singapore curry noodles
My pantry looks like I'm storing up for the apocalypse. Boxes of pasta, cans upon cans of beans, seven kinds of rice. SEVEN KINDS?! While it's great to have a store cupboard full of the things you love eating - mostly to avoid scaring the public by making too frequent makeup-free trips to the market - it can become a dumping ground for long forgotten ingredients that you may, or may not, ever use.
In my case, while digging around in there on a gloomy Wednesday evening, I came across a package of vietnamese rice noodles that I had bought for pho but never got around to using. As if by serendipity, I also had the perfect, random combination of vegetables in my fridge to make this beauty of a dish. It was a mid-week miracle.
Singpore curry noodles are a dry fried noodle tossed with simple, everyday vegetables and the easiest curry mixture. The result is a delicious, savoury and spiced noodle dish that is ready - no joke - in less than 20 minutes.
Traditionally, this dish would include chinese (or any other cured pork) sausage. While I have left it out of my recipe, feel free to add it, at the same time as the shrimp, if you so desire.
Ingredients
3 tbsp canola oil
4 eggs - beaten
1/2 lb shrimp - cleaned, shelled
2-3 dried red chilli peppers
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 medium onion - thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper - thinly sliced
2 cups savoy or napa cabbage - thinly sliced
2 carrots - peeled and julienned
1 package dried thin Vietnamese rice stick noodles - soaked in hot water for a minimum of 20 minutes (until softened) and well drained in a colander
3 tbsp yellow curry powder
3 tsp sesame oil
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
white pepper
salt
juice of half a lime
cilantro for garnish
pickled red chillies for garnish (optional)
Method
1. heat 1-2 tsp oil in a wok over high heat
2. add eggs and scramble. remove to a bowl and set aside.
3. heat remaining oil in the wok
4. when the oil is hot, add shrimp, garlic and dried chillies and stir fry until shrimp are almost cooked through - 2-3 minutes. season with salt.
5. add onion, red pepper, cabbage and carrots. continue to stir fry for 3-4 minutes.
6. add curry powder, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish sauce, cooking wine, salt and pepper. stir to mix well.
7. add noodles and toss to coat with curry mixture. if the mixture appears dry or is sticking too much, add drops of water until noodles are evenly stir fried and well coated. taste for seasoning and adjust to your taste with more fish sauce, pepper, or salt.
8. squeeze over lime juice, toss in cilantro leaves and serve hot.