Shanghai pork noodles

Noodles are such a great quick meal because it is possible to use other ingredients you may have on hand. Here, I used the thin, fresh Shanghai noodles available in all supermarkets. The saucing is very important as this brings the whole dish together.

Serves 4

• 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 small pork fillet, sliced

• 2 tbsp finely chopped dried prawns — from Asian provision stores

• 1 small onion, sliced lengthwise

• 2 tsp crushed garlic

• 2 tsp grated or chopped ginger

• 1 stick celery, chopped

• 1/2 cup bamboo shoots, sliced

• 400g fresh Shanghai noodles

• 1/2 cup spring onions, cut on long diagonal

• 1/2 cup coriander leaves

Sauce

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

• 2 tbsp Chinese rice wine

• 2 tbsp oyster sauce

Remove and discard the tough skins from the soaked mushrooms and slice them thinly. Heat a wok to very hot and add the oil and the pork fillet slices. Leave to sit for a minute for the heat to recover and then start to stir-fry. After a minute, add the dried prawns, onion, garlic and ginger. Continue in this manner until the pork is cooked through. Add the celery, bamboo shoots and noodles and mix all together. Then add the sauce ingredients and toss together until all is hot and steaming. Serve with a scatter of spring onions and coriander leaves.