Chinese Noodles
Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 1:00AM 
There’s a Chinese noodle house east of L.A. called Din Tai Fung. Their specialty is dumplings and boy, are they special – glutinous rice shaomai, green melon and shrimp bundles, and tiny soup dumplings bobbing in clear chicken broth, to name a few of our favorites. Din Tai, as we call it, is a regular and possibly favorite stop on our weekend rotation of dim sum houses.
The place is sleek, clean and crowded with a large tinted kitchen window that gives a shady peek at cooks working shoulder to shoulder rolling noodles, stuffing discs of dough and crimping them into round, crescent and purse-shaped dumplings.
In addition to the sheer genius of the delicate dumplings, they make noodles by hand without rolling pins, knives or rulers, just a time-honored technique that takes years to master. The result is noodles that are both chewy and delicate.
Most of the menu is too complex and intimidating to make at home except this simple stir-fry that is one of the boys’ favorites. I suggest you take a trip down to your local Chinese or Asian market for the necessary ingredients.
To get the recipe and shopping list on your smartphone (iPhone, BlackBerry, Android device) or PC, click here.
Pork Fried Noodles
8 ounces Chinese rice noodles
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 medium yellow onion, cut into thin strips
1 pound Chinese BBQ pork, cut into bite-sized slices
1 head bok choy, leaves separated and blanched or 1 bunch spinach
Soy sauce, to taste
Most Chinese markets have an assortment of noodles from skinny to fat, and round to flat. Select the ones that suit your fancy and cook according to package instructions. In a large sauté pan or wok, heat 
the oil over medium high heat, add the onions and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the remaining ingredients including the noodles, drizzle in the soy sauce at the very end and stir to finish. Serve steaming hot in small bowls.
Makes 4 to 6 servings
Note: to blanch bok choy, immerse the greens in a saucepan of boiling water for 30 seconds to 1 minute – just until leaves turn a bright green. Drain immediately in a colander and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking; pat dry with paper towels.
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