Chinese New Year Crayfish E-Fu Noodles
This delicious noodle dish is served especially during Chinese New Year, but is perfect all year round.
Connie ClarksonFounder and project manager at The Kitchen Project
- prepare
- cook
- 6 servings
- Moderate
Caption:Chinese New Year Crayfish E-Fu NoodlesPhoto credit:Connie Clarkson
E Fu noodles are also called longevity noodles and are not just an ordinary noodle.They are golden Cantonese egg and wheat flour noodles which are deep fried and dried into round cakes with the diameter of a dinner plate.
When cooked, they are a little bouncy, deliciously chewy, porous and absorbs all the yummy sauces you cook them in really well. The trick is not to cut them short and to keep them nice and long to lean into the notion of the long life they symbolise.
We serve them when we celebrate birthdays, weddings, and of course Chinese New Year. You’ll find dried E Fu Noodles in all Asian food shops and some supermarkets.
While the dish is perfectly luxurious garnished with chucks of cray fish, the noodle only version is a terrific side for a family style meal, a vegetarian option or lunch box left overs.
Ingredients
- For the crayfish:
- 1 crayfish, 1 kg in weight approximately
- 4 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups vegetable oil for frying
- 6 slices fresh ginger (about ⅛-inch/3mm thick)
- 3 spring onions (white and green parts separated and cut into 5cm pieces)
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine – dry sherry is a substitute in emergencies)
- Crayfish sauce:
- ¼ cup chicken stock ( or water if you don’t have any stock handy)
- 2 tsp oyster sauce
- 1½ tsp light soy sauce
- ¼ tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp sesame oil
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
- For the noodles:
- 200 g dried E Fu noodles (also known as Ye Mien, available from most Asian food stores, most packs are 200g )
- 200g fresh shitake mushrooms (or 50g dried shitake mushrooms) If using dried shitake mushrooms, soak in hot water for 20 minutes till soft before slicing
- 50 g yellow garlic chives (or green garlic chives if yellow is not available)
- 4 spring onions with roots trimmed off
- For the noodle sauce:
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce (use Hoisin sauce for a vegetarian version)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Prepare the crayfish:
- Chop the crayfish into chunks with shell on. To do this, split the raw crayfish lengthwise from head to tail using a heavy knife or cleaver. Remove the intestinal vein, then chop the tail into 2 - 3cm wide, bite-sized medallions while leaving the shell on for flavour. Separate the claws and legs at the joints, cracking them slightly to allow the sauce to soak in.
- Mix the cornflour and flour in a shallow bowl, and lightly dredge the lobster pieces covering the exposed meat especially to seal in the juices. Set aside till cooking time.
- Heat 2 cups of oil in a wok or medium pot to about 175°C. Pop in the lobster pieces in a couple of batches and fry for about 15 seconds till shells are bright red, tossing them about to cook evenly.
- Remove lobster pieces to a plate to drain, reserving the crayfish infused cooking oil to use for the noodles.
- In a medium bowl, combine the chicken stock, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and white pepper. Set aside till required.
- Prepare the vegetables:
- Cut off and discard the tough stem from each shiitake mushroom, and slice caps thinly.
- Cut Chinese yellow chives into 2-inch pieces, and set them aside.
- Remove the roots from the spring onions, and cut into 2-inch pieces. Slice the thicker white parts again lengthwise to make them thinner.
- Prepare the noodle sauce:
- In a bowl, mix together oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and dark soy sauce (or regular soy sauce).
- Once the sauce has been mixed, stir in the water and set it aside for later.
- Prepare the noodles:
- Bring a large pot of water, to a boil on high heat.
- Add the dried E Fu to the boiling water, and blanch till the noodles still hold a slightly chewy, al dente texture.This should take 2 – 4 minutes to blanch as they will be braised in the sauce later. Loosen the noodles in the boiling water.
- Once they are blanched and loose, drain the noodles and set them aside.
- Now put it all together:
- Heat 4 tablespoons of the reserved lobster oil in the same noodle pot (now drained of any liquid) till you see a slight shimmer.
- Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms and stir fry them until they are golden brown and fragrant, approx. 2-3 minutes.
- Add the Chinese chives and stir fry for a few seconds.
- Add a bit more oil to the pan and add the blanched and drained E Fu noodles.
- Pour the noodle sauce over the noodles and toss everything together until the noodles are well coated with the sauce. Add the green onions in now as well.
- Keep the noodles moving in the pan to prevent them from sticking, toss everything for a further 2-3 minutes.
- The noodles are ready when all the sauce has been absorbed and the noodles are well coated.
- Transfer the noodles to a large serving dish and set aside while you finish off the crayfish.
- Start with a clean wok over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of reserved lobster oil to the wok, along with the ginger. Let the ginger fry for about 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the spring onions and the crayfish. Stir-fry for 20 seconds, keeping the heat cranked up as high as it’ll go.Pour the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok, and immediately cover it. Let it cook for about 2 minutes. This step infuses or “bakes” the crayfish with the ginger and spring onion flavour.
- Uncover the wok and add the crayfish sauce and toss for another 30 seconds to coat the crayfish properly then turn off the heat. Spoon the crayfish pieces on top of the noodles, serve immediately.
