Krishnan's Malaysian Noodles

Because of all the spinach we have right now from our garden, I am going to be posting several recipes using spinach. I had better start making all of these or we will be swimming in spinach!

This recipe is one that comes from our family friend, Krishnan. I don't really know if it is Malaysian or Indian, as his family is from Malaysia but of Indian background. All I know is that we had it several times at their house and hubby and I loved it! I finally made him show me how to make it. This dish is sort of like stir-fry in that the ingredients and the amounts can vary from time to time depending upon what you have in your fridge and how many people you want to feed. Krishnan usually uses Asian greens, but it is quite tasty with spinach. It is probably more authentic with Asian greens, but that sort of defeats the whole purpose of using up my volumes of spinach.

Here is a basic recipe that I just made for dinner tonight. But just use this for a start. Change it up as you would like!

INGREDIENTS:

* 1/2 onion, sliced
* 2 eggs, blended
* oil
* 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
* about 6 ounces dried very thin rice noodles (thinner than vermicelli)
* 8 breakfast sausage links
* Tom Yum Hot and Sour paste
* Ground Chili Garlic Oil paste
* Fresh spinach (a lot, maybe 8 cups)
* Kosher salt

These are the basics. You can also add other vegetables like bean sprouts or peas; or other protein like shrimp or firm tofu. I think it is pretty important to have some type of sausage however, even if you use shrimp or tofu.

DIRECTIONS:

You will want to get all your ingredients gathered, as the dish goes together really fast.

* Soak your noodles in boiling water to soften. Or you can put them in a bowl with hot water and microwave for about 1 and a half minutes to completely soften them. Strain and set aside.

* To a small bowl add about 1/2 teaspoon Tom Yum paste (this is spicy, so use with caution) and 1-2 teaspoons garlic chili oil paste. Add about 1/4 cup of water to this and stir with a fork to combine. Set aside.

Heat up a wok or a large, deep skillet. Add enough oil to cook your eggs. Add eggs and let spread into a sheet. When softly cooked break them up with the spatula and then remove to a separate bowl.

Add a little more oil and when hot add the onions and cook until softened. Add sausages and break apart into small pieces. Cook sausage completely. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds more, but don't allow garlic to scorch. Add the drained rice noodles and stir, chopping up the noodles with your spatula as you stir them. Add kosher salt and your paste mixture and stir until well combined. Now pile all your spinach on top. It will seem like WAY too much spinach; but once it is cooked down it will be just right. In fact you will be amazed at how little spinach it actually is. Now put a cover over your wok or pan for a minute or two to allow your spinach to start to wilt. After about a minute remove the lid and start stirring in the spinach to combine it with the noodle mixture. Even if it has not wilted yet, it will start to quickly once it gets stirred in near the bottom. As soon as all the spinach has completely wilted, remove from heat and stir in your cooked eggs. You don't want to overcook the spinach. Taste and add more kosher salt if necessary. You can also add more of either the Tom Yum paste (for spiciness) or the chili garlic paste (for flavor) mixed with a little water.

Dish up and enjoy!