vegoftheweek

Inside The Oven: Make model home with chow mein noodles. Week Links: What’s Vegan Momma Up To These Days?

A. A creative model of a future TLC “Trading Spaces” project.
B. One of Donald Trump’s toupees.
C. My chow mein noodle hut before it’s broken down into smaller chow mein noodle pieces.

If you guessed C, you’re not only a genius, but also recognize good art. You see, I must admit, the model chow mein noodle hut was not completely my idea. Rather, I was inspired by an interesting and beautiful photo stock pic of rice noodles. The noodles were stacked high in an elegant fashion as if they were ascending to a veggie heaven only the purest of vegan, raw foodies, and greenies could ever dream of. Go ahead, take a look. But come back.

Now that you’re back, you don’t have to smother on the compliments. I know, I know. I am quite the sculptor. Really, it’s nothing but a natural gift that I couldn’t possibly take any excessive pride in…

Regular chow mein noodles I’ve seen in the grocer’s Asian or ethnic section will often have one of the 7 deadliest sins, “Trans-fat.” (I don’t know what the other six are, but I was hoping we could have a contest one day and decide.) These homemade noodles nix that problem and allow you to have a unique experience with udon. Recipe for Chow Mein Noodles after the break…
 

Udon is the vegetarian’s ramen noodle. It’s quick and easy to fix at any time of day or night, relatively cheap, and you can toss all sorts of company into it, whether it’d be tofu, vegetables, or sauces. Here, udon can be cooked and deep fried to yield chow mein noodles to toss in a salad with vegetarian chicken or eat plain as a snack.

Udon Chow Mein Noodles

Hints: You’ll need enough oil for the noodles to be submersed in, about 2 cups. Before that scares you, know that these absorb very little oil and most will remain in the pot or pan. But if you skimp on oil, the noodles will stick. And don’t worry about an extreme deep fryer-I used my cast iron skillet which is about 2-3 inches deep at most and it did the job.

High heat oil is important: when you use an oil designed for lower temperatures at high heat, you exceed what is called the “smoke point.” Not only does this make your food more likely to burn, but it gives off potentially carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals. Many oil bottles, like those by the Spectrum brand, will even have a temperature scale on them, showing you what purpose the oil was intended for. And although it is tempting, please do not re-use the oil. Reusing oil increases the chance that you will exceed the smoke point the next time around (since you’ve already heated it once) and the more likely you are exposing yourself to cancer-causing chemicals. Vegetarians want to be smoking hot, but not in this manner.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of Udon Noodles
• 2 cups of High Heat Frying oil, such as Safflower
• Paper towels to drain
• An imagination to create your very own noodle sculptor at the end

Instructions:

1. Bring enough water to a boil and cook udon noodles according to package. Drain, rinse noodles in cold water, drain, was blot dry with paper towel. It is important to get the excess water off or excess popping of the grease will occur when you submerge the noodles in the oil.
2. Divide noodles into batches of 4 or more, depending on the amount of servings per package. Putting a big chunk of noodles hinders the ability for the batch to become evenly golden and crisp.
3. Gently place a batch of noodles into the hot oil and deep fry until golden. The process does not take long, but varies, so watch constantly. While in the oil, the noodles will stick together, forming a patch (or siding on your model house). This will allow you to turn the patch over, and fry the opposite side, to make sure they’re browned evenly.
4. Remove patch from oil with wide spatula and place on paper towels.
5. Repeat with other batches.
6. When finished, let batches cool, then break down into smaller pieces that resemble chow mein noodles.

Week Links:

What’s Vegan Momma Up To These Days? (Vegan Momma)

Red Hot Chili Pepper, Red Hot Sexy Vegetarian (Diva Report)