Lo mein in less than 15 minutes

Have you ever had leftover stir fried meat and vegetables that look too terrible to serve after reheating? You can toss them with boiled noodles and save yourself the pain of having everyone whine that you’re serving them leftovers — again. It’s an express meal too because the lo mein is done in less than 10 minutes. I’ve done that before and it wasn’t even related to an attempt to dress up the leftovers. You can read about that in The Mommy Journals. But if there is no leftover stir fry, is there no other fast and easy way of cooking lo mein?

A month or so ago, my family went fish ball crazy. We’ve gotten tired of them now but it was a great food trip while it lasted. I’m not talking about the fish balls that are 99% flour and 1% MSG. I’m talking about the fish, shrimp, lobster, sharksfin and mushroom balls in various shapes and sizes that have become a staple in some supermarkets. I loved adding them to my soups and they are great with lo mein.

Serves 2 to 3.

Ingredients :

150 grams of dried noodles, boiled and drained
100 grams of fish, shrimp, lobster, sharksfin or mushroom balls (or a combination of one or more varieties), diced
3 tbsps. of cooking oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 to 2 shallots, finely sliced
a small carrot, cut into matchsticks
a small bunch of onion leaves, cut into 2-inch lengths
2 to 3 tbsps. of oyster sauce
2 to 3 tbsps. of Kecap Manis
2 tbsps. of patis (fish sauce)
a drizzle of sesame seed oil

Heat the cooking oil. Pan fry the diced fish, shrimp, lobster, sharksfin or mushroom balls until lightly browned. Add the garlic, shallots and carrot strips. Cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add the cooked noodles to the pan. Pour in the oyster sauce, Kecap Manis and patis. Toss to coat the noodles with the sauces. Add the onion leaves, toss a few times then turn off the heat. Transfer to a serving platter or bowl, drizzle with sesame seed oil and serve at once.