Experimental Stir Fry No. 1

[Ampera]

This is an original recipe, and an experiment I tried I thought turned out pretty good. As with most things I cook, there are no real measurements. I have included some guidelines and suggestions, but how much you include is up to you, and as I'm recalling this, the measurements may be completely incorrect anyways.

I have also never made a stir-fry before. I prefer experimentation in cooking in general, as I believe it's more fun, but it may allow for inventions that would otherwise have never been possible.

Ingredients
 - Meat, I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs, I used around 2lbs
 - Mushrooms, I use white or baby bella, about 1lb
 - Rice noodles, I used thai rice sticks, about 1lb, but any generic rice noodle should do
 - Grease, I used bacon grease, but butter or lard would work too. I usually use a couple dinner spoons worth, but the amount is up to preference
 - Worcestershire Sauce, to preference
 - Thai fish sauce, any anchovy-based fish sauce of decent quality can be used, quantity is to preference
 - Brown Sugar, usually around 1/8th to 1/4th US cup, packed
 - Dissolved beef bouillon, I used 2 small cubes to 1 and 1/3rd US cups of water. The water quantity isn't very important, just the bouillon for flavor. Chicken or pork should also work fine. Stock works too.
 - Garlic Powder, to preference
 - Onion Powder, to preference
 - Pepper, to preference

I prepared this in a large wok. Take care, as this is a lot of food. Most ingredients can be scaled to alleviate this if all you have is a smaller pan.

1. If your rice noodles require it (mine are dry), soak them in warm water. Don't leave them in too long, just enough to rehydrate them.

2. Dissolve your beef bouillon. Mine are cubes of granules, so they take a little while. Use hot water unless you are using stock, in which case warming it is not strictly necessary.

3. Chop your chicken and mushrooms up, size is up to personal preference, but preferably not too big as to make mixing or eating difficult, and not too small that they wither away into nothing

4. Place your grease at the bottom of your pan, and turn on the heat.

5. Once the grease has melted, start frying your chicken. When it's about half way cooked, add your mushrooms.

6. Once the chicken has browned and cooked, lower the heat, and add your bouillon/broth. Add Worcestershire and fish sauce to taste. You want more than teaspoons, but you also don't want so much that you turn the meal into a salt lick. Fish sauce is similar in salt content to full blown soy sauce. Add your brown sugar as well.

7. Once everything has cooked a bit, but with water still in the pan, add your (drained) rice noodles.

8. Turn the heat as high as possible, and begin tossing and shuffling the noodles. Keep going until your noodles are nice and fried, the pan has burst into flames, or your arm has snapped in two.

9. Once the noodles are done, take off the heat, and serve. Or explain to the fire department how some recipe you followed online resulted in your house being toasted extra crispy.

This is a re-write of a recipe I lazily wrote on my website about a year ago, which can be found here, along with a PDF in case you want something you can print out.
https://amperaa.net/f/index.php?topic=714

[TimNJ]

That's a cool looking dish. Can't say I've seen noodles like that before. Did you cut them?

I've been watching a lot of Chinese cooking videos recently. One of the best things I've learned so far is the power of the velveting (tenderizing + short marinade) for stir-fried meats.

About 15 minutes before you start cooking the meat, assuming about 2 servings of meat, make a mixture of about 1/4 Tsp salt, 1/2 Tsp sugar, 3/4 Tsp Shaoxing (rice cooking) wine, and 1/2 Tsp corn starch. Mix that into a slurry, pour over your sliced meat, then add in about 1/4 - 1/2 Tsp of soy sauce. Mix that together (hands probably easiest) so that the meat is all coated. Let rest.

I've been trying to stir fry for years, and I have to say, this was one of best changes I've made...aside from buying a cast iron wok.

[Ampera]

Stir fry food is something I should certainly experiment with again.

Funnily enough, no I didn't cut the noodles, that came from stabbing at the gelatinous mass of noodle in my wok with a spatula. No matter how big a wok is, it seems it can always be bigger . Either that or I need to eat less.

In general, I don't know anything about cooking, it's a hobby of mine, but like most of my hobbies, it's purely experimental (and I suppose I /need/ to eat on occasion too).