"The Strange But Wonderful Food Of Kuching 4" Stir Fried Pasta With Chicken, Mushroom And Vegetables - "Malaysian Monday 81"

I must confess.... I am an addict! 

But not to worry! the thing is I am not addicted to drugs, video games, twitter or sweets but a certain type of pasta, namely the beautifully shaped casarecce. 

Well using pasta in Malaysian cooking is nothing new; chicken macaroni soup (with an Asian soup base) is as popular as Ipoh hor fun and spaghetti is now the preferred "noodles" for Johor laksa. This willingness to adopt new and foreign ingredients into our everyday cooking is just one of the factors that made our cuisine so unique and exciting.

During my stay in Kuching, any outing to a particular hawker centre must include a stir fried pasta dish. Though fusilli was the preferred choice back then but I can't think of a better pasta than casarecce to use in this dish that brings back so much fond memory of the charming city that I once called home.

serves 2 as a one dish meal

you'll need;

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

150 g of chicken fillet, sliced and marinated with soy, sesame oil, pepper and a little corn flour

3 mushrooms, soaked in 1/2 a cup of boiling water for 15 minutes before slicing

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups of cooked casarecce or pasta of your choice

3 tbs of oyster sauce

2 tbs of light soy

3 tbs of dark soy

1 tbs of sugar

1 tsp of sesame oil

reserved mushroom soaking liquid
1/2 cup of stock

2 heads of bokchoy, sliced

a large handful of bean sprouts

cut chilies in soy to serve

Chop garlic, marinate the chicken slices, soak and slice the mushrooms and slice the bokchoy.

Saute garlic with a little oil in a hot wok for 10 seconds before adding the chicken and mushroom, cook on high heat for a minutes, push the mixture aside and add in the beaten eggs and scramble lightly.

Add in the cooked pasta and mix well, stir fry for a minute...

Add seasonings, mushroom soaking liquid and stock, continue to stir fry for another minute.

Finally add in the bokchoy and bean sprouts and stir fry for another minute of until the vegetables are slightly wilted. Check for seasonings.

Serve with cut chilies in soy on the side. 

I am the host for this month's event so please send all your entries to sureshchong@yahoo.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter please click here.