Please Don't Fail Me Now: Pan Fried Noodles

Yesterday, I set off on a mission. Buy vegetables, then console my battered self-esteem as well as my strangely blotchy complextion like every woman does--with a trip to Sephora. Unfortunately, about 2 hours, around $100 and very few local vegetables later, I boarded a late bus and found myself stuck in traffic, finally arriving home at about 6:45. When one hasn't eaten since 11am, well, one is ravenous. So all healthy ideas were cast aside in favor of a pre-wrapped burrito constructed by my uncle.

The guilt hung over me today, but still being exhausted, I went with an old standby--red curry with vegetables and tofu. But something went wrong. I don't know if it was the too-high simmer or the lack of fish sauce or the interplay of vegetables, but the leftovers were not even worth saving. Tomorrow, I'm faced with a 3+ mile walk and the desire to bake goods for out of town guests, so I'm going to fall upon this old standby:

Pan Fried Noodles
Adapted from Basic Cooking by Jennifer Newens

1/2 pound rice noodles, cooked to package instructions
1 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into big-bite-sized pieces
Bunch of broccoli, really about as much as you desire, cut into bite sized pieces
fresh or minced ginger, about 1/4 teaspoon
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1/2 tsp chili flakes
5-6 tbsp peanut or sesame oil
3 tbsp soy sauce
Squeeze of fresh lime

Get your wok very hot (wave your hand over the pan to check if it's hot) and ad 3-4 tablespoons of oil. Throw in the chicken and stir stir stir for 1-2 minutes. Push the chicken to one side of the pan, ad a bit of fresh oil, and fry up the broccoli, ginger, garlic, and chili flakes. Add the last bit of oil to the pan along with the noodles, and make sure you keep stirring--you don't want them to stick. After about a minute, add the soy sauce and then squeeze the lime over the noodles. You'll know it's done when an overwhelmingly tasty smell hits you.

Now that I've got my dinner planned out, it's time to crack open How To Be a Domestic Goddess and find a delicious dessert.