Kitchen Experiment: Chow Fun Noodles made from Won Ton Wrappers

Jill

I love chow fun, but for some reason, Connecticut doesn't. In New York, it seemed that every Chinese restaurant had chow fun on the menu. Since we moved to Connecticut about a year and a half ago, we haven't been able to find any local places that carry the stuff. I'm definitely a noodle lover, and the big, square-shaped, squishy chow fun noodles are up there among my favorites. It's occured to me several times that I should try to make chow fun at home, but the Asian markets in the area are limited and packaged chow fun noodles are difficult to find.

Packaged won ton wrappers are pretty versitile and I see them more and more in most of the major super-market chains. I've used them to make ravioli, and I've even used them to make dessert. I discovered tonight that won ton wrappers make some pretty decent chow fun noodles, too. If they could write my lab reports, they'd be the best invention ever!

I honestly have no idea what goes into making real chow fun, so this recipe is probably the least authentic thing ever. Real chow fun noodles are made from rice, and the brand of wrappers I used is made from wheat flour. I did a little googling and other chow fun recipes used a bunch of stuff I already had in my pantry and fridge, like soy sauce and oyster sauce. I really didn't do any measuring, so this recipe is very much an approximation.

Vegetable Chow Fun made with Won Ton Wrappers

1 package Won Ton Wrappers (approx 12 oz)

Mixed Vegetables cut into uniform pieces (such as zucchini, carrots, broccoli, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, or any mix of veggies that you have on hand)

Soy Sauce

Oyster Sauce

Rice Vinegar

1 inch piece of ginger, minced, or powdered ginger if that's all you have (but add it at the end instead)

sesame oil

sriracha sauce (optional)

sliced scallions for garnish

Get a large pot of water boiling and add some salt. Cut the wonton wrappers into chow fun noodle sized pieces. I did this by leaving the wrappers in the stacks that they were packaged in and cutting the whole stack at once. Separate the noodles and don't place them on top of each other or they will stick together. This was the most time consuming part of the procedure. Add the separated noodles to the boiling water and cook them until they are no longer white. This should not take more than 5 minutes. Drain the noodles. If the noodles will be sitting around for a while before you add them to your vegetables, you may want to rinse them under cold water for a moment to stop the cooking and to keep them from sticking.

(It was hard to get a nice looking picture of this concoction because many of the veggies I used were the same color as the noodles)

In the meantime, heat some vegetable oil in a skillet large enough to hold the veggies and the noodles. Add the ginger (if not using powdered) and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining vegetables and cook until softened. Splash on some soy sauce (to taste), about a tbsp of oyster sauce, and a few splashes of rice vinegar. Add the cooked noodles and drizzle everything with a little sesame oil and sriracha sauce. Stir gently to combine and taste to adjust seasonings. If the sauce isn't thick enough, you can add some corn starch mixed into some soy sauce, but this shouldn't be necessary (as the noodles are pretty starchy to begin with.) Turn off the heat, and add the sliced scallions before serving.