Rice noodles with stir fried vegetables

Ingredients

1 packet of dry rice noodles (200 gms)
2 onions
3 carrots
1 green capsicum
1 yellow capsicum
4-5 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger
4 spring onions
1-2 fresh red chillies
Handful of coriander springs
Salt to taste
Chilli powder to taste
1 tablespoon of molasses
Oil to cook
Lime halves to serve

I love asian food, and while at uni, i was a regular at many restaurants in Melbourne's Chinatown, that is until I moved in with two Chinese girls and learnt how simple Chinese food was to make at home and as a added bonus was so much healthier. Since then I have significantly expanded my Asian repertoire but cooking without soy and sea food has been hard. But where there is a will, there is always a way, and I am glad to say, while I have not found substitutes for soy sauce, I have managed to cook delicious meals without it with a little bit of creativity. I think the real challenge when cooking without key ingredients is to make the food look and feel the same. Soy sauce gives Asian meals saltiness and colour along with flavour. While I can't do much about the flavour (except make up for it by using other ingredients) I get the saltiness from salt and the colour from adding molasses - which also adds a touch of sweetness to a dish, similar to what kechap manis (sweet soy sauce) does.

I have opted for a vegetarian option here, using vegetables I had in the fridge. If you prefer you can add thinly sliced meat of your choice or add other vegetables like beans, mushroom or baby corn - whatever you have handy or like to eat.

With any stir fry, the key lies in the preparation, finely chop the garlic, ginger and chillies. Cut all the vegetables into thin strips, roughly the same size as this will help them to cook at the same time. Turn on the kettle or bring about 1 litre of water to the boil in a saucepan. Cover the dry rice noodles with
the boiled water and set aside for 3-4 minutes. Once the noodles are rehydrated, drain and rinse them and set aside to be added to the vegetables when ready.

Heat a large wok, add about two tablespoons of oil (I use rice bran oil because of the high smoking
point) followed by the chopped  ginger, garlic and chillies. Stir and add the rest of the vegetables,
cooking on a high heat stirring often. When the vegetables are semi cooked, but still have a bite, add the salt and chilli powder along with the molasses and stir. Add the rice noodles and toss well to
ensure they are well combined. Add the chopped coriander and serve hot with a slice of lime.