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From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...When the children were home, a Chinese dinner would include 3 main dishes plus soup and rice. These days, the Silver Fox and I just don't eat that way. That's not a bad thing. Fortunately, appetite diminishes with age, so we can still fit through the door, and when we have a dry spell, can actually bend and touch our toes. That's not to say we don't eat. It's just that a dish once meant for one now feeds two or three with ease. Tonight I made the pan-fried noodles for our dinner. While they were a main course for me, I augmented Bob's supper with Chinese-style salt and pepper pork chops, the recipe for which can be found here. Despite my best efforts, the Fox remains, a committed carnivore and I rarely get away with serving him a completely meatless meal. We both love pan-fried noodles and they make a perfect accompaniment to dishes like the chops I made for him. We have a well-stocked Asian market in town, so I have no trouble getting the noodles or the dark soy sauce called for in the recipe. Dark soy sauce is thicker in texture and despite its deep color, less salty than the everyday varieties most use for cooking. Dark soy is fermented for a longer period of time and it's usually augmented with sugar or molasses, that gives the sauce a sweet-salty flavor and viscous texture. Dark soy sauce is used solely for cooking. If you can't find it, replace it with regular soy sauce. Your noodles will be lighter in color, but their flavor will be fine.  I know those of you who try this recipe will be pleased with the noodles. Here's how they are made.


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Pan-Fried Hong Kong Noodles...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by the Woks of Life

Ingredients:
3 cups bean sprouts
4 scallions
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
14-oz. dried Hong Kong Style Egg Noodles for pan-frying
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Directions:
1) Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil. Rinse bean sprouts in cold water and drain. Julienne scallions. Mix soy sauces, sesame oil, salt, sugar, wine and white pepper into a small bowl and set aside.
2) Boil noodles for 2 to 3 minutes. Rinse in cold water and drain very well.
3) Heat a wok over high heat. When hot, add a tablespoon and swirl to coat. Spread half of noodles in a thin, even layer and tilt wok in a circular motion to distribute oil and crisp bottom side of noodles evenly, about 3 to 5 minutes. Flip noodles over and add another tablespoon of oil around edges of wok. Cook until second side crisps up. Don’t stress if you can’t turn noodles over in one shot, The goal here is to get an even, light crispiness and to dry out noodles during this cooking stage. Remove noodles to a bowl and repeat procedure with remaining noodles.
4) Wipe out wok and again place over high heat. Add 2 tablespoon of oil and white part of scallions to pan and cook for about 15 seconds. Next, add noodles to wok and toss them well, breaking up noodles to separate them. Add soy sauce mixture and toss continuously for a couple minutes using a pair of chopsticks or a set of tongs. Keep the heat on high.
5) After noodles are uniformly golden brown, add bean sprouts and toss. Add remainder of scallions and toss mixture again for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until bean sprouts just start to turn transparent. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

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