Tasty Planner - Recipe - Spicy Asian Green Beans with Pan-Fried Noodles by Rkoopmann

Instructions

Toast sesame seeds in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat, or on the tray of a toaster oven set to 350 degrees, or in the oven at 350 degrees. If cooking on the stove, stir constantly until they begin to turn golden; if cooking in the oven, stir occasionally until they are golden. The process goes faster on top of the stove, but the sesame seeds burn easily, so watch them carefully.

Bring a large pot of water to boil with 2 teaspoons salt. Add egg noodles and cook according to package directions until barely tender. set aside.

Heat peanut oil in a wide skillet or wok set over high heat. Add green beans and cook on high heat for about 3 minutes. They will brown in some places and become somewhat wrinkled. set aside.

Reduce heat to low, add chicken, garlic and red pepper and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. add green beans.

Crisping the noodles in a skillet adds a lot of interest and flavor to the dish. Add a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil to a skillet and heat over medium-high flame.

Add the cooked noodles and let them brown. They’ll brown unevenly — that’s OK. The range in the textures from a well-browned crispy noodle to those that don’t brown is what makes the dish interesting.

Once the noodles have browned, flip them to brown on the other side — this side won’t brown as well because most of the oil is gone from the skillet. The process takes about 5 minutes.

Combine soy sauce, vinegar, cornstarch and sugar and stir to distribute cornstarch and dissolve sugar.

When noodles are done, drain them, put them on a platter and top with green beans. Drizzle sauce over all and sprinkle with sesame seeds. If you have Asian sesame oil — the dark kind that smells richly of toasted sesame seeds — sprinkle a teaspoon or 2 over the final dish.