Tag Archives: asian cooking

Green Tea Noodles with Ground Chicken & Zucchini

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After yet another long hiatus (toddler mama over here…sigh), I am SO excited to finally share a new recipe that’s quick, super flavorful, and satisfies that Asian takeout craving that I always seem to get midweek. I discovered this package of Haiku Green Tea Asian Style Noodles at my local supermarket yesterday and was instantly intrigued. I love experimenting with soba noodles so thought I would give this one a shot and get all the benefits of green tea. Soba noodles are healthier since they’re made with buckwheat flour, but I really loved the flavor of these green tea noodles — subtle and not too overpowering!

Since time is a luxury these days, I paired the noodles with some ground chicken (cooks faster than regular chicken pieces), zucchini, and a quick homemade stir-fry sauce. The entire process took 15 minutes, and the meal was DEVOURED in less than ten. Give this one a shot — I guarantee you won’t be disappointed! Perfect weeknight dinner.

Ingredients (serves 2) 

3 rounds of the Haiku Green Tea Noodles, cooked in boiling water for 2 minutes and drained
1 lb ground chicken (you can also use beef or turkey)
2 tbsp Canola or avocado oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 small onion, sliced into thin long pieces
1 zucchini, diced
Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Stir-fry sauce

1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Mirin/Japanese cooking sake
1/2 tsp honey
Pepper

Recipe

Combine the ingredients for the stir-fry sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Boil a pot of water and cook the green tea noodles according to directions for two minutes. Drain and set aside.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the ground chicken, break up into little pieces, and stir until cooked. Remove and set aside. Add the remaining oil to the same pan and fry the garlic, ginger, and onion slices together until the mixture begins to soften slightly. Add in the zucchini pieces and stir for a few minutes. Add the ground chicken and stir-fry sauce to the pan and mix well.  Finally, add the noodles to the pan and stir everything together until the noodles are nicely coated in the sauce and ground chicken mixture. Serve with toasted sesame seeds. Enjoy! My only regret is not doubling the recipe for more leftovers!

Better-Than-Takeout Chicken Fried Noodles

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For the longest time, I would throw every single Asian cooking sauce from my pantry into stir-fry dishes and hope for the best. For some bizarre reason, I thought that the more different flavors I added (teriyaki, black bean, sriracha, soy sauce–you name it), the more delicious the stir fry would be. Of course, I would always be disappointed by the taste, wondering what was missing from my very random soup of sauces.

I finally just decided to do my research (duh!) into what makes stir fry so delicious, and was pleasantly surprised to find how simple the sauce needs to be. The key is a little bit of sugar, and to make sure your pan/wok is super hot before throwing in all your ingredients. This particular recipe I tested recently from RecipeTin Eats is absolutely fantastic, and easy to customize depending on what you have in your pantry. I whipped up a lazy girl version of it on a random Friday night that I was craving Asian takeout, and it COMPLETELY hit the spot. Taste-wise it was better than takeout, and no bloating or guilt 🙂

Enjoy! I tried the noodles with shrimp as well, but personally preferred the taste with chicken thighs.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

6 chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces (can easily be swapped out with shrimp)
1 tbsp Canola oil
Noodles of your choice, prepared according to instructions (*The type of noodles you pick makes a big difference to the taste of this dish–my personal favorite is Blue Dragon’s egg noodles. Three rounds of this is perfect for two very hungry adults)
Veggies of your choice–for my lazy, minimal prep version of this, I opted for 3/4 a bag of Broccoli Coleslaw, which includes shredded broccoli, cabbage, and carrots
1 shallot, cut into long pieces
3 garlic cloves, finely diced
1/4 cup of water

The Sauce

1.5 tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
1.5 tbsp chicken broth
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
Pepper

Recipe

Stir together all the ingredients for the sauce in a separate bowl. Marinate the chicken thigh pieces with 1 tbsp of the stir fry sauce for at least 10 minutes.

Heat Canola oil in a large frying pan or wok. Once it’s on high heat, fry the garlic pieces until it begins to brown. Throw in the chicken and stir for a few minutes until partially cooked. Add the veggies/broccoli slaw/shallots and mix together until the chicken is fully cooked. Make sure the veggies are still a bit crispy and not too soggy. Add the noodles, the remaining stir fry sauce, and water. Stir the mixture with the noodles, remove from heat, and serve immediately.