TF and I ordered Hakka noodles from one of the local Indian restaurants recently. They were alright. I found the flavour alright, but they were mostly noodles with very little in the way of sauce or inclusions. A thin sheen of fairly oily tomato-based sauce and a few small pieces of cabbage and not much else. I mean, I still ate them and enjoyed them, but I do wish that they'd been a little more balanced and interesting than just a big ol' pile of starch. When I spotted Iyer's recipe for Hakka noodles in 660 Curries I was intrigued. It looked a lot more interesting than the restaurant version we'd gotten.

The sauce was definitely more flavourful and a lot less oily. And there was a pleasant amount of veg an protein to it as well, although I wouldn't've turned my nose up at even more inclusions! TF really liked this one. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't head-over-heels for it the way she was. Still, worth keeping in mind and worth making again.

I feel like this is an especially good recipe to have in my back pocket because it seems like it couple be pretty flexible. I did it by the book this time (mostly), using cauliflower, carrots, and bean sprouts as the veg. The one change I made was to swap out the paneer for some lovely extra firm, tomato-marinated tofu. That said, I think you could change the veggies up depending on what you had on hand and still get great results. I could see broccoli, green beans, and/or cabbage all working extremely well here. Bell peppers, mushrooms, or snow peas might also be good choices. Really, there are so many possibilities!

Hakka Noodles

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries

Ingredeints

• 240g fresh fettuccini
• 1/4 c. ketchup
• 3 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. malt vinegar
• 2 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies¹
• 2 Tbsp. corn or peanut oil
• 150g paneer or extra-firm tofu
• 1 c. cauliflower pieces
• 1 large carrot, sliced into thin coins
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro, divided
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 4 scallions/green onions, cut into 1-2cm lengths
• 2 (6cm x 2.5cm x 3mm) slices of ginger, julienned
• 125g bean sprouts

Directions

1. Boil the pasta until al dente. This took ~3 minutes for the fresh noodles I had. Drain and immediately plunge noodles into cold water to stop cooking. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, whisk ketchup, soy sauces, vinegar, and chilies together to make sauce. Set aside.
3. Heat wok over medium high heat.
4. Drizzle oil down the sides of the wok and allow it to pool at the bottom.
5. Add paneer (or tofu), cauliflower, carrot, garlic, and 1/4 c. of the cilantro and stir-fry for ~5 minutes.
6. Drain noodles and add them to the wok. Stir fry for another 2-3 minutes.
7. Add sauce and stir to coat noodles and veggies.
8. Add tomato, green onions, and ginger and stir-fry for another 2-4 minutes.
9. Stir in bean sprouts.
10. Remove from heat, sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. of cilantro, and serve.

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¹ If Kashmiri chilies are not available, you can substitute 1 part ground cayenne to 3 parts sweet paprika. ^Back