Heya Everyfluff,

it's  Ghosty writing and this little cub has some more food for you.
I wasn't sure what to cook today, but after a quick visit to the supermarket I settled for something Asia style.
Of course it's not a classic, authentic dish, but totally improvised and cooked according to instinct. Plus I'm German, not Asian. ;)
But it was fun to prepare and I liked the result.

So here we go...
Mie-Noodles with Stir Fry vegetables, bean sprouts, ginger and Mushrooms. King praws with garlic and lime.
Topped off with a sweet dark sauce and toasted sesame.

Make sure to have everything ready before you begin (keyword Mis en Place), as you will be cooking with 3 hobs... so timing can get a little tricky.
First I prepared the sauce and kept it warm, cooked the noodles, started the stir fried veggies and later the prawns, so everything was ready at about the same time.

Sweet Dark Sauce
- Light and Dark Soy sauce after your taste
~ 1 tbsp brown sugar (if you don't have brown sugar, just use normal white sugar)
- water
- 1-2 garlic cloved
- Spices after your taste (e.g. ground coriander seeds, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom capsules, star anise, Ingo Holland "Wok Spice" (very spicy, use carefully), chili if you like)
- 1 slightly heaped tbsp sesame seeds (for the sauce and for decoration)
- cornstarch

Warm up a pan, add sesame seeds and gently toast them until they start to be fragrant. Be careful not to burn the sesame. Set it aside and let it cool down.
Meanwhile peel garlic and chop it. Light crush the cardamom capsule witht he broad side of your kitchen knife.
Mix both soy sauces, light and dark in a small pot, add some water and heat up the mixture.
Add garlic, star anise, cardamom and toasted sesame, then dissolve the brown sugar in the liquid and let it simmer a bit.
With the rest of the species, season the sauce to your taste and as spicy as you like (I settled for a slightly piquant taste, but not too hot).
To bind the sauce and make it a little thicker, dissolve some corn starch in cold water, mix it in and bring it to a boil.
Let it simmer for a bit, until the sauce starts to thicken.
Keep it warm afterwards and don't use too much cornstarch .. or you'll end up with some soy pudding ;)
Remove cardamom and star anise before serving.


Stir-Fried Veggies
- 1-2 carrots
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 handful greed beans
- 1 big handful of fresh bean sprouts
- 2 green onions (keep a bit of the green part for decoration)
- 3-4 chestnut mushrooms
- 1 small red onion
- a piece of fresh ginger (~1-1,5cm thick)
- vegetable oil (one that can take high heat, like sunflower-, soy- or peanut oil)
- salt, freshly ground pepper

Peel onion, green onion, carrots and ginger, wash bean sprouts and bell pepper, wash and clean the green beans, wipe the mushrooms with a paper towel.
Cut carrots, bell pepper, mushrooms, onion and green onions into larger pieces. Remove the ends of the beans and cut them in half. Slice ginger into very fine stripes.
In a Wok or large pan bring a splash of oil to high heat and fry the vegetables until they are al dente and with nice brown marks.
Start with the onions, then carrots, bell pepper, beans, green onions, ginger and mushrooms. Only carefully heat up the bean sprouts so they don't get soggy.
Season a little, but be careful with the salt. The soy sauce is pretty salty already.


Fried King Prawns
~200g raw King Prawns, peeled (fresh or thawed)
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- vegetable oil (one that can take high heat, like sunflower-, soy- or peanut oil)
- Juice of 1 lime
- freshly ground pepper

If necessary thaw the king praws, wash them and tap them dry.
Peel garlic and chop into small cubes.
Pour a splash of oil into a pan, add garlic and heat it until the garlic starts to get fragrant. Make sure not to burn it, just let the oil soak up the garlic aroma.
Place the prawns into the pan and fry them for about 2 minutes from each side, until the color changes from grey-green to red and the prawns are no longer translucent.
Deglaze with some lime juice and season with a bit of freshly ground pepper.


Cook the Mie-noodles in salted water for about 2 minutes, drain them (you can prepare the noodles a little earlier) and dress onto a soup plate or bowl.
Add your stir-fried vegetables and the fried king prawns, then pour some sweet dark sauce on top.
Garnish with green onions and some more toasted sesame.
Please enjoy your meal! :)