Fried Rice Noodles - Kwetiaw Goreng

I saw a few packets of fresh rice noodles lying on top of each other, when I visited an Asian grocery store today. Without thinking twice, I directly took 2 packets with me to buy. Fresh rice noodles are very rare here in Germany. There are only a few Asian grocery stores here that offer fresh rice noodles, and they are also not always available. That's why fresh rice noodles nowadays are like gems to me. I used to live in Australia and Indonesia, and in these two countries fresh rice noodles can be found easily and they're absolutely not expensive. In Germany, fresh rice noodles cost really quite some money - say, around 4 Euro for 500 grams. I suppose, it's because these rice noodles need to be imported from Thailand, instead of being produced in a local factory, like in Australia and Indonesia.

There are many types of rice noodles, and at the moment I am talking about the broad, flat and silky rice noodles. These noodles are consumed in most parts of East and South-East Asia, that's why even though they're the same, they also have many names. In Indonesia, they're called Kwetiaw, in Malaysia Kway teow, in Thailand Sen Yai, in China Shahe fen/Hor fun, and so on and so on...

I have always liked rice noodles, but never in the intensity that I have now. I used to prefer egg noodles much more. But since now it's so hard to get fresh rice noodles here, I really get to appreciate their soft, silky and a bit chewy texture much better...

Fresh rice noodles are actually not that hard to make - I have tried to make them twice or thrice. But it's extremely time consuming, because you have to steam the rice noodle layer one by one. Alright, it's maybe also because I have a very small steamer that only can fit a small lunchbox in ;-). With a large steamer, the rice noodles making process wouldn't probably take as long - but I really just prefer to buy the ready made ones... I guess I am too lazy standing around, waiting for each layer of noodles to be fully steamed.

Fresh rice noodles, just like any other noodles, are very versatile. They can be served in any way that you like. I prefer mine either stir fried or boiled slightly then garnished with chicken/pork seasoned with a variety of condiments.

Today I stir-fried my rice noodles with fish balls, shrimp balls and chinese sausage. Other types of meat and seafoods, bean sprouts and vegetables like bok choy would also be a great addition to this wok dish.

Ingredients:

• 500 gr fresh rice noodles
• 2 tbs pork lard/ olive oil
• Chicken/Pork/Seafoods
• 1 tbs minced garlic
  
• Chinese sausage (optional)
• BBQ pork (optional)
• 1 tbs chilli, sliced
• Bean sprouts
• Bok choy
• Green onions, sliced
• 4 tbs oyster sauce
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 2 tbs cooking wine
• 2-3 tbs sweet soy sauce
• Salt and pepper