Asparagus Noodle Pancakes
Chinese noodles are double cooked, first in water until al dente and then in a frying pan until crisp and brown. If you like heat, replace the sesame oil with chilli oil.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 450g Chinese noodles
- 250g asparagus
- 2 tablespoons canola oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cm fresh ginger, minced, or more to taste)
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine (or sherry)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon black beans
- 225g spinach, rinsed
- 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Preparation:15min ›
Cook:30min ›
Ready in:45min
- In a large pot of water, boil noodles till they are just cooked. Drain well. Rinse with cool water until the noodles are cool.
- Break off the tough ends of the asparagus, and cut the rest of the spears into 5cm lengths. In a large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger, sauté for 1 minute, making sure not to brown the garlic. Add the asparagus and half of the water. Simmer for 2 minutes.
- Put the cornflour into a small mixing bowl, stir in the remaining water and the rice wine or sherry. Stir well. Add this mixture, the soy sauce and black beans to the simmering vegetables. Let the sauce boil for a few seconds, then add the spinach and stir until it wilts. Remove the frying pan from the heat.
- Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over high heat. Divide the noodles into four mounds, and place the mounds of pasta in the hot frying pan. Flatten the mounds in the frying pan so that more surface area will brown, reduce the heat to medium high, and fry the cakes for at least 5 minutes, until they develop a golden-brown crust on the bottom. Turn the cakes over, and fry them for 3 minutes.
- While the noodle pancakes cook, reheat the vegetables and the sauce slightly. Add the sesame oil, salt and pepper to the vegetable mixture. Place the noodle pancakes on plates, spoon the sauce and vegetables over and around the pancakes, and serve.
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Reviews and Ratings
Global Ratings:
(17)
Reviews in English (14)
Wow!! This is now one of my favorite recipes, and it really impresses a crowd! I made them exactly as directed, except for cooking the noodle pancakes over medium-high heat, not high. They were burning on high. I let them fry for about 3 min on either side. This time may vary depending on how well your pan conducts heat. I will make these again and again and again! It is much easier than it sounds, and totally worth it! - 01 May 2002 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
This was a surprisingly tasty and satisfying dish. I added a pinch of sugar to the soy sauce and black bean sauce, and I also threw in some cubed tofu to make it a main course dish. The asparagus really "makes" the dish, but once it's there, I think the recipe could also handle any other vegetables as well (I also threw in a few red pepper strips). It will definitely be one of my mainstays. - 19 Mar 2001 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
Very yummy and different. I wasn't sure if I had the right noodles, and I needed to really press them down while cooking to get them to stay together as pancakes, but the end result was a very unique and delightful taste and texture. I also substituted broccoli for the asparagus, just because good asparagus is hard to find in February, and the broccoli was very good. I'm sure I'd also enjoy this with asparagus, but I feel like the veggies can be varied to suit what you have and prefer. - 03 Mar 2006 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)