Veg Chowmein|Chinese veg noodles

Veg. Chowmein... an Indo-chinese dish made with noodles and lot of veggies. Its one of the most popular street food in India.

Really the taste of the chowmein prepared by the street vendors is just amazing. The secret behind the superb taste of chowmein prepared by the street vendors is that they keep the veggies quite raw to add crunch, and also they add sauces in large quantities to make it so spicy and juicy. But its quite easy to get that taste in the noodles  at home...

I have used hakka noodles to prepare the chowmein. Also the veggies should be sliced fine and should be of similar shape and size. I have also added celery in the noodles as it adds great taste to it. Also adding spring onion greens adds colour and taste to the chowmein.

I have learnt from my years of cooking experience that we should not cook chowmein in very large quantities as then the sauces dont coat the noodles very well. So i prefer to keep all ingredients ready and then prepare the chowmein in smaller quantities. This method also helps in altering the spices according to the taste of kids and elders.  

Also try  babycorn chilli, Shezwan rice, Sweet and sour vegetables from the blog.

Recipe of Veg chowmein| Chinese veg noodles

Prep.time - 20 mins                             Cooking time- 10 mins

Ingredients:

For cooking noodles:

• 200 gms of Hakka noodles
• 5-6 cups of water
• 1 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp refined oil

For Chowmein:

• 1 tbsp Gingely oil or any vegetable oil
• ½ cup Onions, sliced
• ½ cup Capsicum, sliced
• ½ cup Carrots, sliced lengthwise
• 1 tbsp Celery, chopped finely(optional)
• ½ tsp Ginger, chopped
• ½ tsp Garlic, chopped
• 2 tbsp Tomato sauce
• 2 tbsp Green chilli sauce
• 1 tbsp Soy sauce
• 1 tsp White vinegar
• Salt as per taste
• Spring onion greens for garnish

Method:

1. For boiling the noodles: In a large pot boil  water. As the water starts boiling add the salt and oil to it. Add the noodles to the boiling water pot. In about 4-5 minutes the noodles will get cooked. Check if the noodles are soft but not mushy. The noodles should be just cooked and not very soft.
2. Turn off the flame and strain the noodles in a colander. Now keep the colander under running water to stop the cooking process of the noodles. Drain the excess water and spread the noodles on a flat surface or plate to cool. You can rub the noodles lightly with ½ tsp oil to prevent sticking.
3. In a kadai or Wok, heat oil. As the oil heats up add the sliced onions, ginger and garlic. Saute` them on a high flame for 2 mins.
4. Then add the carrots, capsicum and celery and give the veggies a toss.
5. Then add salt, tomato sauce, chilli sauce and soy sauce.
6. Give the veggies a quick stir and add the boiled noodles into the wok. Stir well.
7. As all the veggies and sauces get mixed with the noodles sprinkle the white vinegar over the noodles and toss them again.
8. Turn off the flame and transfer the noodles to a serving dish,garnish with spring onion greens and serve hot.

Tips:

1. Chinese style of cooking is high heat cooking. So keep everythng ready while cooking any chinese dish and cook it on a hot wok or kadai.
2. For beginners, you can mix the sauces i.e. tomato sauce, chilli sauce and soya sauce in a small bowl and keep it ready to save time.