In the small town I grew up in [small = 13k people], there really wasn’t much in terms of restaurants. Who am I kidding? There STILL isn’t much in the way of food options except Jack in the Box. The last vestige of great drive thru hamburgers [that rival In N Out by the way] closed recently–RIP Old Fashioned Maid. I guess you can’t sustain $9 cheeseburger baskets, who knew? The other option is this fabulously dingy hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant. I remember begging my parents to go here for my birthday as a kid. Even now, when I’m over at their house, I casually hint at the prospect of getting Chinese take out. I love this place. It still looks exactly the same as it did 20 years ago. It’s ruined any other Chinese restaurant for me. I have yet to find anything that comes close. My usual meal these days is their appetizer sampler–egg roll, BBQ pork, and a ton of deep fried cream cheese stuffed wontons that claim to have crab in them but I’ve never ever been able to tell crab puffs. There is a lot of food, but it’s enough to not leave me with a greasy Chinese food baby like most combination plates. Occasionally, I’ll spice it up with an order of egg flower soup and split it with my sister. That soup is what I remember most about this Chinese cafe. When you eat in, you always get a cup of it. I guess it’s like the Chinese equivalent to miso soup, but man I love it 100x more.
That soup is exactly what I thought of when I took my first bite of dinner last night. Every subsequent bite yielded the same reaction. It was heavenly. The same mellow flavors were packed into this noodle dish. I love that I can get my egg flower soup fix without having to trek out to my parents’ house [I’m working on crab puff and BBQ pork recipes, too].
Inspiration: Lauren @ A Full Measure of Happiness
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb rice noodles
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1/2 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced
- 1/2 bunch of bok choy, rinsed and thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon miso paste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in 3 tablespoons of water
- salt, pepper, or chili flakes to taste
Preparation
- Bring a pot of water to boil, remove from heat, and dump in the rice noodles.
- Heat the coconut oil in a wok or large saute pan.
- Add the chicken and garlic.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Once the chicken no longer has its freakish pink hue, add in the bok choy and broccoli.
- Stir to coat with oil, and continue cooking until the bok choy starts to wilt.
- Add in the miso, rice vinegar, soy and fish sauces. Stir.
- Add in the water and cornstarch mixture.
- Continue stirring, coating everything well.
- Drain the noodles and set aside. They’ll be done cooking by now.
- After 2-3 minutes, add the noodles to the stir fry.
- Stir well, and let the noodles soak up the saucy goodness.
- Dish up onto a plate [or a bowl–I’ll admit, I considered it], and continue watching the US stomp Canada in the Gold Cup.