Asian noodles with grilled beef

The night before:

Put a piece of London broil in a 1-gallon zip lock bag with the following:

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine
1/3 cup mirin
juice from a large slice of lemon
a couple of shakes of sesame oil
several slices of ginger (Grate the ginger if you aren't feeling lazy, but I rarely do.)

You can make as much as you want of this (more for a bigger slice of meat, just keep the ratios the same on the first three ingredients.)

Close the bag and put in the fridge over night.

The next day: Come home from work, kick off shoes and promise your self that you and kids will sort out the pile of back packs, lunch boxes and 14 drawings made "just for you, Mommy" that are now blocking the entrance to the front door. For now, step over the pile, decide that today (just this once, ha hah) it is OK for the kids to watch videos before dinner. Head into the kitchen and fling open the fridge with a blank stare and a prayer. Spot the marinating meat in back. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Turn the grill on to heat up.

For the noodles:

Veggies
Any veggies cut in thin strips will do. Cabbage is really good if you have it. Here is one combination:
1 red pepper
1 onion
2 carrots
1/2 a cabbage

Chop everything into long thin strips.

Seasoning
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons grated ginger
2 Serrano peppers, minced
soy sauce
sesame oil
canola oil

(Optional, cilantro or Thai basil for garnish at the end.)

Noodles
You can make this with any kind of Asian noodles. For stir-fries, I love sweet-potato starch noodles. In the Albany area, you can but them at Kim's. If you are confused, ask Mrs. Kim what noodles to use for Chap Chae. When I first started making this, I used the clear mung-bean noodles, often called cellophane noodles, because I was used to them from my time in Japan. But these tend to break easily when stir-fried. The thicker and chewier sweet-potato starch noodles (like mung-bean noodles they are translucent when dry and clear when cooked) are much better for this dish.

Put a big pan of water to boil for the noodles.

Put meat on the grill.

Pour a thick coat of canola oil into a deep frying pan. When it is hot, add the garlic, ginger and Serrano peppers. Let release and cook a bit, but not brown.

Add the onion. Let it sweat. Then add the carrots. When they've cooked enough to have absorbed some of the oil, add the cabbage and other veggies. Cook everything down tossing often to coat with the oil and seasonings. When it has all sweat a bit, add soy sauce -- several dashes to taste. You want it a bit strong, as the flavors will be spread out over the noodles.

Flip the meat after it has seared on the first side.

When the water boils add salt and then the noodles. The package I buy has three big bundles of noodles. I use two for my family of six. Boil for about 5 minutes, stir often and separate the noodles with a fork. When the noodles are tender all the way through, strain and put them in a big serving bowl. Put in a few dashes of vegetable oil and toss to coat the noodles. Then add a few dashes of soy sauce and a small dash of sesame oil.

Take the meat off the grill.

Add the veggies to the noodles and toss well. If it isn't enough seasoning, slowly add more soy sauce to taste, but go slow and toss, so you don't over do it. Sprinkle with finely chopped cilantro or Thai basil if you have it.

Slice the meat into thin pieces and serve with the noodles. Calculate the hours to bedtime. Remind yourself to enjoy the time you have with your family. Catch yourself calculating the hours till bedtime again. Take a deep breath. Enjoy.