Rice Noodle Stir Fry

This easy stir fry was made using leftovers and some Thai flavors.  It was quick and made with left over cabbage, carrots, and barbeque pork.  A very tasty last minute meal.

A few days ago, in China Town, I found brown rice noodles.  They were very thin and I have never tried brown rice noodles, so I picked them up.  Since I had them on hand I used them in this recipe.  They were very good and supposedly more nutritious than regular rice noodles.  The noodles only took a 5 minute soak in cool water before they were softened enough to add to the stir fry, so it was great not needing to boil any water, and it's fun to use something different.  Here is my recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1/2 head red cabbage, sliced
3 carrots, julienned
1/2 red onion, sliced
about 2 cups BBQ pork, chopped bite sized
1 Tbsp dried shrimp soaked in 1/4 cup water (optional)
1/2 package rice noodles, about 100 grams

Sauce:

1 Tbsp fish sauce
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 lime, juiced
2 Tbsp brown sugar
minced fresh or dried chilli to taste (optional)

As usual prepare everything and have it ready to go, when stir frying things move fast.  Begin to heat a 12 inch skillet, or wok over medium-medium high heat.  While pan is heating start the noodles soaking in a large bowl of tap water. When the pan is hot add about 1-2 Tbsp oil (I used veg.) and toss in the ginger and garlic. Cook while stirring for about 1 minute until it becomes fragrant then add the veggies.  Cook until vegetables begin to soften (a few minutes more) then add the drained, soaked noodles and shrimp and their soaking water (if using).  The noodles will have softened a little but will continue to soften in the stir fry.  Add the sauce and pork, at this point I added about 1/2 cup more water to help mix the noodles around.  When using noodles, I find it hard to separate them and get them mixed with the other ingredients.  So I used 2 forks to help pull the noodles apart and mix them with the other ingredients.  This is ready to serve when the liquid is mostly absorbed and the ingredients are mixed.  Makes 4 servings.

This turned out so delicious.  I love the basic Thai flavors of fish sauce and lime juice.  I did not have fresh ginger for this recipe but I remembered I had some frozen so I used that and it was perfectly fine.  The fish sauce and oyster sauce add great flavor, but I realize not everyone keeps them on hand.  You could use more soy sauce, or other flavored sauces, but if you like to make stir fries I encourage you to find some it adds such wonderful flavor.  This is very versatile, you can use any combination of vegetables you have on hand, or any meat, chicken or beef would be fine in this recipe.  You could also use tofu and make it vegetarian.  This is the joy of stir fries, they can use up just about any left over you have.  Be creative and enjoy.