Spicy Turkey Stir Fried Egg Noodles

It's been a while since I've featured a Chinese style stir fry on this blog and I was surprised myself to learn, looking back through my summary notes, that I have never featured one made with egg noodles. I was originally going to prepare this dish with beef but decided at the last minute to make it with turkey breast. You could use beef, chicken, pork, or even large prawns in exactly the same way, though from those ingredients only the chicken should be subjected to the velveting process. Do try to get fresh egg noodles if you are making this dish, as the dried ones which are reconstituted in boiling water simply do not work as well in a stir fry.

Today's recipe will make two decent servings.

Ingredients

1 bag of fresh egg noodles (just under 1lb in weight)
1/2 diced turkey breast fillet
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 medium white onion
1/2 tsp hot chilli flakes (dried)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
Salt and pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

One egg white and 1 tsp cornflour for velveting the turkey

Method

Velveting is a procedure used by Chinese cooks to help protect usually chicken from the high intensity heat of the stir frying process. It is achieved by essentially marinating the meat in egg white and cornflour (corn starch) prior to cooking.

Put the egg white in to a small glass bowl and add a teaspoon of cornflour and a pinch of salt. Stir well to form a smoothe paste. Add the turkey breast and stir well again to ensure the pieces are all evenly coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for twenty to thirty minutes.

When the turkey is removed from the fridge, it should be drained through a colander or sieve. Stir it around well in the colander to try to drain off as much of the paste as possible.

Put about a tablespoon of oil in to your wok and bring it up to a high heat. Stir fry the turkey for a couple of minutes until it is evenly sealed and has turned opaque. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.

The onion half should be halved again across the way and separated in to leaves. The bell pepper halves should be de-seeded and sliced in to half inch strips.

Add some more oil to the wok if required, bring back up to heat and stir fry the vegetables for around a minute, before adding the noodles and chilli flakes. You may of course choose to use a fresh red chilli, very finely diced, instead.

Stir fry the noodles and vegetables for a further minute before re-adding the turkey and the soy sauce for a final two minutes of cooking.

Taste the dish for seasoning, add what is required and divide between two serving plates. A fresh herb such as basil can be torn and scattered over the top if desired as a final garnish.

Smoked Mackerel Salad

Smoked mackerel is a truly delicious eating fish. It is also very nutritious and the fact that it is bought ready to eat is ideal when the time available for preparing dinner any night is short. This is a very simple serving suggestion for smoked mackerel as part of a salad.

Ingredients per Serving

2 smoked mackerel fillets
2 handfuls of mixed salad leaves
Baby new potatoes, quantity as desired
1 egg
3 cherry tomatoes
3 pitted black olives
1/2 oz butter
1 tsp freshly chopped mint leaves
Salt

Method

Wash the new potatoes but don't peel them and add them to a pot of slightly salted cold water. Bring the water to a boil and reduce the heat to simmer for twenty-five minutes.

Put the egg in to a separate pot and add enough cold water to comfortably cover it. Bring the water to a boil and reduce to simmer for seven minutes. Take the pot to the sink and run cold water in it for twenty to thirty seconds, until the egg is cool enough to handle. Crack the shell all around by tapping the egg on a hard surface. Peel the shell away under running cold water and submerge the egg in a bowl of cold water to cool while the potatoes finish cooking.

The salad leaves used in this dish were bought from my local supermarket where they were labelled as an Italian style salad. They are a mixture of lollo rosso, radicchio and rocket (arugula). You can use any combination of salad leaves you desire, even if that just be simple lettuce leaves. Lay the leaves on half of the serving plate. Half the tomatoes and pitted olives and arrange on top of the salad leaves.

When the potatoes are ready, drain them through a colander and return them to the empty pot. Add the butter and the chopped mint leaves. Swirl the potatoes around gently to coat them evenly in the mint and butter before adding them to the plate. Take the egg from the water and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Quarter it lengthwise and add the quarters to the plate.

The skin should peel very easily away from the smoked mackerel fillets. It is best to do this before placing them across the salad and serving your meal.

Note that if you do have to buy a vacuum pack of smoked mackerel fillets which contains more fillets than you are using at the time, transfer the excess to a plastic dish with a lid and they will store in your refrigerator for a couple of days.