Egg Noodles with Pork, Eggplant & Oyster Sauce
Submitted by ChefG
Egg noodles with pork, eggplant, and oyster sauce is a wok stir-fry layering pork strips, potato, carrot, eggplant, and straw mushrooms over noodles in a honey-sweetened oyster sauce glaze.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
1 hrsEgg noodles with pork, eggplant, and oyster sauce is proper wok-at-home cooking. The recipe reads long because everything goes in a specific sequence, but the payoff is a stir-fry with restaurant-level texture and a glossy brown oyster glaze coating every strand.
The salted-ice-water trick for the eggplant and new potatoes is a quietly brilliant step. The cold water firms the eggplant so it doesn’t collapse into mush in the wok, and the splash of soy adds subtle seasoning. Par-boiling carrots and potatoes in the same pot you’ll cook the noodles in saves water and time.
Marinating the pork loin strips in soy and vermouth for 30 minutes gives the meat depth. Cut the strips thin across the grain and they cook in under three minutes.
The sequence in the wok matters. Pork first (sears and builds fond), then the drained vegetables (they finish crisping in the pork fat), then the garlic, ginger, and green onions (the aromatics bloom in the heat). A well in the center holds the sauce while it thickens, which stops the cornstarch from seizing against too many solids.
Straw mushrooms go in last along with the cooked noodles for a final toss. Serve immediately.
Pro Tips
- Save the canned straw mushroom liquid if it isn’t too salty. It makes a better sauce base than plain chicken broth.
- Pork is easiest to slice thin if you freeze it for 20 minutes first. A firmer loin cuts cleaner.
- Have everything prepped and lined up in order before the wok heats. Once you start cooking, there’s no time to stop and chop.
- Use a carbon steel wok if you have one. The quick high heat is what separates a stir-fry from a saute.
Variations
- Swap pork for chicken thighs or firm tofu strips for a different protein.
- Add a tablespoon of hoisin or a splash of Shaoxing wine for deeper Chinese-pantry flavor.
- Use Japanese udon or thick lo mein instead of thin egg noodles for a chewier bite.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the boneless loin ‘chop’ into strips.
Marinate pork 30 mins.
Trim ends off eggplant.
Cut once lengthwise, then cut into ¼ inch half-moon slices.
Soak in ice water salted with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.
Peel the two small potatoes and cut.
Place in a bowl; submerged in the salty ice water.
Scrub carrots; trim ends.
Slice into ovals.
Cut the green onion: dice the white part; cut the green portion into lengths.
Equal parts garlic and ginger: select a large garlic clove.
Cut a comparably sized piece of fresh ginger and peel it.
Finely chop both the ginger and the garlic.
Drain the mushrooms and if the can liquid is not too salty, use it for the sauce, adding broth to it as needed.
Mix sauce ingredients, starting with the reserved liquid from the mushroom, if using.
Set aside. Heat water in a pasta pot to boiling.
Cook the carrot and potato until tender crisp.
Remove with slotted spoon and submerge in the ice water with the eggplant.
Drain these vegetables well. Use the same water to cook the noodles.
Heat oil in the wok and stir fry in sequence: the pork (3 mins); the drain potato, carrot, and eggplant (2 to 3 mins); add the garlic, ginger and green onions (1 min); make a well for the sauce and add the liquid; cook until thickened.
Stir in the straw mushroom pieces and the drained cooked pasta.
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