Paragary's is now a restaurant chain in Northern California, but when I ate there it was just one restaurant near CSUS. This is a recipe inspired by a meal I had in the mid to late 80's when my husband and I lived in Sacramento. The original meal was presented by the server as a way for the restaurant to use up leftover duck back before even foodies didn't necessarily eat duck. I never relied on a recipe to make most foods other than baked goods. I cannot say that I am gifted but I can certainly discern spices and other ingredients in a dish and then either replicate that dish or adapt it to my own use.
As the original of this dish was already leftovers, I knew that it would be good for a variety of leftover meats or even for vegetarian or vegan applications. Since I had the original duck version we have used the basic idea for duck, pork, chicken, turkey. It could also be beef though you couldn't expect the beef to be rare. The recipe is based on the Chinese recipe of Noodles Both Sides Brown which as far as I know is like bouillabaisse--there are as many recipes for that as there are houses in France. So you can start with a standardized recipe for Noodles Both Sides Brown or you can use these guidelines but the results will be good regardless.
No matter what meat you have left over, cut enough for your meal into pieces that can be picked up by chopsticks--approximately 1 inch by 2 inches but cut fairly thinly. Put in a bowl and add 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon mirin or rice wine, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and stir. Leave to marinate for at least an hour.
The fun part is deciding what vegetables you use. We always follow the Paragary's lead by starting with strips of fresh eggplant fried quickly, Chinese cabbage, snow peas, shallots sliced thinly or yellow onions sliced thinly, shiitake mushrooms or other fresh mushrooms, and on and on. Go with what you have in the refrigerator but keep it fresh and crisp. But you can go all American by using celery and onion and broccoli. You get the idea.
Depending on how many people you expect to feed you will need one or two packages of Wel-Pac dried Chow Mein Noodles. Cook according to package directions. Drain and toss with some salad oil to keep it from sticking together.
Seasoning sauce--Mix together 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons mirin, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, some fresh grated ginger, one clove of garlic crushed, and some sriracha or other Asian hot sauce to taste.
At this point you can go read a book until about 15 minutes before you are ready to eat. Put your noodles in one fry pan with a little oil and brown on the bottom over medium heat. At the same time, start heating up/cooking your other ingredients, starting with the meat. When your noodles are browned on one side, flip them to the other using a plate or a pizza pan or something to help you flip the noodle pancake. Then just let that brown while you proceed with the other ingredients. When the meat is warmed through add your onions and cook until they are soft--they don't have to be brown, then add your other vegetables in the order they take to cook. For us that means the mushrooms, then the Chinese cabbage, then the snow peas. Each ingredient takes about 90 seconds. When you have done that, and your noodle pancake is ready on a serving platter--at this point it should simply slide out of the frying pan without flipping--add your seasoning sauce and stir for about another 90 seconds and then pour it over the top. Serve at the table giving everyone some noodles and some other stuff.
If you have any questions about this you can look up a Chinese Noodles Both Sides Brown or add a comment to this entry and I will reply. This is a leftover meal that rivals the first serving.
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