Curry Rice Vermicelli

 

I was really drawn to this noodle dish by Hetty McKinnon, but it took me a while to get around to making it. It’s a great vegetarian dish and was not hard to make. I really liked it; the Engineer gave it 5 stars; the Little Prince mostly liked the eggs; the Fox liked the noodles. So there’s something in there for everyone, I guess! The amounts below give 4 servings; you can’t double the recipe as is, because it won’t all fit in a wok, but what I did was double the vegetables and eggs, then cook noodles on the first night and cook some more on the second night while warming up the vegetables and eggs. 

Note that I didn’t get the noodles quite as silky as I should have, in part because I ran out of curry and reduced the oil accordingly, and in part because it was hard to toss all those noodles in the curry sauce properly! I need to work on my technique, but I still really liked this dish. 

8 oz. rice vermicelli 

3 eggs 

1 ½ tsp. kosher salt, divided 

6 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. canola oil, divided 

1 red onion, thinly sliced 

1 clove garlic, finely chopped 

1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips 

1 orange or yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips 

2 Tbsp. curry powder 

3 scallions, thinly sliced, plus more for serving (optional) 

sriracha or sambal olek, for serving (optional; I didn’t use it) 

Cook or soak noodles according to package directions for al dente. Drain. 

Combine eggs, 1 tablespoon water, and ¼ teaspoon salt in a small bowl; whisk well. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large cast-iron skillet or wok over medium-high. Pour in egg mixture and scramble until just set, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Break up eggs with a spoon and remove from pan; set aside. 

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in same pan. Add onion and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and bell peppers; stir-fry until vegetables are softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from pan. 

Heat 3 tablespoons oil in pan. Add curry powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add cooked noodles in 2 batches, along with remaining 2 tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon salt. (Toss first batch of noodles well, coating them thoroughly in curry, before adding second batch.) Let noodles crisp up here and there on bottom of pan for about 3 minutes. Return peppers and eggs to pan and toss. Remove from heat and add scallions. Serve topped with more scallions and hot sauce, if desired.