Basil Noodles in Sauce (紫蘇乾撈麵, Zi2 Sou1 Gon1 Lou1 Min6)

This recipe is similar to Noodles in Sauce (乾撈麵, Gon¹ Lou¹ Min⁶), except that it uses leftover chicken and adds basil. Basil adds another nice flavor to the noodles that compliments the oyster sauce used in the dish. Using leftover chicken (e.g. from the Mom’s Grilled Soy Sauce Chicken (燒烤豉油雞, Siu¹ Haau¹ Si⁶ Jau⁴ Gai¹), Grilled Chili Sauce Chicken (Siu¹ Haau¹ Sin¹ Laat⁶ Ziu¹ Gai¹, 燒烤鮮辣椒鷄), or Grilled Ginger Peach Chicken (燒烤薑桃子雞, Siu¹ Haau¹ Goeng¹ Tou⁴ Zi² Gai¹) recipes) means that you don’t have to cook the chicken when you make the noodles. If you don’t have leftover chicken, use any other leftover meat in your refrigerator to make this dish.

As I commented in the Noodles in Sauce (乾撈麵, Gon¹ Lou¹ Min⁶) recipe, the dish’s name is more the result of the Cantonese translation since there’s very little sauce in this recipe. You can simplify the dish even more by using just the oyster sauce (straight from the bottle) and the dish will still taste good.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Leftover chicken thigh or breast meat (雞肉, gai1 juk6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
½ cup	125 ml.	Basil leaves (紫蘇, zi2 sou1)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces
1 lb.	500 g.	Chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
		Oil for cooking

 

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand premium oyster sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

 

Equipment

14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

 

Lee Kum Kee Brand
Premium Oyster Sauce
(蠔油, hou4 jau4)

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the leftover chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any bones, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces.
2. Wash and separate the leaves from the basil stalks.
3. Crush the ginger and garlic in a garlic press and put into a small bowl.
4. Wash and cut the green onions into ¼-inch (7.5 mm.) pieces.
5. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand premium oyster sauce or equivalent, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package and until the noodles are al dente. Drain the noodles and set aside. If ready-made or fresh noodles are used, “fluff” the noodles to separate them (i.e. you don’t want put a single mass of noodles into the wok).
2. Heat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bowl with the ginger and garlic. Quickly stir fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant before adding more oil and then the leftover chicken. Since the chicken is already cooked, another quick stir fry is all that is required to warm the ingredients. Place the ingredients into a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding more oil and then the noodles. The wok should be very hot before adding the oil and then the noodles. Noodles cooked in a restaurant wok (over much higher heat than that available in your kitchen) are served slightly burned, which gives the noodles an extra added flavor.  To try to emulate slightly burned noodles, try to put the noodles in one layer in the hot wok and add some liquid (water, stock, or Shaoxing wine; but not too much liquid otherwise you’ll steam the noodles) to facilitate the heat transfer from the wok to the noodles, and leave the noodles alone. You want the noodles to get burned before adding more oil to the noodles and turning them over, repeating the process.
4. Add the green onions, basil, and the contents of the bowl with the chicken back into the wok and stir fry all the ingredients together. Add the sauce ingredients to the wok and mix the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.