Braised mushroom noodles

These braised mushroom noodles take inspiration from the Chinese dish e-fu noodles (or yi mein). According to one origin legend story, this technique for braising noodles was invented many years ago by a Chinese cook who was rushing to feed a large number of guests. In his haste, the cook took accidentally took cooked noodles and fried them. Rather than discard the mistake, he dunked the noodles in stock and served them and they were an instant hit, thus creating the noodle braising cookery method.

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

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Ingredients

• 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 3 cups (750 ml) boiling water
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 large portobello mushrooms, thickly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 cm x 3 cm piece ginger, julienned
• 180 g enoki mushrooms, trimmed and separated
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Cheong Chan caramel sauce (or dark soy sauce)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 kg Hokkien noodles
• salt and white pepper, to season
• 6 medium spring onions, thinly sliced diagonally
• 3 cups bean sprouts
• 1 tsp cornflour dissolved in ¼ cup water
• chilli sauce, chilli oil or sambal belacan, to serve

Instructions

1. Place the dried shiitake mushrooms in a large bowl, cover with the boiling water and allow to sit for 20 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the water (reserving the liquid), trim the woody stalks and slice the caps.

2. In a separate bowl, add your portobello mushrooms into a bowl and microwave them for 60-90 seconds, until they are slightly wet and softened. Strain any liquid and set aside.

3. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat, then fry the portobello mushrooms for 3 minutes, or until browned. Add the garlic, ginger, sliced shiitake and enoki mushrooms and cook for a further minute.

4. Add the Shaoxing cooking wine against the wok or pan, then add the sauces, sugar and 2 cups of the shiitake soaking liquid. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

5. While the sauce is simmering, use a small, sharp knife to poke a few holes in the package of noodles and microwave for about 4 minutes. Massage the bag to break up the noodles, then add to the braising mushrooms.

6. Toss to coat the noodles in the sauce and season to taste with salt and white pepper. Stir through the spring onion and bean sprouts and add the cornflour slurry to the pan to thicken the sauce. Serve the braised mushroom noodles with chilli sauce, chilli oil or sambal belacan.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

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