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By Root 744 0

on Pad Thai. There are a lot of ingredients here, but most of them keep well in your pantry, and substituting is easy—you could use finely chopped cabbage in place of the bean sprouts or substitute soy or hoisin sauce for the nam pla.

6 dried black (shiitake) mushroom or fresh shiitakes, trimmed of their stems and sliced

¾ pound thin rice noodles (“vermicelli” or “rice stick”)

2 tablespoons peanut, corn, grapeseed, or other neutral oil

1 tablespoon slivered or minced garlic

¾ pound shrimp, peeled and, if you like, deveined, cut into bite-sized pieces

½ teaspoon chile paste or hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons nam pla (fish sauce), or more to taste

2 teaspoons sugar

Stock, water, or mushroom-soaking liquid as needed

Salt

1 cup bean sprouts (optional)

½ cup torn fresh basil leaves, preferably Thai basil (optional)

1. Put the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover them with boiling water. Put the noodles in a large bowl and cover them with hot water. When the mushrooms are soft, drain, reserving their soaking liquid; trim and slice them.

2. Put the oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the garlic and stir; add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute. Stir in the mushrooms and chile paste.

3. Drain the noodles and add them to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about a minute. Make a well in the center of the noodles and pour the eggs into this well. Scramble, gradually integrating the egg with the noodles; this will take less than a minute. Stir in the nam pla and sugar. If the noodles are clumpy, add about ½ cup of liquid to allow them to separate and become saucy (use more liquid if necessary, but do not make the mixture soupy). Add salt to taste, then stir in the bean sprouts and basil if you like. Serve.

FRESH CHINESE NOODLES WITH BROWN SAUCE

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

TIME: 20 MINUTES

YOU CAN FIND fresh Chinese-style (and Japanese-style) wheat noodles at most supermarkets these days. They’re a great convenience food and, for some reason, seem to me more successful than prepackaged “fresh” Italian noodles. Here they’re briefly cooked and then combined with a stir-fried mixture of pork, vegetables, and Chinese sauces; it’s very much a Chinese restaurant dish.

Both ground bean sauce and hoisin sauce can be found at supermarkets (if you can’t find ground bean sauce, just use a little more hoisin), but you can usually find a better selection (and higher-quality versions) at Chinese markets. Usually, the fewer ingredients they contain, the better they are.

½ to ¾ pound ground pork

1 cup minced scallion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1 cup chicken stock or water

2 tablespoons ground bean sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 pound fresh egg or wheat noodles

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, put a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork, crumbling it to bits as you add it and stirring to break up any clumps; add half the scallion, along with the garlic and ginger, and stir. Add the stock or water; stir in the bean, hoisin, and soy sauces and cook, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat and keep warm.

2. Cook the noodles, stirring, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and dress with the sauce. Garnish with the remaining scallion, drizzle the sesame oil over all, and serve.

VARIATIONS

• Toss the noodles with 1 cup bean sprouts or lightly stir-fried snow peas before dressing.

Fresh Chinese Noodles with Chicken, or Meatless Fresh Chinese Noodles

Substitute ground chicken or turkey for the pork; or eliminate the meat entirely, sautéing the scallion, ginger, and garlic in a couple tablespoons of peanut oil.

SAUCES AND CONDIMENTS

FRESH SALSA

PICO DE GALLO

PAN-GRILLED TOMATO SALSA

CHIPOTLE-PEACH SALSA

PARSLEY-VINEGAR SAUCE

MARJORAM “PESTO”

CREAMED PARSLEY SAUCE

SUN-DRIED TOMATO SAUCE

FIG RELISH

DRIED MUSHROOM PUREE

RED PEPPER PUREE

BASIC VINAIGRETTE

MAYONNAISE