Crispy Egg Noodle Pancake with Seafood Recipe

In dishes of Chinese origin, the egg noodles are used instead of rice noodles. For this popular dish, the Vietnamese prefer to use thin Shanghai-style noodles, which are available only in Chinese and Asian markets, but fortunately it does work with other varieties of egg noodle too. Serve with a simple salad or pickled vegetables.

Ingredients : Serves 4

225 g

45 ml

For seafood

15-30 ml

4 cm

30 ml

45 ml

5 ml

1/2 teaspoon

1 sprig

Fresh egg noodles

Vegetable oil, plus extra for brushing

Vegetable oil

Fresh root ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks

Spring onions (scallions), trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces

Carrot, peeled and cut into thin, diagonal slices

Scallops (halved if large)

Baby squid, cut in half lengthways

Tiger shrimps, shelled and deveined

Nuoc mam

Soy sauce

Sugar

Ground black pepper

Fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, for garnishing

Nuoc cham , to serve

Method :

Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Drop in the noodles, untangling them with chopsticks or a fork.
Cook for about 5 minutes, or until tender.
Drain thoroughly and spread the noodles out into a wide, thick pancake on an oiled plate. Leave to dry out a little, so that the pancake holds its shape.
Heat 30 ml oil in a non-stick, heavy pan. Carefully slide the noodle pancake off the plate into the pan and cook over a medium heat until it is crisp and golden underneath.
Add a little extra oil to the pan, flip the noodle pancake over and crisp the other side too.
While the noodle pancake is cooking, heat a wok or heavy pan and add the oil. Stir in the ginger and spring onions, and cook until they become fragrant. Add the carrot slices, tossing them in the wok, for 1-2 minutes.
Add the scallops, squid and shrimps, moving them around the wok, so that they sear while cooking.
Stir in the nuoc mam, soy sauce and sugar. Season well with black pepper.
Transfer the crispy noodle pancake to a serving dish and tip the seafood on top.
Garnish with coriander and serve immediately.
To eat, break off pieces of the seafood-covered noodle pancake and drizzle with nuoc cham.

Cleaning squid

You can usually ask your fishmonger to prepare the squid, but to prepare squid yourself, get a firm hold of the head and pull it from the body. Reach down inside the body sac and pull out the transparent back bone, as well as any stringy parts. Rinse the body sac inside and out and pat dry. Cut the tentacles off above the eyes and add to the pile of squid you're going to cook. Discard everything else.