Garlic Stir-fried Udon Noodles

Ginger- garlicky, slurp..y noodles. You can't refuse that bowl, I challenge you !!

A bar of chocolate will not make me weak in my knees like a bowl of well made noodles will. Ok ! who am I kidding, I love chocolate ... you get my point. 

I have always been a foodie, my first question in the morning when I got up ( as a child) what's for breakfast. The question when I got home from school - what's for snack? I almost always polished my plate clean. That's a different story that mom is an amazing cook, we are talking about how great a kid I was ;) Even today food is always on my mind. 

Just the other day I had a disaster in my kitchen. I was watching tele and thinking about dinner ( not unusual), planning to make spicy okra and every time I cook okra - it's not as moist as I want it to be, unless I add more oil. So to add a nice masala and some moisture to  the veggie, I pureed some squash and red bell pepper with some chickpeas. I did not want to cook with the usual onion-tomato combo. Let me put it this way, that did not go very well. Am glad I had the sense to try a sample first.  Back to the drawing board with okra. 

Am glad the noodle story did not go in that direction. Noodles are probably one of the easiest meals to cook. Very forgiving. You really have to make an effort to ruin it, unless you overcook the noodles - there is no redemption there. Also don't overcook the veggies, if you end up doing that while updating your FB status....you can add a few al dente veggies and saving the dish. Remember don't overcook !

1 packet udon noodles ( about 3 3/4 cup)

2 inch ginger finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic ( or less )

1/4 cup carrots chopped in squares

1/4 cup baby corn chopped in big chunks

1/4 cup half button mushrooms quartered

1/4 cup snow peas

1/4 cup red and green bell peppers

1/4 cup green beans

1/2 cup roasted firm tofu - roasted

4 tbsp roasted peanuts

1 tbsp sambal oelek ( a little goes a long way, so use according to taste)

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp roasted sesame powder

couple of dried red chillies 

salt to taste 

4 tbsp oil to stir fry 

Cook the noodles according to the instruction on the packet, I was supposed to cook mine for 5 minutes but 2 minutes the noodles were done - so make sure u keep checking. overcooking the noodles is the worst thing ever. Udon tends to overcook, no one likes mushy noodles. 

Drain the water and add ice-cold water and strain. Keep aside. 

Roast tofu : in a pan shallow fry the tofu in oil 

In a wok, heat oil. After oil is hot add ginger and garlic, red chili, followed by beans, bell pepper, baby corn, carrots, mushroom. snow peas. Add salt to taste. 

In a cup mix the sampal oelek, hosin sauce and sesame powder. Toss the noodle in the sauce mixture. Make sure the sauce coats the noodles well. 

Add the noodles to the sautéed veggies and toss. garnish with chopped cilantro and roasted peanuts and serve hot.