Girl Meets Food

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Your vote for favorite blogger dish decides which bloggers compete in the DC American Lamb Pro-Am, so please vote for me here!

As a contestant in this year’s DC American Lamb Pro-Am, I prepared one of my favorite recipes growing up—char siu chow fun.  Char siu means “fork-roasted” in Cantonese, and refers to the barbecued meats you see hanging on hooks in the windows of Chinese restaurants, and chow fun means “stir-fried noodles.”

The Chinese are very literal.

Some of my earliest memories are of eating these special noodles at my father’s restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown.  This sweet, smoky barbecue with the bright red glaze is the best thing since gunpowder, and has become one of the most popular dishes in the world.

It has so much flavor that all you need is pillowy-soft rice noodles to put it over the top.  You could make this with just six ingredients!

I created this recipe using boneless leg of lamb provided by The American Lamb Board and Border Springs Farm.  It’s a very versatile dish.  It’s good any time of year, a guaranteed crowd-pleaser and makes for a quick, easy weekday supper.

Just slap this together and tell your family how you sweated and toiled to make these exotic “Chinese Six-Treasure Noodles” just for them.   (Call it “Two-Treasures” on the days you didn’t go grocery shopping.)

Chinese Roast Lamb with Rice Noodles

Ingredients

Notes: You can find these items at most Asian supermarkets, or in the international food aisle of your favorite grocer.  Fresh rice noodles usually come in a large, folded sheet that you can cut into any width or length you like.  You could also substitute lasagna sheets cut into wide ribbons, fettuccine, or even soft egg noodles.

Prepare the marinade: combine all the marinade ingredients (except lamb) in a small saucepan and cook over low-medium heat until sugar is melted and mixture is slightly thick.  Cool completely. Add red food coloring carefully, as a little goes a long way.  Traditionally, char siu is colored an unnaturally bright red that, like many luxury goods coming out of China, looks suspicious.

Arrange lamb in a glass dish and cover with mixture, turning to coat all sides.  Marinate at least eight hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 325˚F and remove the lamb from the refrigerator.  Keep a 1/4 cup of the marinade.  Arrange lamb on a roasting rack and cook for 50-60 minutes until internal temperature is 135˚F, turning over once and brushing with marinade. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes before cutting into one-inch, bite-sized slices.

Heat oil in a wok or skillet. When the oil is hot, add the scallions. Cook for 10 seconds then add the rice noodles.  Be sure to toss the noodles well to keep from sticking.  Stir-fry until they are soft and translucent, about four minutes.  Stir soy sauce, oyster sauce and water together and pour over the noodles.  Toss well.  Add the bean sprouts and lamb and heat everything through.  Serve hot.  Serves 6 entrée-size portions.

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