Ep 8 Spicy Pumpkin Curry Noodles

Sweet potato noodles is a popular Korean staple that is low in kilojoules and sodium. However, it can be quite high in carbohydrate content, so diabetics need to beware. In itself, sweet potato noodles are low in dietary fibre, which will need to be found in the other ingredients. Immediately place cooked noodles into a bowl of cold water to keep it springy and prevent noodles from clumping together. Sweet potato noodles can also be substituted with any noodles of choice. Cook about two servings. It will appear very little, but the other ingredients will bulk the dish up.

Two kaffir lime leaves would give the dish a better flavour than the zest of a lime, but you may have trouble using up the other leaves that come in the packet. However, if you used the zest of a lime, you can easily make some lime juice (just squeeze the lime, add some water and ice, and viola!) to go with the dish.

While you can use any pumpkin for the dish, the Japanese variation is preferred because unlike most others, Japanese pumpkin skins soften after cooking, making it easy to eat (and removes the need to skin the pumpkin before cooking!). Their bright green hue also provides a lovely contrast to the orange-coloured curry.

The best nut butters to use are those that are unsweetened with no added sugar or preservatives. You can also make your own. You can use any unsweetened nut butter, but they do have their own unique taste and texture.

You can use soy milk instead of almond milk, however, almond milk does give the curry a nuttier taste.

Ingredients

50 g sweet potato noodles
400 g tau kwa, cut into 2-cm cubes
1 tbsp oil
1 onion, sliced
1 garlic clove
Zest of 1 lime
1 tsp chilli flakes
100 g mushrooms of choice (e.g.: shimeji, shitake, enoki)
200 g Japanese pumpkin, cut into 2-cm cubes
500 ml water
2 Tbsp unsweetened nut butter of choice (e.g.: almond, peanut, cashew)
4 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
200 g broccoli
300 ml almond milk

Method

1. Cook noodles according to instructions on package. Drain, place in a bowl of cold water and set aside.
2. Heat a medium-sized non-stick frying pan over medium flame. Add a splash of oil and tau kwa. Pan fry until skin is dry
3. Add more oil and onion, frying until onion softens.
4. Decrease flame to low. Add garlic, lime zest and chilli flakes. Fry until fragrant and garlic softens.
5. Add mushrooms, frying until slightly softened.
6. Add pumpkin, water, nut butter, soy sauce and salt. Simmer for approximately 3–5 minutes (or until pumpkin starts to soften). Add broccoli and simmer for a further 3 minutes.
7. Add almond milk. Stir for approximately 10 seconds, making sure not to let the milk split.
8. Pour over noodles and serve with tau kwa.