Chinese bhel

Fried noodles and raw cabbage, tossed the way a bhel is tossed.

Vegan.

Ingredients

• 200 g fine egg noodles
• 300 g white cabbage, shredded raw
• 1 onion, chopped fine
• 1 green capsicum, sliced thin
• 1 carrot, cut into fine sticks
• 4 tablespoons schezwan sauce
• 2 tablespoons red chilli sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• oil for deep frying

Method

1. FRIED NOODLES AND RAW CABBAGE, TOSSED THE WAY A BHEL IS TOSSED. Its article fixes three things and leaves the rest open: THE BASIC INGREDIENTS PRESENT IN EVERY RECIPE ARE CRISP FRIED NOODLES, RAW SHREDDED CABBAGE, AND ONE OR MORE HOT SAUCES. THESE INGREDIENTS ARE THOROUGHLY MIXED TOGETHER IN THE STYLE OF MAKING A BHELPURI. Crisp against raw, and a dressing hot enough to carry both.
2. IT IS INDO-CHINESE AND ITS ARTICLE SAYS WHAT IT IS CROSSED FROM. It is A VARIANT OF CHOP SUEY AND BHELPURI -- the fried noodle of one and the assembly of the other.
3. FRY THE NOODLES DRY, NOT BOILED FIRST. Straight from the packet in small handfuls into medium-hot oil. They puff and go pale gold in about twenty seconds. Boiled noodles fried afterwards go hard rather than crisp.
4. DRAIN THEM AND LET THEM GO COMPLETELY COLD. Warm noodles steam under the sauce and the whole dish is limp before it reaches the table.
5. THE CABBAGE STAYS RAW, WHICH THE ARTICLE INSISTS ON. Shredded as fine as you can and not salted, not blanched, not cooked. It is the only wet crunch in the dish.
6. MIX THE SAUCES INTO ONE DRESSING BEFORE ANYTHING MEETS ANYTHING. Its article's list is SCHEZWAN SAUCE, RED CHILLI SAUCE, AND/OR TOMATO KETCHUP, with soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and RAW GARLIC PASTE among the things it MAY CONTAIN. Dressed separately they go on in patches.
7. TOSS THE VEGETABLES IN THE DRESSING FIRST, THE NOODLES LAST, AND EAT IT AT ONCE. Cabbage, onion, capsicum and carrot coated; then the noodles folded through twice and no more. This is the step the bhel comparison is for: every second it stands, it softens.
8. SPRING ONION OVER THE TOP. The article uses it as a garnish, and it also notes a hygiene problem with the stalls that sell it, which is a reason to make it at home rather than a reason not to eat it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes