Kylie’s Hokkien noodles

These have all my favourite ingredients in them: Chinese black vinegar, luscious kecap manis, sesame oil, shao hsing wine and a little bit of sugar, as well as pickles and mint.

Kylie’s Hokkien noodles Credit: Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

My Hokkien noodles are, I guess, like me – they’re a bit radical! They’ve got all my favourite ingredients in them: Chinese black vinegar, luscious kecap manis, sesame oil, shao hsing wine and a little bit of sugar, as well as pickles and mint. And I just love eating them with chillies. Again you can see the recurring theme in Asian cooking of each dish being a balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot flavours. In this recipe I’ve used organic chicken breast fillets, but any good-quality chicken is fine. I like to leave the skin on, to keep the chicken moist.

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp roughly chopped ginger
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• ⅓ cup kecap manis
• 2 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tbsp Maggi seasoning
• ⅔ cup shao hsing wine
• 2 organic chicken breast fillets, thickly sliced on the diagonal
• 600 g (1¼ lb) fresh Hokkien noodles
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 1 small cucumber, peeled and finely sliced on the diagonal
• ¾ cup carrot and onion pickles
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• ⅔ cup fresh black cloud ear fungus
• ¼ cup mint leaves
• pinch of Sichuan pepper and salt

Serve as a simple lunch or supper for 2, or as part of a banquet for 4–6

Marinating time: 1 hour

Instructions

1. Pound ginger and garlic with a pestle and mortar until you have a coarse paste. Combine half the paste in a bowl with kecap manis, vinegar, Maggi seasoning and half the wine. Add chicken and, using your hands, mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, blanch noodles in boiling salted water until ‘al dente’ – about 4 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water, then thoroughly drain again and set aside.
3. Heat oil in a hot wok until the surface seems to shimmer slightly, then stir-fry chicken for about 2 minutes, or until almost cooked. Remove from wok and set aside. Add remaining ginger and garlic paste, cucumber and noodles and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add remaining wine, pickled vegetables, oyster sauce and mushrooms and stir-fry for a further minute. Return chicken to wok and stir-fry until chicken is just cooked through and noodles are hot.
4. Stir mint leaves through noodles. Arrange in bowls, sprinkle with Sichuan pepper and salt, and serve immediately.

 

Kylie Kwong: Heart and Soul premieres on Wednesday 21 November at 8.30pm. The series airs Wednesdays at 8.30pm on SBS Food (Channel 33). After they air, episodes will stream at SBS On Demand. 

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.

My Hokkien noodles are, I guess, like me – they’re a bit radical! They’ve got all my favourite ingredients in them: Chinese black vinegar, luscious kecap manis, sesame oil, shao hsing wine and a little bit of sugar, as well as pickles and mint. And I just love eating them with chillies. Again you can see the recurring theme in Asian cooking of each dish being a balance of sweet, sour, salty and hot flavours. In this recipe I’ve used organic chicken breast fillets, but any good-quality chicken is fine. I like to leave the skin on, to keep the chicken moist.