Squid lo mein

The kids rarely get up before 9.00 a.m. on weekends. After my husband and I enjoyed steaming bowls of pork noodle soup at around 7.30, I went about preparing this lo mein dish which, as I predicted, became brunch for my younger daughter and, by the looks if it, will be part of my older girl’s lunch. She’s entitled to sleep late. She’s taking the UPCAT tomorrow morning so she’s storing up her energy.

If you notice, there are three different colors of noodles on the platter — green, orange and red. Vegetable noodles. Spinach, carrots and beets. You can buy the dried variety in most supermarkets. It is not essential that you use vegetable noodles, of course. The easier-to-find egg noodles will do. The recipe is very simple; the ingredients, minimal.

Serves 4 to 5.

Ingredients :

250 g. of dried vegetable (or egg) noodles
2 large squids, cleaned and cut into thin strips
half a head of garlic, finely chopped
1 onion, finely sliced
a small bunch of pechay (or your preferred leafy vegetable), cut into 1-inch strips
5 tbsps. of oyster sauce
5 tbsps. of Kecap Manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
lots of freshly ground pepper
salt
4 tbsps. of cooking oil

In a bowl, sprinkle the squid strips with a little salt and pepper. Mix well. Cook the noodles according to package directions, making sure they don’t get mushy. Drain and set aside.

Heat the cooking oil. Add the squid strips to the hot oil and cook over very high heat, stirring often, for about a minute. Add the garlic and onion; continue cooking for another minute.

Add the pechay, pour in the oyster sauce and Kecap Manis. Cook, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add the cooked noodles and toss to coat each strand with sauce.

Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with toasted onion (or garlic) bits.

In the mood for more food?

1. Herbed chicken soup with assorted beans
2. Guinataang Mongo
3. Butter-fried fish and corn
4. A typical lunch in Roxas City
5. Igado and batchoy
6. Melon and coconut milkshake
7. Rice noodles and dumplings
8. Talakitok belly and corn chowder
9. Oregano
10. Java rice

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