Ever so often I crave Indo-Chinese food. More often than not, after a late night at work, my friends and I would grab Indian-style Chinese food from one of the street hawkers. Hakka noodles, Gobi (Cauliflower), Schezwan fried rice and Chili Chicken, were our staples. If you were lucky, there were no queues. If not, you stood around salivating waiting around the cart for your order to be ready. It’s amazing how the hawkers could serve all these dishes within 20 -30 minutes. They had no more than 1-2 huge woks over kerosene stoves, where they turned out one dish after another. The sizzle, the smoke, the pouring of all the sauces and mixing of all the flavors….ooh, I still salivate with the memories. While the kids’ favorite American Chinese dish is Orange Chicken from Panda Express, they equally enjoy Hakka Noodles while Nilesh and I are transported back to the streets of India.

Hakka Noodles is an Indian-style noodle dish. The noodles are made from 100% durum wheat. The typical vegetables are cabbage, carrots, capsicum (green peppers). I’ll often add mushrooms, spring onions, and edamame or green peas to get as much vegetables as possible. I also avoid too much of soya sauce and rice vinegar to keep the sodium lower. Feel free to adjust that to your liking.

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 2 packets – Ching’s Secret Veg Hakka Noodle
• 4 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp red chili flakes
• 2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
• 1 small red onion sliced
• 4 spring onions – chopped
• 2 medium carrots -shredded or chopped
• 1 green pepper (capsicum) – chopped
• 2 cups shredded cabbage
• 1 cup mushrooms (white) chopped
• 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp soya sauce
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp green chili/ red chili sauce
• 0.5 tsp pepper powder
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

1. Follow instructions on the noodle packet to boil the noodles. When the noodles are ready, drain the water. Add 2 cups of cold water, drain again and then toss with 1 tbsp of sesame oil to prevent noodles from sticking. Keep aside.
2. Heat 3 tbsp of sesame oil in a large wok
3. Add the red chili flakes, ginger, garlic, red onions and the whites from the spring onions. Fry for a minute.
4. Add the mushrooms. Fry for another minute
5. Add the remaining vegetables. Stir-fry on high flame for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but yet, retain their crunch
6. Add the tomato ketchup, soya sauce, rice wine vinegar, green/red chili sauce, pepper power and salt
7. Stir till the sauces are well combined with the vegetables
8. Add in the noodles and mix gently till well combined
9. Garnish with the remaining spring onions
10. Serve hot and enjoy