Easy Pan-Fried Tibetan Momo Noodles Recipe

What's more frustrating (culinarily speaking, of course) than craving a dish from a restaurant that is 3000 miles away? That is exactly my predicament, having moved from Salt Lake City, Utah, to upstate New York.

Salt Lake is home to scores of really great Asian and ethnic restaurants, and after living there for almost 20 years, there were some dishes in certain restaurants that became dining out staples. The Tofu Lemongrass at Shanghai Café, Treasure of Eight at Long Life Vegi House, and the Massaman Curry from Sawadee are all sorely missed.

Above all though, I miss the potato momos from Café Shambala, a wonderful Tibetan restaurant in the avenues area. They are essentially steamed dumplings, packed with soft potato and vegetables. My favorite way of eating them was to take a small bite, and pour in as many spoonfuls of the spicy-sweet thick ginger dressing as the momos were able to hold. Those momos are heaven.

I often try to recreate restaurant dishes I love. One night, craving those momos so intensely nearing dinner time, with no hope of putting together steamed dumplings with ingredients I had on hand, I decided to simply incorporate the main flavors and textures of the dumpling into a dish, to approximate the taste.

Noodles would stand in for the dumpling, sautéed potatoes, onions, garlic would serve to emulate the filling, and tons of ginger to get the taste of that dressing I love. The result? A very unorthodox, yet fabulously delicious noodle dish.

It has become my family's favorite meal. I recently served it for company as well, and it was a huge hit. It's also extremely easy to make, requiring no exotic ingredients, or complicated preparation. It can easily be amended and adapted to suit ingredients you do or do not have on hand, and best of all-it's outrageously inexpensive. Below is the recipe, followed by some notes on preparation and ingredients.

Pan-fried Tibetan Momo Noodles

Ingredients

16 ounce package of noodles
2-4 medium potatoes
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2 in. slice of ginger
Olive oil
Red pepper flakes (optional)
Cilantro (optional)

Directions

Boil noodles according to package directions until al dente. While noodles are boiling, scrub potatoes, make a large slice down the center of each, and place in the microwave for about 6 or 7 minutes, or until tender, turning as necessary to prevent hardening. When noodles are done, drain in colander and allow them to dry off as much as possible. When the potatoes are just soft throughout, cut them into bite size pieces.

Slice the onion into bite size pieces; mince the garlic and about half of the ginger. Sauté the onion and the potatoes with some olive oil, in a large wok or your largest, deepest skillet, until potatoes are slightly brown. Add the minced garlic and ginger, sautéing until garlic softens. Add more olive oil, and the crushed red pepper.

Begin adding the noodles in small to medium batches, incorporating the vegetables evenly throughout as much as possible. Continue until all the noodles are incorporated. Allow the noodles and vegetables to brown a bit, by turning the mixture over a few times, adding more oil as necessary. Grate the rest of the ginger over the skillet, and turn a few times. Serve in pasta dishes, with a few springs of cilantro.

Notes

The beauty of this dish is that you can use any type of noodle. I've used everything from elbow macaroni, soba and udon noodles, to plain old linguini noodles. Every time, the dish has turned out perfectly.

It's also versatile in that its spirit and integrity isn't dependent on any of the ingredients but the noodles and potato-two pantry staples. If you always have these items, you can always make this dish, or a variation on it. It's very good with soy sauce incorporated into the sautéing step. It isn't so Tibetan that way, but who cares-it's delicious. It's also great with Thai-style spices and accouterments, like coconut, peanuts, and lime juice.

Also, any vegetable can be added-carrots and peas are particularly good. What it comes down to-is the unlikely potato and noodle combination is a very delicious, versatile, and easy culinary formula that works!