Overview
Try serving a saucy stir-fry over an Asian-style noodle cake instead of the usual rice. We love a good stir-fry served with rice, but sometimes a change of pace is welcome. A noodle cake, a savory round of tender noodles sautéed in a skillet until the exterior is crisp, is the perfect base for a saucy stir-fry. We’ve enjoyed noodle cakes in restaurants, but never at home. We set out to find the best way to make one. While we were at it, we also aimed to develop a chicken stir-fry with really juicy chicken in a fresh-flavored sauce. Too often, chicken can turn dry and stringy in a stir-fry and no amount of sauce can rescue dry meat. Another Asian classic, also more familiar at the restaurant table than in the average American home kitchen, is hot and sour soup—a spicy, bracing broth filled with pork, tofu, and wisps of egg. But is visiting your local Chinese restaurant the only way to enjoy this soup? We wanted to enjoy this complex-flavored soup at home. But with a host of hard-to-find ingredients and a long simmering time, we had our work cut out for us. We’d need to strategically choose our ingredients and find reasonable substitutions for those that are just too difficult to find at the supermarket. At the same time, we’d need to take a hard look at streamlining the soup’s lengthy preparation. And, we wouldn’t settle for a pale imitation of this heady soup—it would need to stand up to the authentic versions we often crave. Recipes: Stir-Fried Chicken with Bok Choy and Crispy Noodle Cake Hot and Sour Soup Equipment Center: The Little Nonstick Saucepan That Could Science Desk: Mysterious Powers of Cornstarch
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7 - 1Meatloaf Dinner January 06, 2007
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7 - 2Streamlined Chicken Skillet Suppers January 13, 2007
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7 - 3Best Beef Stew January 20, 2007
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7 - 4Sunday Roast Chicken and Stuffing January 27, 2007
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7 - 5Two Ways with Pork February 03, 2007
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7 - 6Faster Family Favorites February 10, 2007
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7 - 7Lighter Family Favorites February 17, 2007
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7 - 8Fish and Chips at Home February 24, 2007
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7 - 9Chicken Kiev March 03, 2007
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7 - 10Meat and Potatoes for Company March 10, 2007
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7 - 11Staying in For Chinese Take-Out March 17, 2007
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7 - 12Not Your Average Stir-Fry March 24, 2007
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7 - 13More Tex-Mex Favorites March 31, 2007
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7 - 14Even More Italian Classics April 07, 2007
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7 - 15Flambé at Home April 14, 2007
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7 - 16Hearty Eggs for Breakfast April 21, 2007
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7 - 17Summer Cooking April 28, 2007
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7 - 18Barbecued Brisket and Corn Fritters May 05, 2007
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7 - 19Beer Can Chicken Dinner May 12, 2007
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7 - 20Rainy Day Barbecue May 19, 2007
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7 - 21Strawberry Cream Cake May 26, 2007
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7 - 22Dark Chocolate Desserts June 02, 2007
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7 - 23Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake June 09, 2007
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7 - 24Easy Apple Desserts June 16, 2007
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7 - 25Favorite Citrus Desserts June 23, 2007
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7 - 26Lighter Cheesecake June 30, 2007