Stir fry noodles

Stir fry noodles

45 min
Chinese stir fry noodles with crunchy vegetables are a super easy and quick dinner. The wok dish is tossed with a homemade stir fry sauce made from traditional Chinese ingredients that together yield plenty of sweet and savoury flavours from, for example, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, and soy sauce. Though fish sauce does not have the best smell, it does offer plenty of good umami flavour, especially when paired with soy sauce. Explore Asian cuisine with this little gem of a recipe for stir fry noodles.
https://www.arlafoods.co.uk/recipes/stir-fry-noodles/

Instructions

Noodles
  • Put noodles in a pot with boiling water and salt. After 1-2 minutes while stirring, the noodles are tender without being soft.
  • Let the noodles drain in a sieve.
Wok
  • Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat.
  • Fry broccoli, spring onion, and edamame beans on high heat for approx. 3 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, mix soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, honey, and chilli.
  • Pour the soy mixture over the vegetables and add the noodles. Toss well and adjust the taste if needed.
For serving
  • Gently mash the salad cheese and spread it on top of the wok dish.
  • Sprinkle with peanuts and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Tips

Make sure all the ingredients for the stir fry noodles are ready and prepped in advance before you start cooking since the dish fries rather quickly because of the high heat. Cut the vegetables on the smaller side, especially the broccoli, so they will cook more quickly and in the same about of time as everything else.

Tips

Be careful not to overcook the noodles, as they will finish cooking in the wok along with the vegetables and sauce, keeping the noodles from becoming overly mushy. For the optimal texture with tender noodles and crispy-tender vegetables, keep the wok hot.

Tips

Because the heat is centralised at the bottom of the wok, it is the ideal frying pan to prepare the stir fry noodles. The wok pan sears the ingredients quicker, and you can push the elements that need less heat up the sides of the bowl-shaped pan while the ones that need more heat to the bottom. But do not overload the pan, or the contents may become soggy rather than crunchy. The vegetables need enough room to move around.

Questions about stir fry noodles

Making this Chinese wok dish with a simple stir fry sauce is easy once you have gathered all the ingredients. Below, you can learn more about vegetable stir fry noodles and read some of the most frequently asked questions about it.

How to make a noodle stir fry?
Boil the noodles for a couple of minutes until they are tender but without being soft. Heat oil in a wok or frying pan over high heat and fry the vegetables for approx. 3 minutes. Meanwhile, mix soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar, honey, and chilli. Pour the sauce over the vegetables and add the noodles. Toss well and adjust the taste if needed. Garnish with white cheese cubes and peanuts.
What is stir fry sauce?
The stir fry sauce for noodles is an Asian sweet, savoury sauce with moderate spiciness. The sauce is usually made with soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, stock, and basic aromatics. Our recipe for stir fry sauce swaps out stock with fish sauce and red chilli pepper for a more pungent taste with a little heat. It is often used for stir fry noodles, chicken, shrimp, or fish.
What type of noodles for stir fry?
There are several types of noodles to use for stir fry noodles, but you should pick a thick and long type that will hold up to lots of tossing when combined with vegetables and sauce. We highly recommend Chinese dried egg noodles made from egg and flour and cut into a ribbon shape. They have a chewy and bouncy texture that is perfect for tossing. You can also make a stir fry with rice noodles, soba noodles, or spaghetti if you cannot get your hands on egg noodles.
Can you freeze noodle stir fry?
You can freeze stir fry noodles for up to 2 months. Prepare the dish according to the recipe and allow it to cool completely for about 1 hour. Divide the stir fry noodles into several portion sizes and place each into a freezer bag. This will make it easier to thaw whenever you come to prepare it. Be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing the freezer bags and placing them in the freezer.

Ingredients

Noodles
Dried egg noodles
250 g
Water
2 litres
Coarse salt
2 tsp
Wok
Rapeseed oil
1 tbsp
Broccoli in small florets and the stem in small cubes
500 g
Spring onions in 3 cm diagonal pieces (approx. 200 g)
2 bundles
Thawed edamame beans
250 g
Soy sauce
4 tbsp
Thai fish sauce
2 tbsp
Rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp
Honey
2 tbsp
Red chillies pepper in thin rings
2 tbsp
White cheese cubes
100 g
Peanuts
50 g

Chinese stir fry noodles with vegetables

Discover the Chinese way of preparing noodles and vegetables with a special Chinese stir fry sauce. Stir fry is a cooking method used in many Asian countries, though it originated in China. It involves cooking food over high heat in a wok, and it also refers to the dish 'stir fry noodles'. For this recipe, broccoli florets, edamame beans, spring onions, and egg noodles are tossed with a homemade stir fry sauce, making the ingredients extra tender and crispy. As a final addition, the stir fry noodles are garnished with mashed salad cheese and a handful of peanuts. If you want to try a myriad of Asian flavours that are packed with spicy aromas and fresh ingredients, this recipe is just what you are looking for.

For more exotic meals like this, be sure to check out our recipes for Indian chickpea curry with fresh spinach and grilled cheese, warm Asian noodle soup with chicken, or Greek souvlaki.

Classic and easy stir fry sauce for noodles

The classic stir fry sauce for vegetables and noodles is a versatile base for many Chinese wok recipes. The base consists of soy sauce that offers a nuanced umami flavour with a slight sweetness from fermented soybeans. Our easy stir fry sauce recipe combines soy sauce with Thai fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and red chilli pepper for a balanced, well-rounded experience bursting with flavours.

Rice wine vinegar is a staple ingredient in many Asian dishes and is mild, somewhat sweet in flavour, with a hint of tartness that plays well with the pungent, salty aroma of the fish sauce. A little honey balances out the savoury and salty flavours, while the chilli adds a nice bit of heat. It is the best stir fry sauce to provide vegetables and noodles with sweet, savoury flavours, and moderate spiciness.

Easy wok full of flavour and crunchy vegetables

This popular dish celebrates fresh ingredients full of flavour and is just what you need after a long day, craving something delicious and easy from Asian cuisine. We like to cook in style and preferably something easy and quick to make, which is why the wok pan plays such an essential part in preparing stir fry noodles with crunchy bits of vegetables. Because of the high heat at the bottom of the bowl-shaped pan, you only need a little oil to get tender, yet crunchy broccoli florets and spring onions weaved beautifully into the noodles with plenty of bite and umami flavour. 

Garnished with soft and creamy white cheese cubes

Soft and creamy white cheese cubes are mashed and sprinkled on top of the stir fry noodles. The white salad cheese provides both flavour and fullness with a lightly salted taste perfectly suited for lots of warm dishes. With a soft and creamy texture that melts in your mouth, it is a great addition to the stir fry noodles and creates a counterpoint to the crunchy peanuts that are sprinkled on top of the dish along with the cheese.

Add various vegetables and protein

Every aspect of this Chinese stir fry noodle recipe is adaptable with different meats, fish, and vegetables. You can make stir fry noodles with chicken fillet, pork tenderloin, pork chops, or shrimp. You do not need a lot, just a few hundred grams will serve 4 people. Cut the meat into thin strips and season it nicely to your liking, perhaps with a bit of soy sauce to tenderise and flavour the meat. You can also change up the vegetables and add, for example, carrots, red bell pepper, and green beans. Be sure to cut the carrots and bell pepper into smaller pieces before adding them to the wok.