Prawn Chow Mein

📝 Ingredients

• 160 g dried Chinese egg noodles (wheat noodles)
• 250 g raw peeled prawns (fresh or thawed)
• 1 tbsp cornflour (8 g)
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 200 g Chinese leaf
• 1 carrot
• 150 g fresh bean sprouts
• 3 spring onions
• 2 garlic cloves and 2 cm fresh ginger
• 3 tbsp salty soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil

🍴 Utensils

• Wok or large frying pan
• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Kitchen tongs
• Bowl

📖 Steps

1. Carefully pat the prawns dry with kitchen paper, then mix them with the cornflour and 1 tbsp soy sauce. Leave to rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the vegetables.
2. Finely shred the Chinese leaf, cut the carrot into thin matchsticks, cut the spring onions into 3 cm lengths, separating the white from the green, chop the garlic and grate the ginger.
3. In a bowl, mix the rest of the soy sauce, the oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil and 2 tbsp water. Stir until the sugar dissolves: the sauce must be ready before you turn on the wok.
4. Cook the noodles in a large pan of boiling water for 1 minute less than the time on the packet. Drain, rinse under cold water to stop the cooking and shake well: wet noodles stick to the wok.
5. Heat 1 tbsp neutral oil in the wok over a high heat until shimmering. Sear the prawns for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, just until pink and opaque, then set aside so they don't toughen.
6. Add the rest of the oil and stir-fry the garlic, ginger and carrot for 2 minutes over a high heat, then the Chinese leaf and white part of the spring onions for 2 minutes, stirring constantly: the vegetables should stay crunchy.
7. Add the noodles and sauce, then stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes, lifting the noodles with tongs without stirring too much, so they crisp up slightly in places against the wok.
8. Return the prawns, add the beansprouts and the green part of the spring onions, then toss for 1 minute, just long enough to heat everything through. Serve straight away, while the vegetables are still crunchy.