Spicy Asian Noodle Bowls

While I was on vacation, I drank a lot of ginger beer – both on its own and in dark and stormy’s (my new fvorite drink, where it’s mixed with Black Seal Rum). The sharp ginger flavor of the soda seemed like it would pair perfectly with Chinese food, and left me craving lo mein. Which is what I originally set out to make here, until I realized two things: I didn’t actually have about half of the ingredients that I plnned to use, and I don’t actually know how to make lo mein. So I used what I actually had in the kitchen to make these spicy noodle bowls, which were actually really good and killed the lo mein craving. And, just in case you were wondering, they went very well with a dark and stormy.

I lightly battered the shrimp in cornstarch and egg white, the sam way that I do in my kung pao shrimp. I really like the way that this comes out – it gives the shrimp a slight crispiness, without being heavy or greasy. I also borrowed from the kung pao by adding some peanuts to give the dish a little bit of crunch. Water chestnuts and snap peas rounded it out, but you can use whatever vegetables you have on hand – I think broccolini would be wonderful.

Spicy Asian Noodle Bowls

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tsp sake
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tbs water
• 3 tsp cornstarch
• 2.5 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 Tbs sherry
• 1 Tbs grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 small green pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup cole slaw mix
• 1 cup snap peas, blanched
• 1/2 cup water chestnuts
• 2 Tbs peanuts
• 4 servings Chinese noodles (the kind that look like bird nests in the pkg), prepared
• Sriracha to taste

Sprinkle the shrimp with the sake. In a small bowl, combine the egg white, water, and cornstarch. Coat shrimp with the cornstarch mixture.

Combine the soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, and red pepper in a small dish. Set aside.

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and set over high heat. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the shrimp and cook about 5 minutes, or until nearly cooked through. Add the green onion and pepper – cook until pepper begins to softed slightly. Add the cole slaw mix, snap peas, water chestnuts, and noodles. Stir in the soy sause mixture and cook until heated through. Remove rom heat and mix in the peanuts. Season with sriracha to taste.

Serves 4.

Approx. 400 calories, 7.5 grams fat, 3.8 grams fiber, 35 grams protein