Chinese restaurants love selling this. In Chinese, the name 桂花 means osmanthus and if directly translated, this would be Osmanthus Fried Noodles. But we know there is no osmanthus here. It is just a name to glorify what we normally called scambled eggs in noodles. It is supposedly called osmanthus because the eggs are fried in a way that bear resemblance to the osmanthus flower. But seriously, the only thing I find similar is the yellowish colour of the eggs.

As I have mentioned, this is just scrambled eggs. However, Chinese restaurants have found ways to elevate this scrambled eggs, and thus, the plush name " 桂花 (Osmanthus)". Chinese restaurants use shredded crab meat, mushrooms and sometimes sharkfin in their osmanthus fried noodles. These items could be easily replaceable with char siu (barbequed pork) and glass noodles.

The recipe that I am introducing today is a la Chinese restaurant, minus the msg and sharkfin. I specifically asked my husband for this recipe and I have to praise him for sharing the information so willingly. Although I did not use any sharkfins, I intended to use crab meat in this recipe. I wanted to copy that restaurant style and taste as closely as possible. I made the mistake of buying frozen crab meat. It was so bland, with no crab taste whatsoever. And it costed me a bomb too! So if you really wanted crab, get the real deal. Otherwise, just use imitation crab sticks.

As for the noodles, you could either use wonton noodles or yee min (伊面). I used wonton noodle. Wonton noodle is more cumbersome to cook but it is my personal favourite. For wonton noodle, you need to fry it first then boil briefly in hot water, whereas, for yee min, you just have to boil a bit in hot water until soft. As I did not use any msg or flavour enhancer, I replaced with 1 tsp of chicken stock concentrate instead. You could omit this as well and just add a little more salt and sugar.

Restaurant-Style "Kuai Fa" Fried Noodles/Osmanthus Fried Noodles 桂花炒面

Ingredients

2 wonton noodle
60 g crab meat, shredded
3 shiitake mushroom. soaked until soft and shredded
30 g carrot, shredded
15 g scallion (abt. 2 small stalk), shredded
2 pieces lettuce, shredded
150 g beansprout
3 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil and oil for frying wonton noodle

3 cloves garlic, chopped

Seasoning

1 tsp salt
1 tsp chicken stock concentrate
2 tsp sugar
a dash of pepper

You will also need:
A large bowl to shape the noodle before plating


Cooking Instruction

1. Prepare all vegetables and mushroom according to instruction.

2. Break eggs and add all the shredded vegetables, crab meat and seasoning into the egg mixture. Stir to combine.

3. Heat oil in wok, fluff up the wonton noodle and put into oil. Fry until the noodle gets cooked. Quickly remove and strain. Do not burn the noodles. In another pot, boil some water and add wonton noodle into water. Cook for a while until the noodle is soft. Remove and strain. Mix wonton noodle into egg mixture  The noodle should be still warm when added.

4. Remove oil from the wok, leave about 1/4 cup. Add in garlic and fry until fragrant. Add the eggs and noodle mixture and leave it on for a while. Reduce heat so as not to overcook the eggs. We need the eggs to be still soggy on top. Once the bottom becomes golden brown (top still soggy), flip to the other side. Quickly add in beansprout and drizzle shaoxing wine around the side of the wok, letting the wine drizzle down to the noodle. Stir eggs until they are scrambled. The egg should be still sticky (not cooked completely) when you do this so that it sticks to the noodle.

5. Remove and put noodle into a bowl, press a little to form a nice round shape. Garnish with shredded lettuce on top.


Notes:
1. I over-stirred my noodle a little. The egg pieces that formed is smaller in size than supposed to be.
2. Yee min is a little salty by nature. Have to put lesser salt.