Chinese Stir Fry (Hakka Noodles)

and thoughts on being mixed race

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

• Inner monologue: Crying in H Mart

• Recipe: Hakka Noodle Stir Fry; and the formula for stir fries

I’ve been listening to the Crying in H Mart audiobook by Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast. She’s mixed race, like me (she is half Korean, I am half Chinese) and… wow. This is the first book I’ve read that perfectly captures my mixed race experience. Is that too much to say?

Zauner writes about being an outsider in the country you grew up in, and an outsider in the country your parents are from. She describes herself as too white to be considered Asian, too Asian to be considered white. This is how I felt growing up. Unlike Zauner, I was lucky to grow up among other mixed race kids, but - to my knowledge - I was the only one in my circle with an immigrant mom, with immigrant grandparents who didn’t speak English. I longed to be just white. At times, this was internalized - I didn’t even realize this is what I wanted. I recognize the privilege of being half white, to be clear, but I do feel that the mixed race experience is unique and it’s rarely written about in depth.

But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve felt increasingly stronger ties to my Chinese heritage, similar to Zauner and her Korean heritage. In the book she wonders what will happen to her Korean identity after her mom dies (her mom unfortunately passed away from cancer in 2014). Will she even be Korean anymore? I feel this deeply. It’s so powerful to read a book and feel seen.

One day while listening to this on my bike ride home, I felt an intense desire to eat Chinese food. I immediately made this stir fry when I got home.

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Food is emotional. It felt so cathartic and grounding eating this noodle dish. I hope you enjoy it, too.

I find Chinese inspired stir fries to be very low effort, once you know what to do. Generally I follow a formula:

1. Protein

2. Veggie

3. Carb

4. Sauce

In this case:

1. Protein: Tofu

2. Veggie: Bok Choy

3. Carb: Hakka noodles

4. Sauce: Heen

Of everything listed above, you may not be familiar with “heen.” This is the classic brown, slightly translucent sauce you may have encountered before. It’s very simple to make. The term “heen” or really 打daa2芡hin3 refers to making a sauce using cornstarch as the thickener so you may encounter variations. My version is a mix of vegetarian oyster sauce, soya sauce, and a bit of sugar. Plus cornstarch, of course.

Btw, I used Hakka noodles (my family is Hakka!) but they’re pretty much the standard chow mein noodle but a bit thicker.

Hakka Noodle Stir Fry

Serves: 2-4
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Tools:

• A wok

Ingredients

Stir Fry

• 1 pack vegan Hakka egg noodles (example)

• 1 pack firm tofu (about 350g)

• Bok choy, as much as you want

• 3 sprigs of green onion

• 1 - 2 tbsp neutral oil

Heen

• 2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce

• 2 tbsp soya sauce

• 1 tsp sugar

• 1 tbsp cornstarch

• 2 tbsp hot water

Method

1. Heat a wok or frying pan over medium high heat.

2. Fill a medium to large pot with water. Add 1 tbsp of oil to the pot, then bring the pot to a boil. (You’ll be blanching the noodles and veggies in the water later, and the oil will make it extra tasty).

3. While the wok is heating up, cube your tofu (or cut it however you prefer). Wash your bok choy.

4. Prepare the heen sauce:

   1. Mix together 2 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce, 2 tbsp soya sauce, 1 tsp sugar.

   2. Prepare the cornstarch slurry: mix together 1 tbsp cornstarch with 2 tbsp hot water.

5. Once the wok is hot, add 1 tbsp of oil. Add the tofu, and stir fry until it’s brown, about 5 minutes.

   1. Once brown, you can add the green onion, but this is optional.

6. Once the water has boiled, dump the bok choy in and blanche for 2 minutes. Then add in the noodles. Blanche for 1 minute.

   1. Note: I am assuming you’re using chow mein noodles, which are meant to be blanched, and then the act of stir frying them finishes the cooking process.

7. Drain the bok choy and noodles and then add to the wok along with the tofu. Immediately add the heen sauce: the vegetarian oyster sauce mix, and the cornstarch slurry. Give everything a good mix. Let it all fry together for about a minute, or more if you’d like. It also depends on the noodles you’re using.

8. That’s it! Feel free to add more sauce or fry for longer. Up to you! Enjoy <3

Hakka Noodle Stir Fry

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• Want to make it even tastier? Add some sesame oil to your heen sauce. Or add more soya sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce.

• Want extra protein? Double the tofu. Or add in some soft tofu as well, which will break down nicely and provide extra protein with a nice texture.

• Don’t like the soya sauce / oyster sauce mix? No problem! You can use your favourite braising sauce (Peanut butter? Gochujang?) and add the cornstarch slurry to thicken.

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• Soya sauce: Feel free to use a bouillon cube if you’d like instead. Or use broth.

• Vegetarian oyster sauce: Can sub for hoisin sauce, or any sweet brown sauce.

• Bok choy: Use whatever veg you like! Broccoli would be a good one.

• Hakka noodles: Use any chow mein noodle you have on hand. Ramen noodles work too. Spaghetti too! Just make sure to cook according to the package but shave off a minute at the end of the cooking process as you will finish off cooking the noodles when you stir fry them.