Soy Sauce Noodles

Choosing your life. That's the secret to happiness. At the end of the day, your life is exactly the way you chose or accepted it.

Yes, of course, you are born into certain circumstances and you can't do much about it or change it when you're a kid. But when you're a grown ass woman or a grown ass man, you CAN change SO MUCH! It takes a lot of self-reflecting to realize how much your life depends on your own choices and actions. You maybe don't realize this but, every time you just accept something even though you hate it, can't stand it, can't live with it, don't like it... it's your own fault that you're suffering because of it. YOU allowed it. You might think: ''But there's no other way '' or ''I have no other choice'', ''I have to be kind, polite..'' or '' Then they will be mad at me or resent me''.

First of all, there's ALWAYS another way, you might just have to adjust or change your way of thinking, see things from a different perspective. The truth is, you can't see things from a different perspective if you don't work on yourself and if you don't have evolved people around you. I love it when I ask someone for advice and that person explains to me my situation from their point of view, which is at the same time a totally different perspective.

Second of all, why do you care what ANYONE thinks of you? Why does that matter? Why are other's people opinions more important than your feelings, your happiness, your mental health? Can you change how other people think about you, how they perceive you? Can you change the whole world? Can you influence other people in this way? You can't. They aren't like you, so they probably don't even appreciate the same personal characteristics or they lack emotional intelligence, so why would you want to waste even a minute of your precious life for such useless action as not choosing something that's good for you, because you're afraid what people will think of you?

The thing is, these decisions are DIFFICULT and a lot of these decisions take years to make them. But the great thing is that it doesn't matter when you make them, as long as you make them one day. And I think that because it's hard to make such decisions people think they are just a slave to their destiny. That's there's nothing they can do to change their life.

Another action that is so essential for happiness is being grateful. Being grateful for everything you DO have. I'm so grateful for everything I have and because of that, every little positive thing that happens to me is such a big bonus. If I would think about all the things I don't have, I would go insane. So why would I do that?

The last thing, I REALLY stopped comparing myself to other people. I am me, I am on my own journey, I see things differently, there's no one else like me, I am the only person with my feelings, my memories, my life events, my pain, my disappointments, mistakes, failures, frustrations, my goals, my wishes, and needs. The only person I compare myself with is my past self. I've come a long way.

Yes, this has absolutely nothing to do with Soy Sauce Noodles. I'm always writing about the things that are important to me. Why on earth would I want to be so boring and write five or more paragraphs about these noodles? I loved them, it's one of my favorite recipes and I can tell you that I ate more than one bowl of it, but that's it. What more can I write about it? At the end of the day, you have to try them yourself, my opinion doesn't really matter when it comes to your taste.

C’est la vie!

Recipe from: Love and olive oil

The Recipe

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine*

2 teaspoons dark soy sauce or tamari

2 teaspoons sesame oil

2 teaspoons dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon sriracha

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

3 ounces (2 ‘bundles’) thin Hong Kong-style egg noodles

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 green onions, sliced into matchsticks, white/light green and darker green parts separated

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced into matchsticks or ribbons

3 ounces bean sprouts**

Directions:

In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, sugar, and sriracha. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse under cool water.

In a large skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil over medium-high until it shimmers. Add noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes, without stirring, until bottoms are slightly browned. Flip over as best you can and let cook for another 2 minutes. (Even though the noodles will not get entirely crispy, this step helps dry them out so they do not stick and absorb all the flavorful sauce.) Slide noodles onto a plate and set aside temporarily.

Return skillet to medium-high heat with remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Add garlic along with white and light green parts of green onion and quickly sautée until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Return noodles to skillet along with soy sauce mixture. Toss well with a pair of tongs or chopsticks, breaking up clumps of noodles as you go, until noodles are entirely coated, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add dark green parts of green onion, carrot ribbons, and bean sprouts and cook for 1 minute more or until  just softened.

Remove from heat and divide among bowls; serve immediately.

*Shaoxing (also spelled Shao Hsing) is a Chinese rice-fermented cooking wine, easily available at grocery stores with robust Asian foods sections or at Asian food stores. You can also substitute a dry (not cooking) sherry if needed.

**Beansprouts are often available at stores with good product sections or Asian markets. Note that they do go bad very quickly, so it is recommended to use them up within a day or two of purchase.