Egg Hakka Noodles - An Awesome Fried Noodles Recipe

Egg Hakka Noodles is an enormously popular dish for people of all ages and a hands down favorite of all Chinese food aficionados. Distinctly different from the noodles prepared with white sauce, these noodles are fried with the vegetables and/or meat without the white sauces (known in some arts as noodle 'gravy') added on to it. It's a wonderfully delicious dish that's even crossed over to the street food culture, where previously (and it still is), it was one of the most popular items in restaurant menus (and I don't just mean Chinese restaurants).

I have prepared these noodles with just the eggs as they dish out their own flavor and taste to the noodles, though I will soon be providing one with meats as well. The veggies, in this recipe, add a great flavor, and are very traditional for this dish, while the sauces do the needful magic for flavoring the noodles just right. I have used oyster sauce which truly adds an indelible touch, but don't fret if you can't get your hands on it - the noodles are just quite awesome without it as well.

So, here's the recipe for this fantastic dish.

1. Boil the noodles in enough water and when it's 50% done, switch off the flame. Then, drain the water off the noodles using a strainer. Run cold water over the noodles to cool it. Apply a little oil on the noodles to avoid the strands sticking to one another - you don't wan't them bunching up.

2. Cut the cabbage,capsicum and carrots into thin strips.

3. Cut the cauliflower into small florets, and the french beans into half inch pieces.

4. Cut the bulbs of the spring onions into small pieces and the green parts into 1/4 inch pieces. All the veggies are ready now.

5. Steam all the veggies except the spring onions for 5 to 7 minutes. Drain the water and keep aside.

1. Take 2 tbsp oil in a pan, and on a slow to medium flame, scramble the eggs. Don't fry them too much - leave them soft and cooked just enough. Remove from the pan and keep aside.

2. Take 4 tbsp oil in the same pan and fry the spring onion bulbs which we had chopped earlier. When they change their color, add the steamed vegetables to it and stir fry for a minute or two.

3. Add the boiled noodles to it and mix well. Add salt, ajinomoto (this is optional), soya, chilli and oyster sauce to it, and then add vinegar. Stir fry properly.

4. Now, add the scrambled eggs to it and fry it with the noodles.

5. Add the green part of the spring onion to it and stir fry for a minute or two. Switch off the flame.

6. Your awesome Egg Hakka Noodles is ready.

There's a variation where we can prepare these noodles without the eggs.

Veg Hakka Noodles -

For this, follow everything as it is and ignore the part about the eggs.

Then, when we add the sauces (Step 3), add 2 tbsp of soya sauce (instead of the single table spoon we added for our Egg Hakka Noodles, earlier). This gives a darker coloration to our noodles and it just looks so appetizing (check out the image for it below). This is, of course, up to you.

Your Veg Hakka Noodles is ready.

While I love noodles with white sauce, as well as instant noodles, hakka noodles has it's own charm. I've only used eggs in this preparation but you could use chicken and/or prawns - it turns out just as awesome. I've been having this dish since childhood and it's pretty much an integral part of my diet - I just love noodles. You may use schezwan sauce if you prefer your noodles a little hotter. An extra helping of chilli sauce or oyster sauce is also great to add more flavor. Oh, and they're always great to serve when you have guests over - always goes down quite well for me.

So, give it a try, and enjoy.