Deep Fried Aubergines and Noodles

This is the perfect vegetarian recipe to use with the homemade noodles below.

Ingredients
Large handful of homemade noodles
1 aubergine (eggplant) chopped into large (3cm square) chunks
water (enough to just cover the noodles.)
3 spring onions chopped
Vegetable oil for deep frying.

Seasoning:
Light soy sauce (3 tsp)
Dark soy sauce (3 tsp)
chinese vinegar (1 tsp)
sugar (1 tsp)
chicken powder (1 tsp)
salt & pepper (to taste)
chilli powder (1 tsp or less)
sesame oil (1 tsp)


Step 1
In a small pan (or deep fat fryer) heat the vegetable oil until hot. Then deep fry the aubergine chunks until lightly browned. Its best to do them in batches and setting them aside when done on some kitchen towel to soak up some of the oil.


Step 2
In a small bowl mix all the seasoning together and add the spring onions. Set aside to marinate for a short while.

Step 3
In a large pan or wok heat the water until boiling then add the noodles. Boil for 2 minutes. Then add the aubergine, boil for a further 3 minutes.


Step 4
When the noodles are cooked add in the marinade mix together and serve immediately.

Homemade Noodles

Here's a little recipe to help you make noodles from scratch. By just adding an egg in at the start you can use this same recipe to make pasta. But today we make noodles.
Ingredients
1kg plain flour
water
salt & pepper

Step 1
In a suitably large bowl put most of the bag of flour into it. Save some for dusting the table and dough later on. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Then start adding water bit by bit and mixing and kneading the flour and water together. Keep adding the water but stop just before it turns sticky then. Carry on kneading the dough in the bowl and add a sprinkle more flour. The ideal ball of dough will be quite dry.

Step 2
Dust a dry, flat table with flour and place the ball of dough on it. Carry on kneading the dough for another 3-5 minutes. When you are happy with the dough you can get your rolling pin out and start flattening it. As you are rolling the dough keep turning it over and changing your direction. When it starts getting thinner you can stretch the dough by hand making sure not to rip it. Your aim is to make a 'roughly' squarish flat dough about 1-2mm thick.

Step 3
Dust the dough again on BOTH sides with flour. This will help you later when you're separating the noodles. Then carefully lift the dough and fold it on top of each other in a concertina effect. Making each fold about 10-15cm wide. Carry on until the dough is stacked neatly.

Step 4
Take a sharp knife, place a chopping board underneath the dough and start cutting 1cm strips from the dough perpendicular to the fold. Every ten or so slices lift the noodles and shake them through your fingers to separate them. Its at this point that you will be glad of dusting both sides of the flat dough earlier. If you don't dust well enough its a complete nightmare separating the noodles - trust me. Anyway, carry on cutting noodles until they are all completely separated.

Voila. Homemade noodles ready for cooking. Recipe to follow. If you have too many to cook in one sitting don't worry. Simply spread the out on a plate and place freeze them. They'll keep for a while.