Chef Ken Liang · Ken’s Chinese Restaurant
MUSHROOMS OF any kind are virtually essential ingredients for flavourful Asian vegetarian dishes, including noodle courses. Although the ginger and green onions deliver the enticing base flavour, it’s the wok energy—the umami flavour derived from quick-cooking foods over high heat—that puts the sizzle in this dish.
Use rice or mung bean vermicelli to make this recipe. To add colour or vary the flavour, you can add other vegetables such as carrots and snow peas.
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 pkg (454 g) dried vermicelli noodles
1 pkg (200 g) fresh enoki mushrooms
1 Tbsp chopped ginger
1 medium yellow onion, julienned
4 shiitake mushrooms, julienned
4 crimini mushrooms, sliced
2 Tbsp dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp white sugar
8 oz bean sprouts
3 green onions, julienned
IN A MEDIUM stockpot, bring 8 cups water to a full boil on high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of the vegetable oil and the vermicelli and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Drain noodles in a colander and set aside.
Trim and discard 1½ inches from the bottom of enoki mushrooms and separate them by hand.
In a wok, bring the remaining 2 Tbsp vegetable oil to a boil on high heat. Add ginger and onions and brown for 30 seconds. Stir in enoki, shiitake and crimini mushrooms and sauté for 1 minute. Add vermicelli and sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in dark and light soy sauces and sugar, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add bean sprouts and green onions and sauté for 1 minute more.
To crisp some of the vermicelli, cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Serve immediately, sizzling hot, on a large family-style platter.