Pieces from the Pantry .1

Noodles

Welcome to my new series on the blog: Pieces from the Pantry. During lockdown and isolation, it seems more and more of us have been rediscovering, or maybe even discovering for the first time, the kitchen. While there are many reasons for this sudden desire for us all to become culinary maestros (boredom, restaurant closure and just generally having more time on our hands and for our bellies to grumble), whatever the reason I think it is brilliant. 

Having always been a champion of home cooking, I believe the brilliance of it is the simplicity and accessibility of ingredients. And what ingredients are more accessible than the ones in our pantries? The tins of tomatoes, cococnut milk, beans, pulses, dried pasta and canned vegetables. In this series, each week I will be taking a store cupboard staple and inspiring you with a recipe (or at least attempting to). Using up our store cupboard staples means we can go to the supermarket less and partake in less food waste. There is always a tendency to ignore and take for granted the ingredients we always have in the cupboard only for them to be rediscovered, years later, shrouded in dust with the best before date of 2014 just visible on the side.

This week’s star of the blog post is (drum roll please) noodles. We all in some form or another have some packets of noodles tucked away in our cupboards; be they udon, rice vermicelli or your classic medium egg noodle. While there are many ways of using noodles in soups or broths (see your ramens and your phos) the king of all noodle dishes has to be the stir fry. 

Stir fries are the perfect dishes to be cooking up in your kitchens at the moment, seamlessly applying to the “just use whatever we have in the fridge” mantra. My recipe detailed below while calling for some ingredients as essential definitely has room for your creativity. When it comes to the vegetables in the stir fry and the choice of noodles just use whatever you have in your fridge and pantry. You could easily add some baby sweetcorn, mange tout or some pak choi to your stir fry in place of some of the vegetables I have used and soften some rice noodles in boiling water instead of cooking the medium egg noodles in a pan of boiling water. 

If you’re veggie feel free to replace the salmon with some tofu or, if you have some chicken or steak that is lying uninspired in the freezer then take it out and use it. If you are changing the protein I would recommend marinating it for longer than the 2 hours recommended for the salmon as the fish can be a delicate flavour in comparison to red meat like beef. 

Contrary to the malleability of the fresh ingredients and noodles in this recipe I would recommend sticking to the ingredients for the marinade as it results in a well-balanced sauce. If you don’t trust my word for it then give the recipe a go and post a picture on your story and tag me in it @erinss_eats. For the marinade I tried using other ingredients I thought would be regulars in everyone’s cupboards such as soy sauce and runny honey. Traditionally, mirin (rice wine) is used to sweeten teriyaki sauce but I fancied this would not be a regular resident of the everyday pantry shelf. The honey works to add the necessary sweetness to the salty soy sauce-ified teriyaki marinade and the lime adds the all-important although often forgotten freshness to the dish. 

Teriyaki Salmon with a Vegetable Noodle Stir Fry

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 salmon fillets
• 5 tbsp soy sauce
• 3 tbsp runny honey
• 4cm piece of fresh ginger, julienned (a.k.a. cut into matchsticks)
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Zest and juice of ½ lime
• ½ tsp sesame oil, optional

For the stir fry

• Medium egg noodles 
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 red chilli, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 4 spring onions, sliced 
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 red pepper, finely sliced
• ½ broccoli, cut into florets
• Handful of green beans, topped and tailed
• Handful of mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, optional

Method

1. Place the ingredients for the teriyaki marinade in a glass dish or bowl and stir until the honey has dissolved. Place the salmon fillets in the marinade. Leave in the fridge for up to 2 hours. After a couple of hours marinating take the salmon out of the fridge, set aside and make your stir fry. 
2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and then add your noodles. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook the noodles following packet instructions (usually around 5 minutes). Drain.
3. While the noodles are cooking. Heat the oil in a wok on a high temperature. Firstly, add the chilli, garlic and spring onions and cook for a minute until fragrant. Then, add your vegetables and cook for around 5 minutes stirring occasionally, allowing for some charring. Add the soy sauce and fish sauce (if using) then stir in your noodles. Keep the stir fry warm while you cook the salmon.
4. Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan on a medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the salmon skin side down, reserving the marinade, and cook for 3 minutes. 
5. After 3 minutes pour in the marinade and turn the fillets. Cook for another 3 minutes basting with the sauce so the salmon has an even coating, doesn’t go dry and the sauce thickens.
6. Serve the salmon fillets hot on top of a bed of the vegetable noodle stir fry and spoon over some sauce. Dig in.