Growing up with two Chinese parents meant that noodles have always been part of my life. Ramen, rice noodles, lo mein; you name it, I’ve been conditioned to like any kind of noodles.
A £1 Pot Noodle may seem like an awesome deal. Whenever I go on holiday to China, I visit my family in Guilin. The thing that I look forward to are the many noodle shops scattered around the city. They’re open as early as dawn and a popular place to have breakfast or lunch. You can get a big bowl of noodles, often with some sliced pork at the side, and peanuts with additional sides such as chillies or spring onions. Anyway, the main point of my long story is: one bowl of noodles in Guilin costs me a mere 30p.
So, this week I decided to share with you two noodle recipes with which I’ve been obsessed all my life. Hopefully you’ll be encouraged to try making one of the two instead of eating Pot Noodle.
Ingredients: 1 pack of udon noodles (50g), 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, ¼ of a broccoli, 1 handful of baby mushrooms, ½ an onion, 1 clove of garlic, ½ a lamb leg steak (optional)
Place the noodles in a saucepan, add boiled water and then cook the noodles for 5 minutes, Gas Mark 4. While the noodles are cooking, dice the steak into small cubes. Wash the broccoli and mushrooms, cutting the broccoli to your desired size before placing the steak, broccoli and mushrooms into another pan (preferably non-stick).
Pour a tablespoon of oil into this pan and then cook the meat and vegetables until well-cooked (8-10 minutes), Gas Mark 5. When the lamb is half cooked, add the onion (diced) and garlic and stir. After everything has been cooked, cover the pan with a lid, switching to Gas Mark 3 to let the food simmer.
Then, drain the noodles and add it to the rest of the food, switching back up to Gas Mark 5. Finally, add the soy sauce and stir before serving.
Tesco Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce 500ml – £1.40, Udon Noodles (1 x 50g Pack) – 50p, Lidl Broccoli – 67p, Lidl Mushrooms – 89p, Lidl Onions – 59p, Lidl Garlic – 89p. Total Cost: £4.94. Total per serving – £1.24
Ingredients: 50g Brake Root Vermicelli, ½ a carrot, 1/3 of a cucumber, a handful of peanuts, ½ an onion, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
Place the noodles in a saucepan, add boiled water and then cook the noodles for 5 minutes, Gas Mark 5. Peel the carrot skin and wash the cucumber. Then, peel the actual carrot and cucumber; if your peelings are wide, use a knife to slice them into thinner ones.
Cook the onions for 2 minutes, Gas Mark 4. Once the noodles are cooked, drain and run them under cold water, until cold then drain again. Finally, add the noodles, cucumber, onions, carrots and peanuts into one bowl, before stirring the soy sauce in.
Tesco Lee Kum Kee Premium Light Soy Sauce 500ml – £1.40, Brake Root Vermicelli – £2.65, Lidl Carrots – 65p, Lidl Cucumber – 49p, Lidl Peanuts – £1.19, Lidl Onion – 59p. Total cost: £6.97. Cost per serving: 77p