Daydreaming lately about taking an exotic vacation, a cooking class or, better yet, a cooking class on an exotic vacation, I was intrigued by a recipe that I cut out from the April/May 2012 Vegetarian Times (pg. 28) for Singapore street vendor food. I was flipping through my recipe binder and I can’t believe how long some recipes sit around before I get to them. I modified the original recipe quite a bit, for example, I didn’t want bell pepper overload. I did use the full amount of curry (2 tablespoons) without much more than a comment from the family.
The first time I bought the noodles, I got the brown rice spaghetti from the pasta aisle and that is the wrong stuff. You want the white rice vermicelli from the Asian aisle. Vermicelli is a noodle that’s skinnier than spaghetti and made from ground rice it’s a food popular in Asian cooking. It’s very calorie-dense and low in fiber, so good to mix with vegetables or vegetable soups. Make sure you have the coconut oil for doing stir fries since you use high heat.
Singapore-Style Rice Noodles
1 8-oz. pkg. rice vermicelli
1 C low-sodium organic vegetable broth
1/4 C low-sodium organic soy sauce
2 T sherry
1 T honey
2 T coconut oil
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 bunch of green onion
1/2 head thinly sliced napa cabbage (~4 cups)
2 crushed cloves garlic
2 T curry powder
Soak rice noodles in hot water 15 minutes. Drain, and set aside.
While noodles are soaking, whisk broth, soy sauce, sherry, and honey in bowl. Set aside.
Chop the dark green parts of the green onions and set aside. Chop the white and light green parts to add to the pan with the mushrooms. Heat wok or large pan over high heat with coconut oil. Add mushrooms, bell peppers, and onion (white and light green parts); stir and fry 3 minutes. Add napa cabbage, garlic, and curry powder; cook 2 more minutes. Add broth mixture and toss with vegetables. Add noodles, and toss to combine. Stir-fry another few minutes, so noodles absorb some of sauce and soften. Remove from heat; stir in green onions.
