Fried Hor Fun

With kale & beansprouts

ACROSS SOUTHEAST ASIA

There is a version of this in every Southeast Asian country – fresh rice noodles, tossed into a wok with aromatics and a blend of salty, sweet and sometimes sour and spicy sauces. Thailand’s best-known culinary export, pad thai, is flavoured with tamarind and fish sauce; while Penang char kway teow is known for the wonderfully sweet and smoky flavour that comes from caramelized kecap manis (sweet dark soy sauce). Sometimes I get an urge to do something classic, but more often than not I just throw things together and adjust the sauces to my fancy. This is a version I whipped up, flustered, for a vegan friend (she’s the one who taught me about sources of plant protein in kale, sprouts, and fermented soy), but there are options for meat-eaters below.

Serves 2

• 300g fresh hor fun (fresh flat rice noodles)
• 2 handfuls of beansprouts
• 1 bunch of fresh kale (about 200g)
• 1 cube of fermented beancurd
• 1 tablespoon raw chilli garlic ginger sauce (see here)
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons kecap manis (or, to substitute, 1 tablespoon light soy sauce and 1 tablespoon molasses)
• 2 tablespoons groundnut oil
• 4 shallots, finely chopped

1. Rinse the hor fun and drain well. Rinse the beansprouts and if you can be bothered, trim them. Rinse the kale and chop into bite-size pieces.
2. Mash the fermented beancurd in a little bowl and combine with the chilli garlic ginger sauce, light soy sauce and kecap manis.
3. Heat the oil in a wok until smoking hot and fry the shallots, stirring quickly to prevent them from burning. Once fragrant, add the hor fun and kale and stir-fry for a few minutes, until the kale just begins to wilt. Pour in the beancurd mixture and stir well, making sure everything is well coated. Continue stir-frying for 4–5 minutes, until the noodles are lightly browned and caramelized.
4. Add the beansprouts and give everything a few final tosses to combine. Cook for another minute or so; the beansprouts should still be crunchy. Serve immediately.

Note: For meat-eaters, add thin slices of pork shoulder or beef, marinated first in the beancurd mixture with a little dash of Shaoxing rice wine. You can also vary things by using 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce to replace the fermented beancurd and kecap manis – this gives a flavour that’s quite different, but in a good, delicious kind of way.

Variation:
In summer, wonderfully sweet and crisp mangetout or sugar snap peas will be a great substitute for kale.