Mushroom Soba Noodles

Here's a quick favorite I make when I am tired of the dals and the subzis and chapatis but want something nutritious I don't have to order in.
My Mushroom Soba Noodles are a version of a recipe I learned years ago from a friend who'd worked in a restaurant in India that served Chinese food: a brand of Indian Chinese food, of course, which, as any Indian will tell you, is in a delicious class by itself.

Of course, some of the ingredients here like the rice vinegar were not easily available in the India of that time, so we managed with regular vinegar and soy sauce. For this version I used bottled green chili sauce, which I love, and tamari, which has a richer, more complex flavor.

I also used soba noodles which are made with buckwheat for this recipe, although I've made it in the past with plain old spaghetti or any other, fairly thick noodle.

A wok works best to make fried noodles, and make sure yours is screaming hot when you start, and have all your veggies prepped and ready because you do have to work fast. Also, I used eggplant and crimini mushrooms here, but you can just as easily use peppers, baby corn, green beans, broccoli...you get the picture.

So here it is. Enjoy!

Mushroom Soba Noodles

Ingredients:

1 lb soba noodles, cooked in boiling water until al dente and drained

1 tbsp canola or peanut oil

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 tbsp garlic, minced

1 onion, sliced

10-12 crimini mushrooms sliced (can substitute with button mushrooms)

1 small eggplant, cut into small, rather thin slices

2 tbsp green chili sauce (adjust to your taste)

Approx 2 tbsp or more rice vinegar

3-4 tbsp tamari (again, adjust quantity to your taste)

Heat the oil in a wok until it is smoking hot.

Add the onions and stir for a moment, then add the eggplant and stir around for another couple of minutes.

Add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring constantly, until they soften and the eggplant is quite tender.
Add the ginger and garlic and stir for a few seconds.

Add the noodles, green chili sauce and rice wine vinegar. Fry, stirring constantly and not allowing the noodles to stick to the bottom. It is important that the noodles be al dente when you start and not too mushy or else you'll get a noodle paste in your wok.

Drizzle with the tamari and serve hot.