Lee - The Noodle Cookbook: 101 healthy and delicious noodle recipes for happy eating

1. 01
   Mr Lees Asian Favourites
2. 02
   Chinese
3. 03
   Japanese
4. 04
   Thai
5. 05
   Korean
6. 06
   Vietnamese

Founder and CEO of Mr Lees Noodles Damien Lee is an entrepreneur and single father of two boys. He was born in Melbourne, Australia and moved to the the UK in 1993. When diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, he knew he had to start eating better but still craved his favourite snack-instant noodles. So, Damien launched Mr Lees Noodles (@mrleespurefoods), bringing healthy and sustainable pot noodles without the nasties to the public. Damien runs Mr Lees Noodles from Bournemouth, after moving there from London in 2013.

When I was originally approached with the idea of putting together a cookbook, I knew that there would be far too many recipes that I love and too many regions that they originate from to all be included in a single book, so I decided to begin with my first passion, noodles, because that is what I also focused the company on.

For those who dont know my backstory, I began Mr Lees Pure Foods Co., AKA Mr Lees Noodles, due to a combination of necessity and frustration. I had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was given very little advice for how to deal with it beyond the usual chemical and medicinal avenues that doctors make you travel. When it came to diet, I was given a long list of donts and unfortunately it included one of my favourite food groups, noodles.

Being of Singaporean and Australian heritage, Id been raised on noodles my entire life, but when I started to dig into the ingredients of most modern noodle recipes, I found that I would have to either stop eating the noodle dishes that I love to have a stronger chance at survival, or Id have to develop a no nasties approach to the traditional dishes themselves.

Im now a big believer of you are what you eat, so I decided to take a stand and as a result, Mr Lees ethos of no nasties healthier choices for time-poor people was born. An ethos that would allow me to enjoy the dishes that I love without the junk ingredients that we have all started to believe are necessary for all of those wonderful flavours. I initially fought the cancer that should have claimed me in 2014 and subsequently three more times since and simultaneously brought Mr Lees Pure Foods Co. into the world.

For this book I decided along with my wonderful Mr Lees Chef team, Andy Chu and Jackie Kearney, to separate the recipes into six chapters: Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mr Lees Asian Favourites. We have taken much-loved traditional dishes and given them the Mr Lees makeover. Importantly most of us are also very time poor nowadays, so our recipes are all designed to be prepped and cooked in 30 minutes or less.

All too often you have to visit a specialist grocery store to source the ingredients for your favourite noodle dish and sometimes it is likely to be far from good for you, but in this book, weve taken great pains to make each dish as healthy as possible without compromising any of the flavour, but more importantly, we ensured that we spared you the trips to Chinatown or Koreatown and so on, that you would have had to have made in the past, because the ingredients in the following pages are able to be sourced at any of your major supermarkets.

But as I started by saying, this is just the beginning. At Mr Lees, were developing many other staples of the Oriental-Pan Asian diet in the same ethos; such as our congee range, so I hope to be able to bring you much more than noodles in the future. But for now from myself and everyone at Mr Lees, we hope you enjoy the recipes in this book and it helps you make healthier choices.

Stay positive, stay healthy!

Damien King Lee

I couldnt have done it without:
Andy Chu, Executive Chef; Jackie Kearney, Development Chef and Writer. Thanks too, Weronika Lee, Martin Flavin, James Roberts.

Noodles are just noodles, right? Nah, think again. There are hundreds of different types. Fat, chewy ones; thin, delicate ones; wheat-based, rice-based, gluten free. Some are world famous; some are local legends. There are loads of options and its worth having a few different types in your store cupboard. Some dried noodles will last for months, while fresh ones, like chow mein, ho fun or udon can be kept in your fridge, just waiting to bring some noodle-y goodness to your day. Now, even though some noodles work particularly well for certain recipes, there are no wrong noodles to use. Were not going to come round and confiscate your wok. To make it easier, weve grouped the noodles to help you swap them around as you like.

If you are looking for vegan or gluten-free options, remember to check the ingredients list on the packaging to make sure you pick the right noodles for your dietary needs. Its worth remembering that many yellow and chow mein noodles often dont contain egg but are coloured yellow. Check the label if you are looking for either vegan yellow noodles or specifically egg noodles.

NAME: Dried egg noodle

TYPE: Egg noodle

ORIGIN: China

DESCRIPTION: Pale yellow. Width ranges from thin to mediumthick. Available in most supermarkets.

GREAT FOR: Stir-fry/Crispy noodles/Soup

TASTE + TEXTURE: Toothsome and chewy.

NAME: Chow mein (also known as Hong Kong noodle)

TYPE: Egg or yellow noodle

ORIGIN: Southern China

DESCRIPTION: Yellow dried mediumthick noodle. Available in most supermarkets.

GREAT FOR: Stir-fry/Crispy noodles

NAME: Fresh egg noodle (also known as Hokkien noodle)

TYPE: Egg and wheat noodle

ORIGIN: China

DESCRIPTION: Available in supermarket fridges or vacuum-packed on shelves. Youll get better quality from an east Asian supermarket. Width ranges from thin to mediumthick.

GREAT FOR: Soup/Lo mein/Stir-fry

TASTE + TEXTURE: Soft texture, sometimes lightly oily (Hokkien-type). Need lightly blanching.

NAME: Dried or fresh wheat noodle

TYPE: Wheat noodle