OK, most of you have heard of Shanghai Noodles. It is very popular in Chinese-like food courts and cafeterias in North America. I guess it pretty much because it is low cost and its recipe is simple to follow. Sometime it is called Lo Mein (捞面), means “noodles out of soup” in Chinese, to differentiate from soup noodles. In Chinese foods, Lo Mein from various cities can be very different. The differences take places in preparation and ingredients.
This evening, I made myself my favorite Lo Mein. It is called Zhengzhou Noodles with Pork and Spinach, where Zhengzhou is the capital city of Henan Province, and it is my town where I was born. Just like Shanghai Noodles, its recipe is very simple too.
Ingredients: Any kinds of noodles (e.g. wheat noodles), Any kind of grounded meat (e.g. pork), any kind of green leaf vegetable (e.g. spinach), raw garlic (4 slices, grounded), oil, soy sauce and salt.
I never find out how much some item in the ingredients is required, because I hate to remember the numbers and units. Take a look at the above picture and figure it out yourself. Actually the ingredients are not important here. It is the preparation identifies Zhengzhou Noodles.
Preparation:
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Prepare the noodles in the normal way. Take away the water and cool down in a plate.
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Put 2 spoons of oil in a frying pan and turn on the stove.
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When it is hot enough, put the grounded pork and 4 spoons of soy sauce in.
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Stir frying for a minute, then put spinach in.
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Keep stirring until spinach is soften.
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Add some water and wait until it boils.
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Turn off the stove. Add grounded garlic and salt according to your taste.
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Mix with noodles and enjoy it.
My father taught me how to make it on phone when I first learned cooking in Canada. Before I learned cooking other foods, I made myself Zhengzhou noodles almost every week. I tried different noodles, meat and vegetables but this one is my favorite. My mother loves to add some vinegar and that sometimes makes my mouth running too.