SINGAPORE (THE NEW PAPER) - I am a big fan of one-pot meals. I find noodle dishes convenient to cook, especially on weekends. You get a hearty meal without too much fussing over the stove, and there is less washing up, too.
This is my version of the Thai-style char kway teow called pad see ew, which translates to soya sauce noodles.
A friend of mine is enamoured with the dish, which he had on a recent trip to Bangkok. The version he ate contained lovely bits of preserved radish, which he liked so much that he brought back a few bags and gave me one.
Preserved radish is salty, so if you want the crunch without the sodium, cut back on the salt and sauces.
Instead of the usual kailan, I use broccolini as I like its texture, and it doesn't have that slightly bitter taste of kailan.
INGREDIENTS
800ml water
Pinch of salt
240g broccolini, cut into 5cm lengths
4 Tbs oil, divided
6 garlic cloves (30g), chopped
200g beef, thinly sliced
Half a carrot (60g), shredded
400g kway teow (flat rice noodles)
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ Tbs fish sauce
1 Tbs light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
2 eggs
20g preserved radish
METHOD
1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add pinch of salt.
3. Blanch the broccolini for two minutes.
4. Drain off excess water and set the broccolini aside.
5. Heat three tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat, save the rest.
6. Fry the garlic for a minute till fragrant.
7. Add the beef slices and stir-fry for two minutes.
8. Add the carrot and broccolini and stir-fry for two minutes.
9. Add the kway teow and fry, mixing thoroughly so ingredients are distributed through the noodles.
10. Add the sugar, salt, fish sauce, light soya sauce and dark soya sauce. Stir-fry for two minutes.
11. Push the kway teow to the side of the wok.
12. Pour in the remaining one tablespoon of oil into the wok and let it heat for 30 seconds. Crack both eggs and add them into the wok where the oil is.
Yields five to six servings.
