Flora's Prawn Yaki Soba

Prawn Yaki Soba

Enough for 4-6

A Japanese street food cooked over a high heat so the veg char and add fantastic flavour. Always good for lunch or supper, Yakisoba noodles are a specific type of noodle but I tend to use dried soba noodles as these are easier to find in my supermarket.

Sauce:

3 tbsp light soy sauce + 2 tbsp extra for seasoning the noodles

3 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

White pepper

1 tbsp soft brown sugar

 

250g dried soba noodles

 

Toppings:

3 tbsp toasted sesame seeds, black and white

3 tbsp pickled ginger

3 tbsp crispy fried onions (store bought is totally ok)

 

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 onions

6 cavolo nero leaves

2 large peppers, mixed colours

12 spring onions

450g raw king prawns

300g beansprouts

 

  1. Put all the sauce ingredients into a mug or small bowl and whisk together.
  2. Put the noodles on to cook as per the instructions on the packet keeping them a little al dente.
  3. Drain into a colander and run cold water over them to wash off the starch and stop them from overcooking.
  4. Season the noodles with the extra 2 tbsp of soy sauce.
  5. Meanwhile, I prep my topping ingredients:
  6. Dry fry the sesame seeds using the huge frying pan that you plan to use to cook the whole dish.
  7. Finely slice the pickled ginger and put into a bowl
  8. Measure out the crispy onions into another bowl.
  9. When all these are prepared, halve, peel and finely slice the onions.
  10. Heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil in the huge frying pan over a medium
  11. Add the onions and stir once to spread out.
  12. While they are cooking remove the stalks from the cavolo nero leaves and finely chop the stalks.
  13. Add the stalks to the onions and turn up the heat to high.
  14. Cook until the onion is almost soft and a little charred. About 3-4 minutes.
  15. Set aside in a large serving bowl.
  16. Meanwhile, finely slice the peppers. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the onions.
  17. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of coconut oil in the same huge frying pan and keep over a high heat.
  18. Add the sliced peppers and cook until beginning to soften and char. 3-4 minutes.
  19. Put them into the same bowl as the onions.
  20. Meanwhile, peel back any dry skin from the spring onions and then finely slice – please use the green bits too.
  21. Once you’ve taken the peppers out of the pan add the raw prawns and sprinkle with a little sea salt.
  22. Stir fry until just pink then transfer to the bowl.
  23. Now tip the cold noodles into the pan and keep the heat up high and cook for 30 seconds stirring to help them warm up.
  24. Add the spring onions, the bowl of veg and prawns and the sauce.
  25. Stir fry until hot using tongs to stir together.

 

Serve in warm bowls with the toppings on the side and possibly some finely chopped chilli.

Nutritional Benefits 

BEANSPROUTS: are a super food. They are a rich source of vegetable protein and are high in fiber. They also contain vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, folate and are an excellent source of iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium and zinc.

BLACK PEPPER: is high in powerful anti-oxidants that protect our cells from the DNA damage that often leads to disease.  Piperine, the main alkaloid from black pepper has been shown to substantially increase the bioavailability of the nutrients in foods including turmeric.

BLACK SESAME SEEDS: are amongst the most ancient on the planet. These small, oval, flat seeds come from a flowering plant of the Pedaliaceae family. The seed pods burst open when they mature (giving rise to “open sesame” in the Arabian Nights).  Compared with other seeds, black sesame seeds have the highest oil content. The oil is known to stay fresh longer (ie it does not easily turn rancid).

ONIONS:  help ‘clean’ our blood and are very good for our gut microbes because they contain a substance that  gives them energy to help them  thrive and multiply. They have layer upon layer of health benefits (but with greatest concentrations are in the outer layers so do not over peel). A key chemical they contain is called quercetin which amongst many other protective roles promotes the effectiveness of vitamin C in body

PEPPERS: red, yellow and orange peppers contain higher levels of vitamins and phytonutrients (plant chemicals) than green peppers. They are also high in fiber and minerals including iron.  The chemicals that give the peppers their colour are ‘flavenoids’ of which there are many hundreds and which all have properties that help protect our DNA from oxidative damage and therefore ageing. 

SOY SAUCE: (preferably a low-salt variety) contains niacin, which is an important vitamin for heart health because it helps regulate fat levels in the blood stream and promotes the production of the good variety of cholesterol