Weekend Foodie: Spicy noodles for a warming and convenient weekend supper

Sat, 06 Dec, 2025 - 06:25

One of the best convenience foods you can have in your cupboard is a pack of noodles. They come in fine or medium thickness, and they work a treat for a light but filling fast food supper.

I use egg noodles, but if you’re gluten-intolerant you can swap for rice noodles, which are just as handy for knocking out a dinner in no time.

This weekend, I’ve combined egg noodles with a spicy mix of fresh vegetables, which helps add to your five a day intake. I chose peppers, green beans and mushrooms with some baby spinach added at the end. But you could also add beansprouts, pak choi or sprouting broccoli to the mix.

The spice comes from a little dried chilli, fresh garlic and fresh rootginger. I grate my ginger on a cheese grater without peeling first, because the peel doesn’t interfere when it’s grated finely.

For even more convenience, you can also get your hands on tubes of pureed rootginger, which requires no preparation at all.

For pud, I’m getting in the mood for Christmas with a festive feeling in the dessert department. A warm mulled, spicy syrup poured over fresh fruit, brings winter warmth to what is essentially a fruit salad. I chose clementines and pears but apple, pineapple and even tropical mango also work well. Serve this while the syrup is still slightly warm for the best flavours.

SPICY NOODLES

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 bunch of scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1 fat finger of fresh rootginger, grated
Pinch of red chilli flakes to taste
250g flat mushrooms, sliced
2 yellow peppers, seeded and chopped
100g fresh green beans, tailed and halved
8 nests of egg noodles
2 good handfuls fresh baby spinach leaves, rinsed and shaken dry
Good dash soy sauce to taste
Good dash oyster sauce to taste
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Di's recipe works well with egg noodles or rice noodles.

Method

Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan or wok and add scallions, garlic and ginger. Stir fry for a minute over medium heat.
Add chilli flakes, mushrooms, peppers and green beans and stir together. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the veggies are tender.
In the meantime cook noodles in a large pan of boiling water until just tender - about 4 minutes. Stir with a roasting fork to separate the noodles as they cook.
When noodles are ready, drain well and add to veggies.
Add spinach leaves, soy and oyster sauces and stir to combine. Cook till spinach is wilted.
Season with freshly ground back pepper and sea salt if necessary, or an extra shake of soy.
Divide between 4 warmed bowls to serve.

MULLED WINTER FRUIT SALAD

Ingredients (Serves 4)

50g caster sugar
50mls water
Juice and grated zest of a large orange
2 pieces star anise
½ tsp ground ginger
½ cinnamon stick
4 clementines, peeled and segmented
2-3 ripe pears, cored and in wedges

Method

Place the sugar in a pan with water and add orange juice, zest and spices.
Heat gently to dissolve sugar, stirring.
Turn up the heat and bubble for about five minutes, till reduced and slightly thickened. You don’t want this to be browned.
Remove from heat and set aside until the syrup has cooled slightly.
Place prepared clementines and pears in a fruit salad bowl and pour over syrup.
Leave to infuse for about 15 minutes before serving while syrup is still warm.

THE WEEKEND GARGLE

To cope with the spicy heat and sweet caramelisation of the veggies, I’m choosing a white wine all the way from New Zealand to match this main course. Lidl’s Deluxe Pinot Gris, from the Gisborne region on the east side of the North Island, has a refreshing burst of flavours in the glass. You’ll pick up plenty of peachy notes, with some rich and ripe tropical fruit notes too. It’s an ideal match for oriental foods based on veggies or chicken, where its bounce and fruit flavours handle the flavours really well. It also goes great with prawns and seafood too, so its one worth thinking about for the Christmas wine list! And at the great price of €7.49, down from its usual €9.49, you’ll be getting a bargain also. Can’t say fairer than that as the most expensive time of the year approaches!

RECEIPT

Main course

Egg noodles 2 x 250g packs: €2.18

Fresh rootginger 100g: 55c

Garlic x 3 pce net: 99c

Dried red chilli flakes 26g: 75c

Yellow Peppers x 2: €1.98

Flat mushrooms 250g pack: €1.15

Green beans x 200g pack: €1.19

Baby spinach 200g: €1.39

Soy sauce 150mls: 90c

Oyster sauce 200m: €3.50