It was dry today. Yesterday was a mix of monsoon type rain, with snow. Dry days in the winter allow us a snippet of daylight hours to get things done! Living on our farm makes us so appreciative of breaks in the weather and a toasty fire in the woodstove. Stretching the day to the limits means that dinner only gets about 45 minutes from the inkling of an idea to eating. Here is today’s offering. It happens to be Bill’s 65th birthday today. As we had friends over on Sunday for a meal with a long, extremely fun visit and will be doing a January Birthday Boys’ dinner next week, having a simple meal tonight suited him just fine. I hope.
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Serves 4
Ingredients
2 T canola oil
1 onion, cut in half lengthwise and then into narrow slices
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, minced
½# mushrooms, stems trimmed, sliced
1 soupspoon full of oyster sauce
1 heaping teaspoon of sambal oelek
¼ c hoisin sauce
1 c water
4 packages of 200 gr udon noodles
4 big stalks of gai lan – cross cut diagonally, washed & dried – used a salad spinner
2 c uncooked shrimp, tail on is okay.
1 t sesame oil
Toasted sesame seeds to finish
Directions
In a large skillet or wok, heat the oil over medium high heat.
Add in the onion slices, garlic & ginger
Sauté until fragrant and translucent, about 3 – 4 minutes
Reduce heat to medium.
Add in the mushrooms heat until just starting to turn brown
Add in the oyster sauce, sambal oelek, hoisin sauce and water
Cook until simmering.
Add in the gai lan and udon noodles.
Cook until the noodles have separated and are heated through. The gai lan will be tender by this point.
Add in the shrimp and sesame oil.
Continue cooking until the shrimp are pink but not split and curling up the back. They are overcooked when this starts to happen.
Remove to a platter, sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving.
If you have pretty bowls or plates to serve this, it will make the meal even more special. 
farmhouse cook 