Ginger & Shrimp Noodles In Oyster Sauce

Hello boys and girls!

Welcome to cooking with Varun! Not long ago, I made a trip to Reykjavik, Iceland for the weekend with my roommate and one of my good friends from work (referred to from this point as my 'TWM'). Why Iceland you ask? Well, the primary reason was that I wanted to see the Northern Lights and the geysers (Geysir in Icelandic) and the secondary reason was I had a schengen visa and the cheapest flights out of Birmingham were to Reykjavik! So I roped in my roommate and used a little emotional blackmail on my TWM (You know, the whole, I'll be gone soon and we may never meet again story) and before you know it, flights booked, apartment booked, tours booked and off we went!

Now, Iceland is a pretty desolate place. The lava plains that cover most of the country are uninhabitable and most of the 323,000 people who live there, live around the Reykjavik area (about 120,000), so you can imagine even though the place is very beautiful there isn't a lot to do, which made our 2 day trip the perfect amount of time required to take in the sights and sounds. The first day we just walked around the city doing what tourists do; taking pictures, eating, checking out the shops. After we had explored the city we went to the breathtakingly beautiful Blue Lagoon Spa. I'm not a spa guy (at all) but believe me when I say that this place was unreal. Like from the pages of a fantasy novel. Pools of silica-rich, geo-thermal, azure water in the middle of nowhere. Just unreal. After our soak, we headed back to the city for our Northern Lights tour but as luck would have it, the weather Gods were not on our side and the tour was cancelled. Thankfully, we had been fortunate enough to see the Aurora Borealis from the plane on our way into Reykjavik so we were slighly less disappointed than we would have been otherwise. With the tour cancelled, we had several hours to spend and since it was getting dark, we decided to get some food. Some Icelandic food. I'm sure you've gathered by now that I'm fairly adventurous when it comes to food and rarely hesitate to try something at least once and this time was no different. I bravely ordered the Icelandic feast. Bravely because the appetizers consisted of hákarl which is rotten shark fermented in a hole in the sand, wind dried fish, roast puffin and whale tataki. After gagging on the shark and being pleasantly surprised by the tender whale, the rest of the meal was quite delightful; roast lamb and langoustine all washed down with a very nice white wine.

This recipe features the langoustine's smaller cousin, the prawn, in a not Icelandic but very quick and very tasty noodle dish. This is Ginger & Shrimp Noodles In Oyster Sauce.

For Ginger & Shrimp Noodles In Oyster Sauce, you will need the following:

Noodles                                300 gms
Prawns/Shrimp                     300 gms
Mushrooms                            4-5 large
Ginger                                  1" piece
Carrot                                   1 small
Green pepper                        1/2 of a medium
Spring Onions                        2 (just the green bits)
Soy Sauce                             couple of big splashes
Vinegar                                 splash
Oyster Sauce                         2 tbsp (available in all grocery stores)
Egg                                       1
Sesame seeds                        handful
Peanuts                                 handful
Salt                                      to taste
Oil

Prep:

1. Peel and mince the ginger.
2. Chop up the green pepper.
3. Thinly slice the carrot.
4. Slice the mushrooms.
5. Chop up the spring onion greens.
6. Beat the egg. (Add some salt in.)
7. Toast the sesame seeds.
8. Grind the peanuts.
9. Boil the noodles. (Add salt and some oil in the water so the noodles don't stick.)
10. Drain the noodles.

Method:

1. Turn on the gas.
2. Bung a wok on.
3. Splash in some oil.
4. Toss in the ginger.
5. Breathe in the gorgeous aroma.
6. Slide in the mushrooms.
7. Pop in the carrot.
8. Drop in the green pepper.
9. Shake in the shrimp.
10. Cook for a minute.
11. Pour in the egg.
12. Mix until the egg is cooked.
13. Add in the oyster sauce.
14. Splash in the soy sauce.
15. Tip in the noodles.
16. Mix well until the noodles take on the colour of the soy sauce.
17. Sprinkle on the vinegar and more soy sauce if you want a darker colour.
18. Add salt to taste.
19. Toss the contents of the wok like a chef at a teppanyaki restaurant.
20. Cook for a few minutes.
21. Sprinkle on the spring onion greens.
22. Toss.
23. Turn the gas off.
24. Serve with a dash of the sesame seeds and ground peanuts.
25. Stuff face.
26. Bask in the glory of your successfully executed dish.

Tip: You can add more veggies if you want. Beans, sprouts, bok choy, whatever catches your fancy.

And remember, overeating is a myth. A full tummy is a happy tummy!