Cooking for one can be tough. You might just want to chase away your hunger with some cereal, a piece of fruit or a can of soup. At our house, a quick one-person meal for Sarah might be a plate of ten-minute pan-fried noodles; for me, it’s just a batch of dumplings, which we usually stock in our fridge; for Kaitlin, it would probably be microwaving whatever leftovers she can find; and Bill would probably just skip a meal. No matter how much we love to cook, we’ve all had the experience of wandering into the kitchen, poking around, and talking ourselves out of cooking.
But life in Beijing has changed my bad lunch habits. During the week, I’m on my own for lunch and I’ve decided that every lunch hour is a chance to enjoy something really good. Stir-fry is a great way to cook for one person. I take what I have in the fridge, get the right amount of ingredients (typically three to four kinds of vegetables) and whip up a yummy meal for myself. We hope that our recipes inspire you to cook, even if it’s just for yourself.
There are no limits as to what you can do with stir-fries, so use our recipes as guides and be as creative as you want. You can substitute your “likes” for your “don’t likes,” your “haves” for “don’t haves,” and your “can eats” for “can’t eats.” You can also adjust seasoning. I love fish sauce, so I like to add a teaspoon of it with my vegetables. It makes the dish tastier, more complex (in a good way) and definitely more interesting. Some people love spicy food, so add some hot chili pepper, hot sauce or chili oil if that’s what you like.
Another trick to achieve a good stir-fry is to know the cooking time required for each ingredient. For example, carrots require a longer cooking time than celery, so just let the carrots cook for a few minutes first before adding the celery. Once you’ve got that principle down, you can’t go wrong!
So today’s stir fry lunch was a quick cabbage and glass noodle stir fry, something that we were introduced to in a lot of the restaurants here in Beijing. It’s simple, easy, and really delicious. You can find the clear mung bean noodles you’ll need in any Asian grocery store. They come in small individual packages, each with one bundle of noodles in it.
Recipe Instructions
Soak the mung bean noodles for about 10 minutes until soft. Cut the bundle in half, drain and set aside.
Slice the cabbage…
Beat the eggs along with a pinch of salt, a splash of sesame oil, and a splash of Shaoxing wine. Scramble the eggs quickly in a hot wok with a tablespoon of oil.
Eggs cook very fast, so this is usually done in less a minute. Take the eggs out of the wok and set aside.
Heat two more tablespoons of cooking oil in the wok over medium heat. Add the dried red chilis, garlic, and scallion. Cook for a couple minutes until fragrant.
Before the peppers start to turn brown, add the cabbage and turn up the heat to high. Stir and mix everything together.
Add noodles, cooked egg, a little more salt to taste, 1 more tablespoon Shaoxing wine, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, and ½ teaspoon soy sauce.
Stir everything well together and continue to stir-fry for another couple minutes.
Plate and serve your cabbage and glass noodle stir fry!
Cabbage and Glass Noodles
Ingredients
- 1 package mung bean vermicelli
- ½ of a small head of cabbage (cut into ¼-inch strips)
- 2 eggs
- Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil (plus an extra dash)
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine (plus an extra dash)
- Oil
- 3-5 dried red chilis (break them open if you want more heat)
- 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 scallion (sliced)
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon soy sauce
Instructions
- Soak the mung bean vermicelli noodles for about 10 minutes until soft. Cut the bundle in half, drain and set aside. Prep the cabbage.
- Beat the eggs along with a pinch of salt, a splash of sesame oil and a splash of cooking wine. Scramble the eggs quickly in a hot wok with a tablespoon of oil. Eggs cook very fast, so this is usually done in less a minute. Take the eggs out of the wok and set aside.
- Heat two more tablespoons of cooking oil in the wok over medium heat. Add the chili, garlic, and scallion. Cook for a couple minutes until fragrant. Before the peppers start to turn brown, add the cabbage and turn up the heat to high. Stir and mix everything together.
- Add noodles, cooked egg, a little more salt to taste, 1 more tablespoon shaoxing wine, ½ teaspoon sesame oil, ¼ teaspoon white pepper, and ½ teaspoon soy sauce. Stir everything well together and continue to stir-fry for another couple minutes. Plate and serve!
Heavens, this is delicious! Followed the recipe as written, except I added 1/4 tsp. chicken powder to the eggs to add some savory notes. This made for the perfect, quick lunch along with, I confess, a glass of white wine.
Wine with lunch? LOL, so glad you enjoyed it :-)
How many ounces of dry noodles are needed for this recipe?
Hi, Megan, it’s one small individual bundle, about 1.5 oz (45g).
Super easy and delicious! Made it for my kids and they gobbled it up. Thanks for this simple recipe.
What a great way to have kids eating vegetables! :-)
One of the many things I love about your work on this site is how you have taught me about the techniques and ingredients.
It’s January so of course it’s diet month. Every year. For us the points based system is most successful. While I get great ideas from that site, I crave other foods.
I found this recipe looking for glass noodle dishes. I had Napa. Then I realized that bean curd skin was 0 points. Wee! So I rehydrated some of that (an ingredient I discovered because of another recipe on your site), cut it into 2” sections and used in place of the glass noodles. I also used much less oil but kept the sesame oil.
Points dropped! And good! I put roasted salmon on top. So while I didn’t make exactly to recipe, because of what I learned through you all, I was able to make a dish that had the flavors I crave and that fits in the current diet plan.
Thank you.
Wow, what more can you ask for :-)
Thank you for the inspiration. I cooked this tonight. Had a bit leftovers of shimeji mushrooms. Tossed it in. Simple and tasty . Used fish sauce instead but forgot about sesame oil. It was good all the same. :)
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you, Judy, and your wonderful family, for sharing these recipes. My husband and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we have been ordered to “shelter in place” during the Coronavirus crisis. Your recipes and thoughtful commentary are sustaining us. This recipe is awesome because the ingredients have a long shelf life. Wishing you and yours good health and well being through this time of crisis.
Thank you so much for your kind words. We all have to heed the advice of our government agencies and do our very best.
Thank you for such a simple and tasty recipe. I have been making it for years. Since it has become a family favorite I wanted to express my gratitude. Your entire website is a great resource.
Thank you for your kind words!