Jul 14, 2002 5 min read

If Mr. Oodles ever decides to name a spokesperson for his noodles, let me know. Maybe it’s cheesy, but I love the pre-packaged, hard-as-a-rock noodles that could feed masses in a matter of minutes. I think it stems from my grade school days when one of my folks’ neighbors used to make them for me.

They were salty and delicious and my mother refused to buy them because the sodium content was way too high. (She and my father are poster people for healthy eating.)

Yet, I managed to sneak the noodles when I could. When I went off to college, I discovered another way to eat them that has echoed through the way I cook a lot of other foods: halfway.

Sounds yucky, I know, but I thought it was good at the time. I heated water in my hot pot until it was just before boiling, and dumped in the noodles. I let them blanch for about 30 seconds, then put them in a bowl and dumped the seasoning packet on top.

They were like crunchy, seasoned noodle chips that I thought were great, but most other people gagged at.

After a break from eating them that way, though, I determined that it must only have been a college thing – they don’t taste nearly as good that way anymore.

Still, when my husband and I went to the store last week, we couldn’t help but be taken in by a sale on noodle cup-of-soups and their traditional counter part, the cup-less packages. We figured the cups were great for quick work lunches, and got a few packages for quick home meals.

Hit by inspiration, I parlayed two packages of Oriental flavored noodles into stir-fry that was quick and easy.

You can use the vegetables your prefer, and even cut out the meat all together if you’re trying to cut back on fat and calories.

It’s much better than raw noodle chips.

If you have any questions, comments or recipe column suggestions, please write to me at the Herald-Standard c/o Jennifer Harr, 8-18 E. Church St., Uniontown, Pa., 15401.

You may also e-mail at jharr@heraldstandard.com.

CHEAP EATS STIR-FRY

3/4 to 1 pound of steak, chicken, pork, shrimp or scallops

2 packages of Oriental flavor noodles, seasoning packets removed

3 Carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

8-10 stalks of asparagus, cut into bite-size pieces

1/2 head of cauliflower cut into small pieces

1 onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tablespoon white vinegar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus additional for frying

Five-Spice Powder (If you don’t know what this is, read on and learn how to make your own)

Pepper and Salt

Take the seasoning packet out of both packs of noodles. If you’re using meat, cut it into strips. Toss the meat or seafood into a sealable bag with the contents of one of the seasoning packet, vinegar and 3 tablespoons of oil.

Add in a bit of salt and pepper and about 1/4 teaspoon of Five-Spice Powder.

Let it marinate about 20 minutes.

Dump entire contents of bag, including marinade, into a hot skillet.

Cook meat or seafood to desired doneness and remove with a slotted spoon so that liquid remains in the pan.

Sautee the onion and garlic, and then add in the remaining veggies. Most likely, you’ll need to add more oil to fry the veggies.

You could do this all in a wok, but a skillet you can cover will do just as well.

Let the veggies cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.

Towards the end of the cooking time, I add 1/2 of one Oriental seasoning package and another 1/4 teaspoon of Five-Spice to the veggies and give them a good stir around. Add in the meat to re-heat through.

While the vegetables cook, boil water for the two sets of noodles. Cook them according to package directions.

When the noodles are done boiling, add in the remaining 1/2 package of Oriental seasoning, and dump out all but a couple tablespoons of the broth.

Serve the veggies and meat over the noodles.

Five-Spice Powder is a rather strong mix of spices. The powder represents all five flavors – sweet, sour, bitter, pungent and salty. Trust me when I say that you only need a bit or your food will be overpowered.

It’s not something to use in every dish – or even most of them in my opinion. Five-Spice is a once-in-a-while thing because its taste flavors everything.

I did some reading on the powder and found that, although the exact origins have been lost, some believe that its creators were trying to make a wonder powder that encompassed all of the five elements (wood, fire, earth, metal and water).

The Chinese identified those five energy fields and believe that one is related to another, and they must remain in harmony. Likewise in diet, cravings for a certain type of food could be related back to a body part that was suffering or weak.

In any event, Five-Spice Powder can generally be found in the Asian section of bigger grocery stores. A bottle won’t set you back much, and it lasts a long time since such a small amount is needed to flavor a dish.

If you really want to be an adventurer, however, here’s a recipe to make your own.

FIVE-SPICE POWDER

2 teaspoons of Szechuan or black peppercorns

8 star anise or 4 teaspoons of ground anise

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 tablespoon ground fennel seeds

Roast the peppercorns in a pan over low heat for about three minutes.

Keep the pan constantly moving so they don’t burn.

Grind them and the star anise and strain. Mix in the remaining seasonings and grind until the mixture is very fine. Store in an airtight container.

Jennifer Harr is a staff writer at the Herald-Standard.