Veg Kung Pao Noodles

It’s very rare that I share an Asian inspired recipe here on the blog. It is not that I don’t make them at home..it is usually made for dinner (I don’t shoot in the evenings)and on days when it’s made for lunch, I love it too much to even wait for a minure to set up a shoot and click! No, not happening!! 😜 Hahha!! Common, everyone would agree with me when I say that Asian food tastes best when piping food. Straight from the wok to my plate…👌🏼

But yesterday was a different story, night before the last we had enjoyed Veg Hakka Noodles with Schezwan Paneer. And as always we enjoyed it so so much! We prefer a lot of veggies in our Hakka Noodles and some spicy sides for a complete meal.

Sooo… I ended up with a bowl of boiled noodles. I immediately knew what I wanted to do with them😉 I loozed around in my refrigerator and found that I had all the necessary ingredients to make a quick Veg Kung Pao Noodle bowl for my lunch the following day!!

If anyone is wondering what is Kung Pao or Kung Po exactly, it is nothing but a quick stir fry of chicken (I didn’t use chicken here), some sauces and chillie pepper/ bell peppers. They have peanuts too….but I have replaced them here…this is my version, I like to play a lot with Asian recipes. There is always room for subbing. Almost every Asian restaurant or any other restaurant that selves Asian fold these days, includes their version of Kung Pao on their menu. It’s a hit among adults as is with the kids. Keep it spicy or mild, it’s really upto you. I usually order a veggie version with some fried rice if I am in the mood for a light meal. Since I had the left-over noodles, I simply tossed everything together to make a Veg Kung Pao Noodle Bowl 😉 You can also replace noodles with some boiled rice too.

You can use any veggies of your choice, any protein of your choice (tofu, chicken or some other meat) and the sauces too can be of your choice! I tend to keep it more Indo-Chinese, so you can imagine how delicious this is going to be! Let’s start…

Yield: serves 2

Equipment: a large wok, a non-stick pan, measuring spoons/ cups.

Ingredients:

2 cup boiled noodles (follow the instructions on the cover to cook them, make sure they are al-dentè)

100 gms cubed paneer (Indian cottage cheese. Substitute these for chicken, prawns, beef, pork, boiled eggs or tofu)

2 tbsp cornflour

1 tsp rice flour

salt to taste

black pepper powder to taste

2 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp red chilli sauce

1 tsp green chilli sauce

2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp Schezwan sauce

1 tbsp tomato ketchup

1/2 cup sliced red bell pepper

1/2 cup sliced yellow bell pepper

1/4 cup sliced green bell pepper

2-3 tbsp sliced green onions

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

9-10 nos. cashewnuts

5 tbsp oil

Some slived green onion to garnish

Method:

In a bowl, mix paneer cubes, rice flour, corn flour, salt and black pepper powder together. Keep it aside for a minute or two.

Keep all the veggies ready as well.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan. Place all the floured paneer pieces in oil and shallow them on all sides until brown and crispy. Remove them from the oil and drain them on some kitchen paper. Set that aside for now. Fry the cashewnuts in the same oil. Remove from the oil and drain on some kitchen paper. Set that aside too.

Heat the remaining oil in a wok, add spliced green onions and ginger garlic paste to the oil once it’s hot. Sauté these on high flame for a minute or two. Then add the sliced red, green and yellow bell peppers. Season with some salt and black pepper powder. Toss these for a couple of minutes. Then add the ketchup, soy, schezwan, red and green chilli sauces along with the vinegar. Mix well. Now add the paneer cubes and the fried cashewnuts. Toss once again. Next, go in the boiled noodles and a tsp of oil if necessary.

Make sure everything is coated well with all the sauces. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve hot.

Irresistibly yummmmm!!! What more could I ask for on a winter afternoon…some comfort food and then a long snoozzzzeeee😂

Love,

Shreya💗