WOK UNDERDOG BOWL – Crispy Sausage and Creamy Mushroom Noodles with Kale, Chillies and Spring Onion…

A warming bowl of crispy sausage, creamy mushroom noodles, kale and chilli — with a little fusion thrown into the wok.

Sometimes the best home-cooked dishes don’t begin with a strict recipe. They begin with an ingredient, an idea and the question: what can I do differently with this?

This WOK UNDERDOG BOWL started with the humble sausage.

Sausages are incredibly versatile. I’ve used them in balti curries, experimented with marinades including teriyaki and BBQ sauce, and served them with noodles and vegetables. This time I wanted something richer and creamier while still retaining plenty of texture – a kind of Japanese style RAMEN.

The result was Crispy Sausage and Creamy Mushroom Noodles with Kale, Chillies and Spring Onion (boiled egg optional).

And there’s definitely a little fusion going on here.

Why the dish works

At its heart, this is comfort food.

Sausage and creamy mushroom sauce are familiar flavours that wouldn’t look out of place in a traditional British supper. But swapping potatoes for noodles immediately sends the dish in another direction – the Asian connection.

Then come the kale, fresh chillies and spring onions, which bring colour, freshness and heat to what could otherwise become quite a heavy bowl.

The real twist is the sausage.

Rather than simply frying the sausages and stirring them into the sauce, I coated them in flour and beaten egg before frying. This creates a golden exterior and gives another texture against the soft noodles and creamy mushroom sauce.

The important thing is not to drown that crispy coating.

Put the creamy mushroom noodles into the bowl first and arrange the crispy sausage over the top. That way you get some pieces soaking up the sauce while others retain their crust.

The fusion influence

I wouldn’t describe this as belonging to one particular cuisine. That’s part of its appeal.

There’s a British comfort-food foundation in the sausage and creamy mushroom flavours.

The noodles, chilli and spring onion introduce an East Asian-inspired feel, particularly when everything is served together in a large noodle bowl.

And the idea of putting crisp-coated meat over noodles or sauce gives a slight nod towards the contrast found in dishes such as Japanese katsu — although this isn’t intended to be a traditional katsu dish.

So rather than trying to reproduce a classic recipe, this bowl borrows ideas from different places and brings them together using inexpensive everyday ingredients.

That’s what my WOK UNDERDOG cooking is about.

Ingredients

Serves 2

• 4–6 sausages
• 1 egg
• Plain flour, for coating
• Noodles of your choice
• Mushrooms, chopped or sliced
• 2 handfuls of kale
• 2–3 fresh chillies, sliced — adjust to taste
• 2–3 spring onions, finely sliced
• Cream of mushroom or chicken-and-mushroom sauce/soup
• Cooking oil
• Black pepper

Method

1. Crisp the sausages

Lightly coat the sausages in flour, dip them into beaten egg and give them another light dusting of flour if required.

Heat a little oil in a wok or frying pan and cook the sausages thoroughly until beautifully browned and crisp on the outside. Remove and allow them to rest.

2. Cook the vegetables

Add the mushrooms to the wok and fry until they begin to colour.

Add the kale and some of the sliced chilli and cook briefly. You want the kale softened but still retaining some texture.

3. Make it creamy

Add the cream of mushroom or chicken-and-mushroom sauce and gently heat it through with the vegetables.

Season with black pepper. Be cautious with additional salt because the sausages and prepared sauce may already contain plenty.

4. Add the noodles

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions, drain and toss them through the creamy mushroom, kale and chilli mixture.

Let the noodles become properly coated in the sauce.

5. Build the bowl

Slice the crispy sausages and arrange them over the creamy noodles rather than completely stirring them into the sauce.

Finish generously with fresh spring onion and a few slices of chilli.

Serve immediately.

Why spring onion matters

This might look like a garnish, but it has a job to do.

You’ve got rich sausage, creamy sauce and earthy mushroom underneath. Fresh spring onion introduces a clean, slightly sharp flavour at the very end and helps stop the bowl becoming too rich.

The chilli does something similar. As well as providing heat, it cuts through the creaminess and gives the dish that warming quality that makes it particularly suited to autumn and winter.

The WOK UNDERDOG verdict

This is exactly the sort of dish I enjoy experimenting with: simple ingredients treated slightly differently.

A packet of sausages doesn’t have to mean sausage and mash.

A packet of noodles doesn’t have to mean a stir-fry.

And a tin or carton of mushroom soup doesn’t necessarily have to become soup.

Put the three together, introduce some crispy texture, vegetables, chilli and freshness, and you’ve got something completely different.

For SnookerZone, it also fits naturally into the return of Winter Warmers for Snooker — or perhaps this year we should start a little earlier with Autumn Warmers for Snooker.

It’s inexpensive, substantial and warming: exactly the sort of bowl to come home to after an evening around the green baize.

Simple. Tasty. Affordable.

One ingredient. Endless possibilities.