GoodyFoodies: Recipe: Vegetarian "Hakka Mee" Noodles

During Chinese New Year, it is easy to overindulge, especially with all the good food and various CNY cookies available. Hence it is common practice for many to eat vegetarian meals to clean out their stomachs after all the heavy eating.

Vegetarian Hakka Mee Noodles

Hakka Mee is a simple, flavorful dish that we enjoy often for lunch. For the first day of CNY, I made a vegetarian version, using the same noodles (Cintan brand non-fried broad noodles) as well as several auspicious vegetables (see meanings of each ingredient here) such as Chinese mushrooms, leeks, carrots, wood ear fungus and Chinese cabbage leaves.

Hubby, who loves Hakka mee, commented that this tasted as good as the meat version. :) I was happy to hear that! This vegetarian version took me under 15 minutes to prepare and cook - so quick yet so delicious! I served it with some of my homemade pickled green chilies. This is definitely something I would make to eat again in future.

And for dessert, Hubby served some vanilla ice cream with raspberries and grated white chocolate.Red to symbolise "good luck" during CNY :)

Vegetarian "Hakka Mee" Noodles
Recipe by Baby Sumo
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
3 pieces non-fried broad noodles (Cintan brand)
4 chinese mushrooms, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp oil
2 pieces mok yee (wood ear fungus), sliced
1 leek, sliced into 2 inch lengths at an angle
2 Chinese cabbage leaves, sliced thinly
1/2 carrot, cut into thin rounds
100 ml water
1 tsp light soy sauce
2-3 tbsp mushroom sauce

To serve
Pickled green chilies (recipe here)

1. In a pot of lightly salted boiling water, cook noodles about 2 mins (80% cooked). If unsure, it is better to undercook the noodles at this point and then cook it fully to al dente in Step 4.

2. In a wok over medium high heat, add oil and garlic and stir fry for about 2 minutes until lightly browned. Add mushrooms and mok yee and stir fry for a further minute.

3. Then, add Chinese cabbage and the ends of leeks (white part only), stir fry for 1 minute, then add the water and bring to the boil. Season with light soy sauce and mushroom sauce and allow to braise for about 3-4 mins.

4. Then, add the leeks (green parts) and carrots as well as the partially cooked noodles (from Step 1) and cook for a further 1 1/2 minutes, stirring occasionally for the sauce to coat the noodles. Taste and season with more soy sauce/salt, as necessary. Serve with pickled green chilies.

Got these plates from my Grandma:)