Dine-In Take-Out

There’s a restaurant across from my building that does down-and-dirty Asian-fusion style take-out. It’s cheap, it’s fast, it’s greasy—god, it’s good. For a long time, I was a regular caller on Thursday nights: “One miso soup, one hot and sour soup, General Zao’s chicken, Masaman curry and an order of crab rangoon.” Yep, they know me.

But, thanks in equal parts to needing fodder for the blog and my fear of never being able to get the smell of curry out of my apartment, I decided to scale back a bit on my take-out habit. It was fortuitous timing then that a certain London-based restaurant cookbook came to me earlier this month, giving me 130+ pages of reasons to take my to-go’s in house. Though, pat on back, the egg drop soup recipe is of my own creation.

Wagamama's Yaki-Soba
Serves 3-4.

4 ounces soba or ramen noodles
2 tbsp. tamari, dark soy sauce
1 sm. onion, thinly sliced
4 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
large handful of bean sprouts
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cubed
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp. pickled ginger
1 tsp. sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp. dried shallots*

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and add the noodles. Cook about 3-4 minutes, or until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold running water. In a large bowl, combine the tamari, onion, scallions and bean sprouts and mix the noodles in gently.

Heat a wok over high heat for 1-2 minutes and then add the oil. Add the chicken and bell pepper and cook 2 minutes. Add the noodles and vegetables and cook 3 minutes more. Add in the eggs and continue to stir-fry for another 2 minutes, until the eggs are set. Serve garnished with the pickled ginger, sesame seeds and dried shallots.

*Side bar- I couldn’t find dried shallots the week I made this dish, so they’re perfectly fine to skip or, if you need a crunch, replace with crispy rice noodles sprinkled on top.

Egg Drop Soup
Serves 4.

6 c. chicken stock
1/2 c green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 c. chiffonade spinach leaves
1 ½ tsp. soy sauce
2 grinds of black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

In a small saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer over medium high heat. Stir in the green onions, spinach, soy sauce and pepper. Return to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Stirring with a fork in one direction, slowly add the eggs in a steady stream. Continue stirring and cook until the eggs are set, about, 1 minute. Ladle into bowls and serve immediately.