Delicious Asian Chicken StirFry with Shanghai Noodles!

So I must thank my new friend Jennie for helping me with this craving for Asian food my boyfriend and I had one night, since I am a novice to cooking Asian food. I ran out of work and headed straight to the Asian Supermarket close to my house and grabbed all the necessary ingredients to make this dinner a success. I must say, this was one of the simplest meals I have ever made!
This is good news for everyone wanting to try this recipe. :-)




***Grocery List***

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Soy Sauce (I like to use Kikoman Low Sodium)
a few drops (maybe 1/2 tsp, don't put too much - it is strong!) Pure Sesame Oil (Kadoya)
1 tbsp Oyster Sauce (Lee Kum Lee)
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar or Mirin (Either one is okay)
2 tbsp Chili Garlic Sauce (Huy Fong Chili Sauce)
2-3 cloves chopped Garlic
1 tsp chopped Ginger (you must use fresh)
Green Pepper, Red Pepper, Onion (1 of each)
3 sprigs Green Onion (Scallions) use the light green part only
1 cup uncooked Asian Basil leaves
Choice of meat, cut into thin, diagonal slices - Chicken or Beef (Marinate beef for longer, 1 hr)
Shanghai Noodles (or your favorite type of noodles)

Marinade:
First things first, marinating the meat is crucial for the meat to soften and give it more flavor.
In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, rice vingar (or mirin) and chili garlic sauce. Once you have created your marinade, put the chicken or beef in the bowl and let it sit for about 30 min. (1 hr or more and in the refrigerator if using beef)

~*~[A sauce for the stir-fry is needed also. To make the sauce, just combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and chili garlic sauce (no need for rice vinegar or mirin) in the same measurements as the marinde and keep this aside]~*~

While the meat is hanging out and soaking in marinade, start chopping up the garlic and ginger. Set them aside. You can pre-cut your veggies or just do that while your meat is marinating. Cut your veggies into pieces similar to the way you cut the meat so that everything is consistent in shape and size.

If you have a wok, GREAT!, if not, it's ok - you can still make this dish. Get your wok, or pan, out and pour a couple of tbsps of sesame oil into the wok while it is hot. Throw in the garlic and ginger and watch them cook, be careful not to let them burn!

Once they're pretty much cooked, throw in the veggies. Please feel free to add more of your favorite veggies. i.e. - broccoli, carrots, shitaki mushrooms, etc) Put a few tbsps of the sauce into the wook and cook up your veggies until the onions are pretty much transluscent. When they're done, take them out and cook your marinated chicken or beef with all the juices from the veggies and sauce. YUM!

Begin boiling water in a pot for your noodles at this point.

When the meat is thoroughly cooked, bring the veggies back into the wok and start stir-frying!!!
Your kitchen will smart smelling amazing... You can add the basil and scallions in at this time and let them cook all together.

While the flavors, colors and textures are all combining in the wok, throw the noodles into the pot with boiling water. I like to add sesame oil and salt into the boiling water for the noodles. Let the noodles cook for about 2-5 min. No more because they will cook pretty quickly and you don't want sticky noodles. Take a taste test and make sure they're not sticky or al-dente. They should be cooked, not over-cooked. Take the noodles out when ready and put them in a strainer and add cold water to stop from cooking any more.

Now you're ready to serve and eat!!!

Serve the stir-fry on top of a bed of noodles and to garnish, you can add a basil leaf or some chopped up scallions.

Enjoy!