Fast Food

Fast food- what exactly does the term mean ? In this country it refers to things like a burger or tacos or pizza or chicken purchased from a small resturant that can be eaten while on the run or brought home to avoid cooking. However in China it means foods created by sidewalk vendors that nourish you. In nearly every marketplace in China, so I am told, lies a noodle vendor. Not pasty white flour noodles in plastic packages, but freshly made noodles from things like rice flour, buckwheat, soy cooked in a broth with meats and vegetables. You buy a cup to eat and move along your way. So if a Chinese street vendor can do this, how hard can it be to produce in a modern American kitchen ??


Chinese noodles taste great, are filling, healthy and easy to prepare . Start with 4 oz of meat per person ( I used pork) , and cut it into cubes. Something about the size of dice works well. Then get an onion and slice, a pepper(red, green, yellow, orange- what do you have ?) and cut in strips, about 8 oz of fresh mushrooms and slice, about an inch of fresh ginger and chop and garlic to taste, sliced ( here it is a clove per person as we love garlic). Then get 2 oz of pasta per person ( I used whole wheat because that is what I have on hand), some soy sauce, chicken stock or soup base( I used this) and healthy oil - olive, peanut,grapeseed, safflower ,canola or sesame work well for this. Then a dutch oven for frying and a pot to cook noodles in. Put a teaspoon of oil per person in the dutch oven , and water in the noodle pan and put both on the fire. In the dutch oven saute the ginger and garlic, then add the pork cubes and 1 cup of the chicken bouillon and 1/4 cup soy sauce. Stir fry and cover to steam for about 5 minutes on high heat. Then add all the veggies, give them a stir and put the cover back on for 10 minutes. By this time the water should be boiling in the other pot, so add the pasta and let that cook for 10 minutes. Give it a stir so the pasta does not stick. When 10 minutes are up, drain the noodles and add to the dutch oven. Stir to mix everything well, put the cover back on and cook for another 2 minutes ( the pot will have extra liquid and the pasta will absorb much of it. Remove from heat and serve. This dish, from prep to serving, takes me less than 30 minutes. I served it with cucumbers and tomatoes- two goto veggies in this house !