SHOPPING LIST: Cooking Skills: Noodles 1, Chapter 2 (Stir-Fried Noodles)

Dried egg noodles, thin wheat noodles, rice vermicelli, flat rice noodles, vegetable oil, garlic, carrots, white cabbage, spring onions, pak choi, a red pepper, light and dark soy sauce, oyster sauce (optional), toasted sesame oil, sugar, mild curry powder, eggs with the British Lion mark, cooked peeled prawns (optional), firm tofu, fish sauce (optional), limes, tamarind paste (optional) and roasted peanuts. A large frying pan or wok and a long spatula. Check labels for peanuts, shellfish, fish and wheat.

Egg chow mein (2 portions)
[ ] 200 g dried egg noodles
[ ] 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
[ ] 2 garlic cloves, sliced
[ ] 1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
[ ] 150 g white cabbage, shredded
[ ] 3 spring onions, cut into 3 cm lengths
[ ] 2 tbsp light soy sauce
[ ] 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
[ ] 1 tsp sugar
[ ] 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
[ ] 2 tbsp oyster sauce (optional; contains shellfish)

Soy sauce noodles with greens (2 portions)
[ ] 200 g dried thin wheat or egg noodles
[ ] 2 heads of pak choi, leaves separated
[ ] 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
[ ] 1 tbsp vegetable oil
[ ] 2 tbsp soy sauce
[ ] 1 tsp sugar
[ ] 1 tbsp water

Singapore-style vermicelli (2 portions)
[ ] 150 g dried rice vermicelli
[ ] 1 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
[ ] 2 Lion-marked eggs, beaten
[ ] 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
[ ] 3 spring onions, sliced
[ ] 100 g cooked peeled prawns, or firm tofu cut into cubes
[ ] 1 tbsp mild curry powder
[ ] 2 tbsp soy sauce
[ ] 1 tsp sugar
[ ] 2 tbsp water

A pad Thai-style noodle dish (2 portions)
[ ] 200 g dried flat rice noodles (5 mm wide)
[ ] 2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
[ ] 2 Lion-marked eggs, beaten
[ ] 200 g firm tofu, pressed and cubed (or cooked peeled prawns)
[ ] 3 spring onions, sliced
[ ] 2 garlic cloves, sliced
[ ] 2 tbsp lime juice, plus wedges to serve
[ ] 2 tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce for a vegetarian version)
[ ] 2 tbsp soft brown sugar
[ ] 1 tbsp tamarind paste, or an extra tbsp of lime juice
[ ] 2 tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed

For the experiments
[ ] Extra noodles and vegetables for the pan-heat and crowding tests