Simple Stir Fried Pasta with leftover 'Tom Yum' Paste

Everyone knows how to make stir fried pasta but why am I taking so much of the time to post this simple stir fried pasta recipe on my blog. Guess what, the taste was amazing and unlike other pasta or fried rice recipes I have got in my blog, this particular dish doesn't require lots of vegetables as they will ruin the flavor of 'Tom Yum' paste. So, I kept the recipe simple by only incorporating small sized cabbage not the big one. If you use the big cabbage, it will have the tendency to ooze lots of liquid and turn the dish rather soggy. You could also use finely shredded Brussels sprout and that would be perfect for this dish. I had also reduce the amount of pasta but increased the quantity of the bean sprouts twice to cut down the intake of carbohydrate and alleviate fiber intake. The bean sprouts were grown naturally at home as sometimes I'm worried of buying those from the grocery store for some hygienic reason. Don't skip any of the ingredients used and please never try to use capsicum as it dissipates the smell of lemongrass used in the Tom Yum paste. Small dried salted anchovies would be available in Chinese grocery store and it had elevated the pasta's flavor immensely or you could also substitute it with fresh seafood such as prawn or squid. Try this recipe at home and impress your loved ones with your cooking skill.

Stir Fried Pasta with Tom Yum paste

Ingredients:

Organic spiral pasta : 3/4 cup

Shredded cabbage : 1 handful

Fresh bean sprouts:  3 handfuls

Small dried salted anchovies : 2 tbsp

Medium sized ripe tomato : 1

Chilli powder : 1 tsp (adjust to your spice level)

Tom Yum paste : 1 1/2 tbsp

Olive oil : 1 tbsp 

Small shallots : 6

Garlic : 4 cloves

Salt : as needed

'Tom Yum' Paste recipe here

You could always double the quantity of ingredients and the blended paste keep well in the freezer for few weeks.

Method :

1. Finely shred the cabbage and soak in salted hot water for 5 min and discard the water. Rinse off the bean sprouts and soak the tiny anchovies in hot water for 10 minutes and rinse them under cold water twice. Keep everything aside separately.

2. In a deep bottom pan, enough water is added along with salt and 1 tsp of oil. Bring the water to boil and start adding the dry spiral pasta. Cook for 3 minutes or till it is al dente or cooked to be firm to the bite. Drain off the excess water using a colander and rinse the pasta with running cold water. 

3. In a pan, pour a tbsp of olive oil and when it's hot, start frying the anchovies till crispy. After that, add finely sliced shallots and garlic. Fry them till translucent and caramelized. Now time to add diced tomato and Tom Yum paste. Fry till raw smell of chilli disappears and diced tomato turns mushy.

4. Next, add shredded cabbage, chilli powder, salt and cook till cabbage ooze out water slightly but without softening the cabbage much. Lastly, chuck in 3 big handful of bean sprouts and pasta. Give a quick toss for 5 minutes because the longer you cook a lot of liquid will ooze out of the sprouts and lose the crunchiness. The pasta shouldn't be soggy so cook till liquid is absorbed into the pasta.

5. Serve hot. 

-Abby