We've been planning our trip to Japan this week. There's just something about buddhist shrines and sumo wrestling that makes me crave udon and ramen! I can only get through about two paragraphs of a guide book without putting it down and picking up a recipe book with pictures of noodles instead. Next week's grocery shop is going to be mostly pak choi and fish sauce... but I needed a fix NOW!
I scoured the cupboards, and came up with enough bits and pieces to put together a mini Oriental feast. I stir fried garlic, king prawns, ginger, baby corn, carrots, broccoli, spring onions and spinach with some bean sprouts. For the sauce, I used chicken stock, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, pepper and cornflour.
I soaked some vermicelli noodles (okay it's not Japanese, but it was all I had!) and fried them in the shape of a pancake, with sesame oil. For the side dish, I fried brussels sprouts in sesame oil, then added soy sauce, sugar and sesame seeds. The vermicelli pancake wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be, but the rest of it was lovely! A cup of jasmine tea to go with it, and I could almost concentrate on the guide books again! Until the section about noodle bars..... mmmmmmmmm
