Yakisoba - and haiku to you

wok heats over flame;
so much to chop; make cocktail
and sip, grasshopper.

I've learned only in very recent years how one's mise en place makes an enormous difference in the ease of putting a meal on the table within a reasonable amount of time after one's spouse has come home from work. Witness this:

With enthusiasm: "Hi, honey, I'm home."
With resignation: "Hullo."
With anticipation: "What's for dinner?"
Snappishly: "A goddamn stir-fry if I ever finish chopping everything up."

Compare with this:
"Hi, honey, I'm home."
"Hello, dear."
"What's for dinner?"
"The mother of all stir-fries which will be ready in minutes as soon as you're ready."

Mise en place is what makes the difference. It doesn't take a long time to chop up stuff, except when you feel under the gun. Get out your Tupperware and do the chopping in the morning or even the night before. In most stir-fries there are things that go into the pan (wok or not wok) in sequence. Simply put them in separate containers. When it's time to cook get that pan or wok hot, hot, hot. While the oil heats put your bottles of soy sauce, cooking wine, vegetable oil, sesame oil, whatever, next to the stove.

I designed this one carefully, using pre-cooked noodles. My result was a one-dish dinner. If there's ever a divorce in this family it won't be from a complaint that "his mise was never en place." (I wonder if they can develop a pill for it?) "If you need more than four hours to get everything in place for a stir-fry, contact your physician immediately. Ask your doctor if you are healthy enough for stir-fry activity."

Oh, what's in it:
vegetable oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1 huge clove garlic, minced
4 mini and multi-colored bell peppers
4 baby bok choys
4 scallions, green and white parts, 1" long
6 medium button mushrooms or baby bellas
leftover cooked sliced steak
8 oz. yakisoba noodles
To taste: splashes of Shiaxing wine, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil

Yakisoba with duck and zucchini

Mark Bittman writes “The Minimalist” column for Wednesday’s NY Times Dining section. More often than not the recipes he posts are interesting. We’ve tried a number of them, always with happy results.

This one (which Peter and I adapted in order to use ingredients on hand) is so, so easy. Bittman actually encourages variations on the theme. Our duck breast (see post of 3/4/10) was copious enough to allow for plenty of leftovers to incorporate in our version. Any protein you have should work with this.

The noodles we had were from packages of ramen.

Yakisoba with duck and zucchini
1 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp mirin
Tabasco sauce, a few drops to taste
2 packages ramen noodles, cooked according to package directions; save or discard flavor packets
2 tsp sesame oil
1 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced ginger root
1 small zucchini, cut into matchsticks
2 cups hearts of romaine, roughly chopped
3 oz. duck breast, already cooked and thinly sliced (substitute chicken, beef, shrimp, etc.)
scallions for garnish, green and white parts

Stir together in a small bowl ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mirin and Tabasco.

After cooking the ramen, rinse the noodles under cold water, drain and toss with sesame oil. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. When hot, add the ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.

Add zucchini and romaine and stir; sprinkle with salt. Cook 1-2 minutes until the romaine has wilted slightly. Add noodles, sauce and duck and stir until everything is warmed through.

Serve with chopped scallions for garnish.