Vegetable Chow Mein

This is a seriously simple little stir fry dish.

I'm not a fan of those sauces you can buy in supermarkets with stir fry kits - they tend to be (although there are exceptions) claggy, thick and very sweet - think about those hoisin or sweet chilli sauces. If you make a stir fry like this, it takes no more time and tastes fresh, light and vibrant.

This dish is vegetarian but you could easily throw in some prawns or chicken breast before the mushrooms if you fancy a kick of protein (and aren't vegetarian...).

This takes 10 minutes to make and serves 4 (the leftovers make excellent lunches).

Vegetable Chow Mein
2 tbsps sesame oil
1 inch piece of ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
200g mangetout
200g mushrooms, sliced
400g fresh egg noodles
2 tbsps dark soy sauce
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 small pinch of sugar
4 spring onions, sliced
50g beansprouts
1 pak choi, chopped
Small handful peanuts, to serve

1. Heat the sesame oil in a wok over a medium high heat and stir fry the ginger and garlic for 30 seconds.
2. Add the mange tout and mushrooms, stir fry for another 2 minutes.
3. Add the noodles, soy sauce, sherry vinegar and sugar. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the noodles have loosened.
4. Stir in the spring onions, beansprouts and pak choi. Cook for a further minute and it's done. Top each bowl with a sprinkling of peanuts.

Why not have a peek at this excellent book for some more Chinese inspiration: