Cantonese-style Spaghetti

Instead of the typical pasta sauce, I tried cooking a spaghetti dish with some starchy sauce that you get in Cantonese-style noodles (广付炒).


SERVING: 2 portions

PREPARATION + COOKING TIME: 1 hour

INGREDIENTS:

• (1) thumb of Ginger (length of your thumb, ½-inch wide) – cut into matchsticks
• (1) stalk of Spring Onion – cut into slanted slices
• (4) cloves of Garlic – chop finely
• (1) Bell Pepper (I used half a green pepper and half a red pepper to give a variation of color) – cut into thin slices
• (1) Carrot – cut into matchsticks
• (1) handful of Kale (I used Kale from a salad packet which are already pre-cut)
• (2) portions of Spaghetti – see below on how to measure spaghetti portion
• (2) tablespoon of Corn Flour
•  (5) stalks of Cilantro – chop roughly, these will be used for garnishing
• (1) tablespoon of Oyster Sauce
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Black Pepper

How to measure spaghetti portion?

I have always have a problem with estimating how much spaghetti to cook, using my “agak-agak” skills, I still ended up cooking too much most of the time.

Recently, we picked up a spaghetti measuring device from someone who moved away from the flat building (see image below). To be honest, I never knew there is such a thing. I  just thought people measure using a scale.

That doesn’t mean you need to go and get one. After a quick online research, I think the best and most accessible method is to use a plastic bottle (500mL). Put spaghetti into the bottle until the opening is filled up, and that will give you one portion of spaghetti.

STEPS:

1. Boil (1)L water and pour into a pot. Spread spaghetti around the pot and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until they are soft. Drain the hot water, and then rinse the spaghetti under cold running tap water. Set aside.
2. Heat up some olive oil in a deep stir-fry pan (set stove to medium heat). When the oil is hot, put in the garlic and ginger and stir fry until fragant, then add the carrots, bell peppers and kale. Stir fry for 10 minutes until the vegetables are cooked.
3. Mix the corn flour with (4) tablespoons of water and stir until the flour dissolves. Then, add the oyster sauce and stir well. Pour this mixture gradually into the pan gradually, and stir fry the vegetables with the sauce.
4. Reduce the stove to low heat, and add the spaghetti to and pan. Stir everything until they mix well. Add some salt and pepper for taste.
5. Serve spaghetti on a plate and garnish with some cilantro on top.

SUGGESTION for IMPROVEMENT:

The end product is drier than expected; I think the dish can be better with more sauce. This can be improved by:

• Increasing the portion of the corn starch to (3) tablespoons with (6) tablespoon of water (guideline: 1 part corn flour, 2 parts water).
• Adding an egg will also increase the richness of the texture and flavor.