Basil Cilantro Lobster Noodles (紫蘇芫茜龍蝦麵, Zi2 Sou1 Jyun4 Sai1 Lung4 Haa1 Min6)

Happy New Year! For the first dish of the New Year, here’s a lobster noodle dish seasoned with basil and cilantro. The normal lobster dish found in restaurants is usually made with a fresh whole lobster (shell included) and you have to remove the meat from the shell in order to eat the dish. The dish is visually stunning with the bright red lobster shell, but a messy pain to eat (at least in my opinion). I would rather not have the visually stunning presentation and use cooked (not fresh) lobster meat removed from the shell. I use kitchen shears to remove the meat from the lobster shells, especially the small legs that contain that hard to get at lobster meat. If a whole lobster is too much of a challenge, you can substitute cooked lobster tails. For this dish, I used basil and cilantro for added flavor in this dish. The traditional lobster noodle recipe just uses lobster, so this variation adds a nice fresh herbal note to the dish.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 lb.	500 g.	Lobster meat (龍蝦, lung4 haa1), meat removed from two cooked 1 lb. (500 g.) lobsters
3	3	Eggs (冬菇, dung1 gu1), scrambled
16	16	Small dried Shiitake mushrooms (冬菇, dung1 gu1), rehydrated
8 oz.	227 g.	One package Kimbo brand Shredded Spice Tofu (五香豆腐絲, ng5 hoeng1 dau6 fu6 si1) or equivalent, cut into 2-inch pieces
½ cup	250 ml.	Fresh basil leaves (紫蘇, zi2 sou1)
½ cup	250 ml.	Cilantro (芫茜, jyun4 sai1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
1 in.	25 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), sliced into thin pieces
3 cloves	3 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), sliced into thin pieces
10.5 oz.	297 g.	One 20 oz. (566 g.) can bamboo shoot strips (筍, seon2), drained, or use fresh if available
12 oz.	350 g.	Bean sprouts (芽菜, ngaa4 coi3)
3 stalks	3 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into ½-inch (15 mm.) lengths
1 lb.	500 g.	Chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Lee Kum Kee brand Abalone Sauce (鮑魚醬, baau1 jyu4 zoeng3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Kim Ve Wong brand Thick Soy Sauce (膏油醬, gou1 jau4 zeong3) or equivalent
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
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

Preparation Instructions

Kimbo Brand Shredded Spice Tofu
(五香豆腐絲, ng5 hoeng1 dau6 fu6 si1)

1. Remove the claws and tail from the whole cooked lobster. These parts can be removed with a sharp cleaver or by hand with a quick twist. Use a sharp cleaver to cut the body in half lengthwise. Remove and discard the black/green intestine that runs the length of the lobster body and tail. Use kitchen shears to cut and remove the shell from the lobster parts, including the small legs. Try to keep the lobster meat as intact as possible and cut the larger parts into 1-inch (25 mm.) pieces. Put the lobster meat into a bowl.
2. Pour boiling water over the small dried whole Shiitake mushrooms in a heat proof bowl and rehydrate the mushrooms for at least one hour. Remove the Shiitake mushrooms from the rehydration liquid and remove the stems. Reserve the rehydration liquid for later use in the cooking process. If you need to rehydrate the Shiitake mushrooms quickly, use the method described here: Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹).



Lee Kum Kee Brand Abalone Sauce
(鮑魚醬, baau1 jyu4 zoeng3)

3. Open the Kimbo brand Shredded Spice Tofu package, or equivalent, discard any liquid, and cut into 2-inch pieces. The easiest method to cut the shredded tofu is to remove the shredded tofu from the package (it comes out as one single mass) and cut the mass into thirds.
4. Scramble the eggs in small bowl.
5. Wash and remove the leaves from the fresh basil stalks. Cut the basil leaves into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
6. Wash and cut the cilantro (stems included) into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces
7. Wash and cut the green onions into ½-inch (15 mm.) pieces.
8. Wash the bean sprouts and remove as much water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
9. Open and drain the can with the bamboo shoots, or use fresh if available (wash first). Remove as much water as possible to facilitate stir frying.
10. Cut the ginger and garlic into thin pieces, and place into a small bowl.
11. Prepare and mix the sauce in a small bowl: add the Lee Kum Kee brand Abalone Sauce, Kim Ve Wong brand Thick Soy Sauce, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil.

Cooking Instructions

1. If using dried noodles, cook according to the instructions on the package until the noodles just become al dente, drain the noodles, and set aside. If using thawed, ready-made, or fresh noodles, “fluff” to separate the individual noodles (i.e. you don’t want to put a single mass of noodles into the wok).
2. Heat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the eggs and scramble them while the wok is heating up. To get fluffy scrambled eggs, use this technique: As the eggs set, remove the pan or wok from the heat while continually scrambling the eggs with a spatula. Once the eggs stop setting off the heat, put the wok back onto the heat until the eggs start setting again. Continue taking the pan or wok on and off the heat as the eggs set until fully scrambled. Transfer the eggs to a bowl when complete.
3. Reheat a wok or pan over high heat before adding oil. Add the small bowl with the sliced garlic and ginger to the wok. When the garlic and ginger become fragrant, add the lobster meat and stir fry. Transfer the lobster to the bowl with the scrambled eggs.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the Shiitake mushrooms. Stir fry the mushrooms and then transfer to the bowl with the eggs.
5. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the shredded tofu. Stir fry the tofu and then transfer to the bowl with the eggs.
6. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bamboo shoots. Stir fry the bamboo shoots and then transfer to the bowl with the eggs.
7. Reheat the wok over high heat before adding oil and then the bean sprouts. Stir fry the bean sprouts and then transfer to the bowl with the eggs.
8. 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.
9. Add the contents of the bowl with the eggs back into the wok, and stir fry all the ingredients together. Add the green onions, basil, cilantro, and sauce ingredients to the wok and mix the ingredients together. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish, and serve immediately.