Chili Toyo-Mansi Noodles

It has been a looooonnnnngggggggg time since I've last had instant noodles! With all the bad reviews (health-wise) for instant noodles and other processed food, I've been trying to avoid them as much as possible.

Good thing that it's so easy to make my own instant noodles-inspired dish at home, so there's really no need to buy the MSG-filled instant noodles packs from the supermarket anymore.

My favorite instant noodles flavors before were Toyo-Mansi (soy sauce with calamansi- a local citrus fruit) and Chili-Mansi. So I combined them together to make my very own:

Chili toyo-mansi noodles topped with ground chicken, chorizo (chinese sausage) and oyster mushrooms. Yummy!

Recipe follows...

Ingredients:
250g egg noodles (I used Vietnamese egg noodles)
100g ground chicken
25g oyster mushroom, chopped into medium-sized pieces
3 pieces chorizo (Chinese sausage), halved vertically and sliced
1 cup Kikkoman soy sauce (you can use other brands, but the Kikkoman brand is the healthier option)
1/4 cup Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoons Lee Kum Kee chili garlic sauce
Juice of 1/2 lemon (yes, I cheated. I used lemon, instead of kalamansi cause that's what I had at home)
1 garlic, minced
1 white onion, minced
Olive oil
Honey / Sugar
Salt and pepper

* You can always add, subtract ingredients depending on how meaty, saucy, spicy, salty, citrus-y you want your dish to be. I don't really measure when I cook, I add ingredients based on my taste preference. :)

Procedure:
1. Cook egg noodles according to package instruction. Drain.

2. Heat olive oil in skillet.

3. Saute onion in olive oil until fragrant, add ground chicken and garlic. Mix occasionally to break lumps of chicken.

4. When the chicken has turned white, add the chorizo. Mix well with the chicken and cook for 1-2 minutes.

5. Add the oyster mushroom. Mix everything again. Oyster mushrooms cook fast so by they should be cooked by the time you mix all the ingredients in the skillet well.

6. Pour the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce and lemon juice to the chicken, chorizo, mushroom mixture. Stir well.

7. When the sauce boils, taste and add honey or sugar, salt and pepper according to preference.

* Again, feel free to adjust (add or subtract) the quantity of the sauces to get the taste that you like.
* Make the sauce a bit more spicy / salty / citrus-y than what you would like as the noodles will absorb the flavor of the sauce- you don't want your dish to be bland.
* Honey or sugar neutralizes any flavor. If you find the sauce too spicy, add honey/sugar. If you find it too salty, add honey/sugar. Well, you get my point. :)

8. Transfer the cooked egg noodles to plates or bowls. Top with the chicken, chorizo, mushroom and sauce mixture. Mix well before eating.

You can eat healthy and yummy at the same time, after all! :)