Bottom of the veggie drawer noodle stirfry

Recently I've made vegetable stirfrys with noodles instead of rice and it turns out to be a good way to use up the stuff in the vegetable drawer before it rots. At the last farmers' market dinner one of the guests said, "you know that vegetable drawer, they call it a crisper, but I usually use mine for a rotter."

You need about 4-5 cups of vegetables, cut into fairly fine pieces, thin rounds or julienned. Last night I used some pak choy from my CSA box, it's like bok choy, so I sliced the stalks and leaves separately; carrots; peeled broccoli stems; garlic; and two scallions thin-sliced and tossed in at the end.

You start by soaking the noodles in some boiling water. Then stirfry the veggies in some oil, add garlic, and then sprinkle on just a tad of sugar and add soy sauce to get everything a little caramelized. Last night I added hoisin sauce, a few drops of sesame oil & fish sauce, and some seasoned rice vinegar. Then drain the noodles and add them.

I've used ramen noodles - and they're not bad, but last night I used rice noodles, the kind you get in pad thai, that are actually intended to be soaked and then stirfried, and they were just right.

Great picture of glowing rice noodles: