Burnt garlic, cavolo nero and black bean noodles

This week’s Mmmm Monday’s recipe is an excellent midweek light dinner, and it’s vegan-friendly.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp fermented (preserved) black beans
• 5 fat garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 bird’s eye red chilli
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 250ml vegetable stock (suitable for vegans)
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 tbsp brown rice syrup
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 100g wheat noodles
• 200g cavolo nero, leaves stripped from the stalks and roughly chopped
• Light soy sauce, to taste

Method

Put the fermented beans in a small bowl, cover with warm water and leave to soak for 10 minutes.

Drain, tip into a mortar with the garlic and chilli, and smash to a paste. (If you don’t have a pestle and mortar, mince the garlic and finely chop the black beans.)

Put the corn starch in a small cup or bowl, add a tablespoon of stock, stir until you have a smooth paste and set aside.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and, once hot, add the bean paste.

After three or four minutes, when you can smell the garlic starting to burn, add the stock, syrup and sesame oil, and let it boil for around five minutes until the liquid reduces by half.

Add the corn starch paste, boil for a minute longer, then turn off the heat.

Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil, drop in the noodles and cavolo nero, and cook according to the noodle packet instructions, or until tender, then drain.

In batches, mix the noodles and cabbage into the sauce, until well coated. Taste and add soy sauce, if needed, then serve straight away.

This recipe is an edited version from Meera Sodha (https://twitter.com/meerasodha)