in the fridge. It's hard to get fresh deep-fried fishcakes here, so I buy frozen ones from the Asian supermarket which are very tasty too. You can also replace fishcake with fried eggs or luncheon meat (spam). Pan-frying the noodles with the seemingly-simple sauce to achieve a slightly smoky flavor is what makes this dish delicious. 

Feeling a little lazy?........this may be a good lunch idea.

RECIPE FOR STIR-FRIED RICE NOODLES
Serves 2
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Ingredients
450g flat rice noodles
150g deep-fried fishcake, cut into bite-size pieces
100g cabbage, shredded
100g bean sprouts
1/2 onion, sliced into thin strips
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp oyster sauce

Sauce
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp sugar

Steps:

1) Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to dissolve sugar.

2) Make sure the rice noodles do not stick together and if needed, separate into individual layers. If the deep-fried fishcakes are frozen, soak in hot water till soft and cut into pieces.

3) Over medium-high heat, heat up 1 Tbsp oil in pan. Stir fry onion, cabbage and fishcake till onion is translucent and cabbage is cooked. Add bean sprouts, oyster sauce and stir-fry briefly. Transfer to plate and set aside.

4) Heat up 1 Tbsp oil in pan. Add rice noodles and pan-fry lightly. Add sauce, mix evenly with noodles. Stir a few times (not too much) till noodles are cooked and fragrant. Add back cooked vegetables/fishcake and toss well with noodles. Dish up and serve hot.