Dry-tossed Egg Noodles

With purple sprouting broccoli

This is my version of fast food: blanch egg noodles until just cooked, toss in the simplest concoction of soy sauce and fragrant oils, then top with seasonal greens. The whole dish comes together with no effort and I can be sitting down slurping noodles within 5 minutes – less time than it takes to look up the number of the nearest MSG-laden Chinese takeaway.

Serves 2

• 1 bunch of purple sprouting broccoli
• a pinch of sea salt
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 bundles of dried egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon fried shallots (see here)
• For the dressing
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon fried shallot oil (see here)
• 1 teaspoon chilli shrimp oil (optional, see here)

1. Trim any hard ends off the broccoli. Pour plenty of water into a pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, add a pinch of salt and the broccoli. Cook, uncovered, until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain well, toss in the sesame oil and set aside.
2. Put the dressing ingredients into a large bowl and stir well to combine.
3. Cook the egg noodles in a pan of boiling water. It should take seconds; the noodles are done once they float to the top. Remove and rinse under cold running water in a sieve. Return the water to the boil, then put the noodles back into the pan for a brief plunge before draining well and slipping them straight into the bowl of dressing.
4. Toss well with chopsticks so that each strand is coated with the dressing. Divide between bowls and serve with the broccoli and fried shallots. This is great with pickled green chillies (see here) on the side.

Note: You can easily adapt this recipe to other vegetables – bittersweet leafy greens such as kale or pak choi, and asparagus or sugar snap peas in summer.