Crispy Beef & Shiitake Noodles

Today is a significant day in history, at least for some famous musical (or musically associated) people that interest me.  First up, it is the lovely Jane Asher's 72nd birthday.  If I had the time, I would have baked one of Jane's cakes from Beautiful Baking.  Jane used to own a shop called Jane Asher Party Cakes and Sugarcraft in Chelsea, which I visited way back in 2006.  Jane is multi-talented - she is also a famous actress (from the original Alfie among many other things dating back to her childhood), and even wrote a fancy dress costume book back in the 1980s that featured a young Emilia Fox as one of the models.  Jane was also famously Paul McCartney's girlfriend (and at one stage, fiancé) during the 1960s.   

It is also Agnetha Faltskog's 68th birthday.  Agnetha is, of course, the blonde bombshell from ABBA, the 1970s supergroup.   I grew up on a steady diet of ABBA, and I vaguely remember having ABBA socks (being way too young to attend their concerts or buy their albums).  I still love watching ABBA videos and singing along to their music.

And also on this day, on a much more sobering note, Kurt Cobain of Nirvana ended his own life.  It is not an event I would have remembered being today, but I was reminded of the fact when watching the Smells Like Teen Spirit video on YouTube and seeing the comments. It's funny how I thought of that song today.

These things have nothing to do with today's recipe, but I thought it would be remiss of me to let the day go by without mentioning these famous people who have impacted me in one way or another.

The recipe is for Crispy Beef and Shiitake Noodles, from p37 of the March 2018 edition of Taste magazine. I love a stir fry, and this one has strong Asian flavours that are sure to please stir fry fans.

To make it, you will need:

450g fresh hokkien noodles
2 teaspoons sesame oil
200g halved shiitake mushrooms
3 crushed cloves garlic
450g beef, cut into strips
3 teaspoons ginger paste (I just used crushed ginger from the tube)
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
1/4 cup cornflour
1/4 cup peanut oil (I just used olive oil)
200g bunch broccolini, halved lengthways
100g baby spinach
1/4 cup oyster sauce
toasted sesame seeds and sliced fresh red chilli for serving

Prepare the noodles if you want to according to the packet (I never bother).

Heat the sesame oil in a wok and add the mushrooms. Cook for 2-3 minutes until softened.  Add half the garlic and stir fry til golden.  Transfer to a bowl.

Combine the beef, ginger, five spice, wine and the rest of the garlic in a bowl.  Transfer to a plastic bag, add the cornflour and shake to coat.

Heat the peanut oil in the wok, and cook the beef in three batches.  Transfer each batch to a plate once cooked.

Add the broccolini to the wok and cook over medium high heat until tender crisp.  Add the noodles and cook for 2 minutes, then add the spinach and cook until wilted.  Return the mushrooms and beef to the pan, add the oyster sauce and toss to coat.

Serve sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and chilli.