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Woking on my Swirls - Crispy Noodle Cake with Pork/Shrimp Gravy

Writer's picture: JulietJuliet

It's been a hard week all around. I was sick in the beginning and crying by the end. Sometimes you just need comfort food - I baked chocolate chip cookies right after work Friday and was craving noodles and sauce today. My husband is always talking about how he used to get crispy noodles at one of his favorite Chinese restaurants back in the day. I figured it was worth a second try.

Kenji's cookbook keeps calling to me... No offense Kenji, I proactively doubled the sauce seasonings this time!

 

Ingredients:


Noodle Cake:

8oz fresh Hong Kong chow mein or pan fried noodles

½ c. peanut or canola oil

Kosher salt


The Mix:

8 oz ground pork

4 oz raw shrimp [I brined mine like before], chopped into ¼ inch pieces

¼ tsp ground white pepper

1TB light soy sauce

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp minced ginger

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

¼ tsp baking soda


Gravy:

1 TB oil (for browning the Mix)

2 TB Shaoxing wine

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp dark soy sauce

2 TB oyster sauce

1 c. chicken stock

2 TB cornstarch mixed with 3 TB water

 

After you brine your shrimp [you did that, right?], combine all The Mix ingredients in a bowl and mix vigorously with your fingertips until the mixture feels slightly tacky, about 1 minute. Set aside until ready to make gravy. This mixture can be used for all sorts of things in Kenji’s book - including another bookmarked recipe, stuffed scallion pancakes…stay tuned!

Bring lightly salted water to a boil in your wok. Add the noodles, using chopsticks to break them up a bit. Then, drain immediately in a strainer. Spread the noodles out on a rimmed baking sheet so they steam as they cool and dry - at least 10 minutes.

Transfer the noodles to a plate and form a circle about 10 inches in diameter. Heat the oil in your wok over medium until it registers 350F. Carefully slide the noodles into the oil.

Cook, tilting the wok around in a circular motion to keep the oil moving, until it releases from the bottom of the wok with a gentle nudge - ~ 1minute. Continue to cook, swirling the wok around so that noodle cake is constantly moving, until golden brown and crispy. We used a spatula to move the noodle cake around instead of the wok.

Slide the noodle cake back onto the plate. Put another plate or a flat pot lid on top, then flip. Slide back into the oil, uncooked side down. Repeat the swirling until second side is crispy. Tilt pan and, while holding the noodle cake back with your spatula, drain the oil into a bowl. Then, continue to cook for another minute or two. I took it out of the wok and drained further on paper towels.

While your husband is swirling the noodle cake, or while it’s draining, throw The Mix into a hot pan (or your now empty wok) with a tablespoon of oil. Brown for a few minutes until cooked. Combine the Shaoxing wine, soy sauces, oyster sauce, stock, and cornstarch and then deglaze the pan with the Mix with it. Cook while stirring until sauce thickens to your liking.

Serve over the noodle cake.

I finally bought the right noodles at Ranch 99 (or 99 Ranch?)!! These crisped up perfectly. While I liked the gravy (again with the perfectly plump shrimp from brining), I wish it had more veggies. Truthfully, the shredded beef and broccoli sauce from the first try at crispy noodles would be my preferred choice here so that there's more to it. Either that, or I'd try Kenji's string beans with XO sauce on the side.


Rating: Great

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