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Recipe for "chinese-spagh"

NAME

     CHINESE-SPAGH - The original Chinese spaghetti
     This recipe is an interesting variation from the usual  res-
     taraunt  chinese food.  When I learned this dish, I realized
     that this was the origin of the  Italian  pasta  dishes.  It
     still  serves  as a reminder that there is a huge variety of
     Northern  Chinese  dishes  that  use  wheat-based   starches
     instead of rice.

INGREDIENTS (serves 6-8)

     250 g     bean sprouts
     30 g      peas (fresh or frozen) per person
     1         cucumber
     3         eggs
     25 g      green onions, chopped
     100 g     Chinese noodles (or linguine) per person.
     500 g     lean pork or beef, chopped into small pieces
     5 ml      crushed ginger
     5 g       green onion finely chopped
     12 cl     chicken broth
     75 ml     sweet bean sauce or hoisin sauce
     50 ml     soy sauce
     15 ml     Chinese rice wine
     5 g       sugar (omit if hoisin sauce was used)
     2.5 ml    MSG
     15 ml     sesame seed oil

PROCEDURE (SAUCE)

          To prepare the meat sauce:
          (1)  Heat 50 ml oil in wok, brown the ginger and  green
               onion, then add meat and brown together.
          (2)  Mix together the bean (or hoisin) and soy  sauces,
               add  this  mixture  to  the  meat,  and  stir  fry
               briefly.  Then add  rice  wine,  sugar,  MSG,  and
               sesame oil.
          (3)  Add the chicken  broth  and  simmer  for  about  3
               minutes,  until the sauce becomes thick and shiny.
               Put mixture in a serving bowl and set aside.

PROCEDURE (GARNISHES)

          (1)  Boil bean sprouts for 1 minute, drain, and put  in
               serving bowl.
          (2)  Warm peas and put in a serving bowl.
          (3)  Cut cucumber into  very  fine  strips,  or  grate.
               Place in serving bowl.
          (4)  Scramble eggs, fry into very  thin  pancakes,  and
               cut into thin strips.

PROCEDURE (TO SERVE)

          (1)  Cook noodles  in  boiling  water  for  3  minutes;
               drain.   If  you  are  preparing  this dish ahead,
               rinse with cold water, drain, and add 15 ml sesame
               seed oil and mix well.
          (2)  Serve about hot or cold noodles in  a  bowl,  then
               add the garnishes and meat sauce to taste.

NOTES

     This dish can be prepared a day ahead and served cold.   The
     selection  of vegetables in the garnish is pretty arbitrary.
     All kinds of vegetable combinations are good.  The only rule
     is that they should all be cut into thin strips.

RATING

     Difficulty: easy to moderate.  Time: 1 - 2  hours  (lots  of
     preparation,  little cooking).  Precision: Measure the sauce
     ingredients.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Rob Horn
     Infinet, North Andover, Massachusetts, USA
     {decvax, seismo!harvard}!wanginst!infinet!rhorn