Shanghai Noodles

Method

1. Marinate the pork with the cornflour, light soy sauce and Shaoxing wine for 15 minutes.
2. Loosen the noodles. Fresh Shanghai noodles come tightly packed. Blanch them for 30 to 60 seconds in boiling water, just until they separate, then drain and rinse briefly under cold water. They are already cooked; this is only to unstick them.
3. Mix the sauce and keep it beside the stove.
4. Sear the pork and remove it. Get the wok smoking, add half the oil, spread the pork in one layer, leave 60 seconds, then toss for another minute until browned. Tip onto a plate.
5. Cook the vegetables. Add the rest of the oil, then the garlic for 15 seconds, the mushrooms for 2 minutes until they have given up their water, then the cabbage stems for 2 minutes and the leaves for 1 minute.
6. Add the noodles and the sauce. Tip in the drained noodles, pour the sauce around the rim of the wok, and toss for 2 to 3 minutes until every strand is evenly coloured.
7. Judge by eye and add more dark soy if needed. The noodles should be a deep even chestnut brown. Dark soy sauces vary enormously between brands, so add another teaspoon at a time until it looks right. This is the one place in Chinese cooking where you season for colour first and taste second.
8. Return the pork, add the scallions, toss once and serve.

Notes

• Thick noodles, not thin. Shanghai noodles are round, chewy and about the thickness of a pencil lead. Thin noodles turn this into a different dish; that dish is chow mein and it is also here.
• Dark soy is colour, light soy is salt. Using only dark soy makes it bitter and using only light leaves it beige. The recipe needs both.
• Napa cabbage releases a lot of water. Cook the stems until they have collapsed and the pan is dry again before the noodles go in, or the sauce will not cling.
• Chicken works as well as pork and is the other common restaurant option. Beef is less traditional here.
• Leftovers are good cold or reheated in a dry pan.

Ingredient substitutions

• Fresh Shanghai noodles are sold refrigerated at Asian grocers in Germany and Canada, often labelled Shanghai style or thick wet noodles. Fresh udon is the closest substitute and works well. Thick dried wheat noodles cooked to just done are the everyday fallback; spaghetti is not a substitute, being too smooth to hold the sauce.
• Dark soy sauce has no substitute for the colour. Without it use extra light soy and accept a paler dish, or add a teaspoon of molasses for colour and a little sweetness.
• Napa cabbage can be replaced with green cabbage, which is firmer and needs an extra minute.

Sources consulted

• The Woks of Life: Shanghai Fried Noodles

Good with

• Chow Mein
• Singapore Noodles

From Christoph Mayer