When in Asia

Hello from the Philippines! Looks like I'm having a luxurious time if you're following my Instagram feed, right? Fact of the matter is, it's a weird trip. I have a team of vendors that I work with here in Manila for my job. I'm down here meeting them face to face, getting to know my team, and working on fixing some things. My team works at night though so they can match US hours to support our operations. That means, I'm also working at night. I go in around 9pm and leave around 6am. 

It's so weird! I eat dinner for breakfast when I wake up, lunch around 3am, and breakfast for dinner at the hotel buffet when I get back the the hotel. The hotel buffet is pretty much the most amazing thing ever. My bridesmaid dress might be a little snug next weekend.

Anyways, I made a really delicious Ramen Stir Fry right before I left for my trip, and figured it was a good time to post the recipe. I got some serious inspiration from Momofuku's Ginger Scallion Sauce on Saveur.com. It's really simple and so delicious. It will seem like you're making a lot of sauce, but you're really not. Trust me. Make this one.

Stir Fried Ramen Noodles with Ginger Scallion Sauce

makes 2 servings

for the sauce

1 cup scallions (greens and whites chopped)

1/4 cup fresh ginger (peeled, minced or grated)

1/4 cup grapeseed or veg. oil

1 tsp soy sauce (low sodium)

1/2 tsp Sherry vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

for the noodles and toppings

1 block ramen noodles

1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (cubed)

1 lb boy choy (remove bottom so leaves are loose)

1/3 lb mushrooms (any kind, quartered if cremini or button)

3 cloves garlic (minced)

2 tbsp fresh ginger (peeled, minced or grated)

grapeseed oil

crushed red pepper flakes

salt

First make the sauce. Whisk all ingredients together and let sit for 20 minutes while everything else cooks. 

Next cook the toppings. In a wok or deep saute pan, heat some grapeseed oil over medium high heat. Drop in 1/2 the ginger, garlic, chicken and salt. Cook chicken for about 8 minutes until browned and cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add some more grapeseed oil lower heat to medium. Add remaining ginger and garlic and add mushrooms. If the mushrooms soak up too much oil and pan starts to burn, add some chicken stock to keep it moist. Cook mushrooms for 5 minutes and add a dash of salt. Add bok choy to pan with 2 tbsp of the ginger scallion dressing. Cook until bok choy is wilted. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cook ramen noodles in boiling water until cooked through. Drain and add noodles to pan still over medium heat. Add all but about 3 tbsp of the Ginger Scallion Sauce to the noodles and toss together for about 1 minute over the heat. 

Serve noodles with veggie and chicken mixture on top. Top whole dish with some extra sauce.