Chicken and Soba Noodle Stir Fry

For Asian food cuisine purists, what I did here is probably a major faux pas: mixing a Chinese-style stir-fry sauce with Japanese noodles. But whatever; it turned out good. You can find soba noodles in the Asian section of your supermarket. If you can only find them pre-packaged with flavoring, do what I did and throw out the packets.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup soba noodles

1/2 boneless chicken breast, cut into small pieces

5 medium carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

handful of green beans, ends trimmed and cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon garlic and black bean sauce

2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup water

1/2 small shallot, finely diced

finely chopped or grated ginger, to taste

2 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided

you'll also need:

small to medium non-stick wok

pot of salted water

pasta strainer

1. put salted water to boil and prepare noodles according to package directions (boil for about 2 minutes). Drain them and set them aside.

2. combine the black bean sauce, soy sauce and water in a small bowl. Set aside.

3. put one teaspoon of the oil and the garlic in the wok, over medium heat, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the chicken and stir-fry until cooked through. Take out of the wok and set aside.

4. put in the second teaspoon of oil and the shallot, carrots and green beans. Stir fry until just tender: no need to go overboard, since no one much likes vegetable mush.

5. put the chicken back in the wok with the sauce, and add the noodles. Cook until everything is warm, then serve.

This stir-fry is similar to one I did before, so I guess we can't say I made it up.