You don’t often see zucchini in Chinese cooking, but this zucchini recipe is a common dish that you may even encounter on restaurant menus that offer homestyle Cantonese cooking.
A Recipe Ready for Summer Zucchini
Summer is around the corner, which means it’s almost zucchini season! We wanted to blog this recipe in advance of that time, since we all know that when zucchini is coming out of the garden, it can be hard to come up with new ways to cook it. This dish is super satisfying as a main dish or side, with dried mung bean vermicelli noodles that soak up the flavor of the chicken stock, oyster sauce, and other seasonings. The zucchini is super tender and sweet.
Which Dried Vermicelli?
In the noodle aisle of your local Chinese grocery store, you may find lots of different brands of noodles that have the word “vermicelli” on the label. Vermicelli are generally very thin noodles (thinner than angel hair pasta), and there are two main types. The first is rice vermicelli, which is white and looks relatively opaque after cooking. It is used to make stir-fried dishes like our chicken mei fun and singapore mei fun. We also use it in our popular Coconut Curry Noodle Soup recipe. What you’re looking for in this recipe, however, is mung bean vermicelli. This type of noodle has a translucent appearance after cooking, which is why it is also referred to as a type of “glass noodle,” or “cellophane noodle.” You may also see similar (albeit usually thicker) noodles made from sweet potato starch. One of the most common brands of mung bean vermicelli is Lungkow, which is what we’ve been buying for many years. This type of noodle is very absorbent, which is why the recipe calls for 2 cups of chicken stock. It will look soupy at first, but after a few minutes of simmering, the noodles will absorb much of the liquid (and flavor!). You want the dish to be slightly soupy rather than completely dry.
Recipe Instructions
In a medium bowl, combine the ground pork, water, Shaoxing wine, and cornstarch. Set aside. If using dried shrimp flakes, add 2 tablespoons of the shrimp along with the oil, ginger, and scallion whites in the first cooking step. You can also use dried shrimp (which are meatier than the shrimp flakes). These need to be rinsed, then soaked in warm water for 15 minutes and drained. You can chop the shrimp if you like, or leave them whole. For even more shrimp flavor, use some of the soaking liquid in place of the chicken stock. Soak the dried noodles in a bowl of water for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside. In a large liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine the chicken stock, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, and dark soy sauce. Set aside. In a wok over medium heat, add the oil, ginger, and the white parts of the scallions. Cook for about 1 minute. Increase the heat to high, and add the ground meat and the garlic. Let that cook for another minute, until the meat turns opaque. Then add the Shaoxing wine. Stir in the zucchini for 30 seconds… Then add the stock mixture you made earlier. Bring to a simmer, then stir in the glass noodles. Simmer uncovered for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced by half and the zucchini is tender. Stir in the green parts of the scallions and serve immediately! If desired, you can also keep the green parts of the scallions as a raw garnish, as pictured: For 5% off your purchase, use coupon code: THEWOKSOFLIFE
