Oh, you’ve seen rice noodles in the grocery… But they’re dried and you’re wondering if they can be substituted. I’ll give you a qualified yes.
Yes, boil dried rice noodles, drain, refresh in cold water, drain and use in a stir fry. Of course, that will work. But the truth is that dried rice noodles lose much of the springiness and chewiness of fresh noodles. So, I’d say, okay, go ahead and use dried but manage your expectations.
However, if you want to hunt for fresh rice noodles, here’s a tip: you won’t find them in the frozen section of the grocery. They’re just on the shelf in the Asian noodle aisle. They often come in packs of five or six. Sometimes, they come with packets of sauce. They vary in size and shape — flat, cylindrical, thin, wide…
About the clams… Yes, there was a time when we frequented a grocery where fully shucked clams were sold frozen. They really just needed reheating because they were fully cooked.
While the amount of each seasoning used in the recipe is specified below, feel free to make adjustments. There are three flavors. Soy sauce and oyster sauce are both salty with deep umami taste. Hoisin sauce is sweet. Chili oil is hot. Use more, or less, of each seasoning depending on your preferred flavor balance.
Fresh rice noodles and clams stir fry
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons cooking oil
- ¼ cup sliced scallions
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ to 1 cup shucked clams
- salt
- pepper
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 heaping teaspoon hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- fresh wide rice noodles for two blanched and drained
- 1 tablespoon chili oil
- 1 drizzle sesame seed oil
Instructions
- Heat the cooking oil in a wok or frying fan.
- Saute (medium heat, of course) the scallions and garlic until fragrant.
- Turn up the heat and add the shucked clams.
- Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
- Stir fry just until heated through.
- Pour in the soy sauce, hoisin sauce and oyster sauce. Toss.
- Add the noodles.
- Stir fry just until the noodles are heated through.
- Off the heat, drizzle in the chili oil and sesame seed oil, and toss a few more times.
- Garnish with more sliced scallions before serving the clams and noodles stir fry.
