Zoodle stir fry ( faux lo mein"

[Clipper]

I am a stir frying freak. I bought a good quality, heavy bottomed wok not long ago a Aldi's of all places. I am always looking for a way to cook an item in the wok. Due to the high heat reached for stir frying I always use peanut oil for it's high smoke point. We have found that shrimp and scallop scampi is quick and easy in a wok. We stir fry the garlic and shrimp in the wok, and then add the cooked fettuccini and toss it together while drizzling with good quality olive oil.  We like using the wok to prepare it because it is easier to cook the seafood quickly on high heat, adding the garlic at the last minute, just before adding the cooked pasta as not to burn it.

Kathy loves Lo Mein, whether it is made shrimp, chicken, or pork, and usually with lo mein noodles

The other night I made a big batch of stir fry with chicken. I seldom do any precise measuring with stir frying recipes. I use a handful of this, a drizzle of that, a splash of this sauce, and a spoonful or two of that.

The recipe I prepared the other night was composed of the following. All the measurements are more or less adjusted to your own personal liking.

Chicken breast tenders, sliced into thin strips and marinated in a LaChoy stir fry sauce for 1/2hr and stir fried in two or three tbsp. of peanut oil along with a pint basket of sliced mushrooms, and some slivered red bell pepper. Fry the chicken and remove it from the wok, leaving the peppers and mushrooms in the wok.

Stir fry a small can of water chestnuts (drain them and the sprouts and bamboo shoots well) for two or three minutes, add a tsp of chopped garlic, tsp of grated fresh ginger and cook for a couple of minutes.

I then added a can of LaChoy bean sprouts, a small can of bamboo shoots, a very light drizzle of sesame oil (be careful. sesame oil is very bold in flavor and you only need a small amount), a bit of finely slivered celery and onion, a couple of good sized handfuls of the fresh prepared zucchini noodles from the produce section, a small amount of Thai fish sauce, a drizzle of LaChoy soy sauce, and a small amount of the bottled stir fry sauce. Put the chicken back in and toss and stir until everything is heated through.

I find that most stir fry dishes are best when just tossed together with your favorite ingredients, no recipe necessary, and using whatever sauces or slurries you like. Most can be prepared to be very low in cholesterol and fat, but they can be quite high in sodium, depending on what sauce you use and how much. Soy sauce and fish sauce are both high in sodium.

I actually liked it better made with the zoodles than I do made with noodles, but if you would rather just cook off some noodles and substitute them it is up to you.

[BHU]

We have a wok but we rarely use it. Your recipe looks good. What are zucchini noodles? Never tried them.

[Clipper]

Zoodles are simply made by putting a zucchini through one of those spiralizers that creates a long strand of the zucchini that can be substituted for pasta. Last night we had shrimp alfredo over pasta and I took what zoodles were left over from the stir fry and ate them raw like a salad with Italian dressing. That too was pretty tasty but a bit awkward to eat. If I were to eat it like that again I would chop it lightly to shorten the strands. It doesn't twirl well on a fork when it is raw.

[BHU]

I broke out the wok last night to try my hand at beef stir fry. Not good. I used a sirloin steak that we had in the freezer along with some stir fry vegetables that I found in the freezer section that had a sauce packet that came with it. I also bought a pack of Asian noodles. The beef was like leather, the veggies were limp, the sauce sucked & the noodles were nothing to write home about either. We ended up ordering a pizza. Next time we'll try your recipe. Lol

[Clipper]

Aldi's and other markets sell Asian Stir Fry blends, some with sauce and some just the veggies. I just bought a couple packages yesterday Aldi's. It saves a lot of the work of prepping the veggies. As for the meat, I have used just about every cut of steak or roast to prepare stir fried beef and broccoli. We have a small electric meat slicer that I bought years ago to make beef jerky, and as long as you slice it thin and against the grain it will fry up tender. I slice it when it is semi frozen. It slices easier. Especially if you are going to cut it with a knife. After slicing marinate it. I usually use either soy sauce, prepared stir fry sauce or teriyaki marinade. It tenderizes it and adds depth of flavor.