Growing up we always had and to this day, have a form of long noodles and chicken on our birthdays, to signify a long life and good luck. Longevity noodles are made in a variety of ways, but my favorite is with a slightly spicier sauce (made with chili crunch – this can be added to each individual plate if you have kids or are not a fan of spicy foods) and shrimp! These noodles are long, slightly chewy, and delicious. The dark sauce has a depth of flavors and perfectly compliments the noodle & shrimp dish.
Longevity noodles are served during special celebrations, especially for birthdays and Chinese New Year! It’s important to note that you never want to cut your longevity noodles! The longer the noodles, the better, as that represents a long life. When cooking the noodles in water, I usually only boil them for 2 minutes. I find that if you cook them longer, you run the risk of having mushy noodles that start to break apart when mixed together with the sauce – the noodles finish cooking in the pan. Not only does this cause the texture and taste of the dish to be off, but you want to retain the length of the noodles as best as possible!
These are the exact ingredients and brands I use! I will link them below in case you can’t find them at your grocery store or local Asian market. Of course you don’t have to use the brands I do, use what you like and trust best!
Ingredients (clock wise):
- Soy Sauce
- Chili Crunch
- Oyster Sauce
- Sesame Oil
- Shrimp
- Dark Soy Sauce
- Honey
- Crushed Red Pepper
- White Pepper
- Shiitake Mushrooms
- Green Onions
- Longevity Noodles – also called “Yi Mein” or “Fried Noodles” can be found in your local Asian market – I could not find a good link for these
Longevity Noodles
Ingredients
- 7 ounces fried noodles / longevity noodles – see above for package
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 5 green onions, cut in 1 inch pieces with white & green parts separated
- 6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 tbsp oil, divided into 2 tbsp
- Chili crunch
Instructions
- In a bowl mix together the sauce: soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, honey sesame oil, white pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes; set aside until ready to use
- In a wok or hot skillet add 2 tbsp of oil. Place shrimp in the pan and cook for one minute on each side, remove from the skillet onto a plate or bowl
- In a large pot of boiling water, add noodles and cook for 2 minutes and drain. Run noodles under cold water, swish them around and drain again
- Pour in the remaining 2 tbsp of oil into the pan. Once the oil is hot, add in shiitake mushrooms and white parts of the green onion. Cook for about 1 minute while stirring. Place the green parts of the green onions into the pan, shrimp, noodles and sauce. Toss it all together in the pan and cook for another 30 seconds until sauce is fully coating everything. Place noodles on a serving dish and top with chili crunch
What did you think?