Traditional Sapa Sui (Samoan Chop Suey)

I love this recipe! It's cheap, delicious and fast to prepare. It comes from an old boyfriend's mum. She is Samoan and a great cook. As this is a Samoan recipe, you can bet it's going to feed a small army.

• Ready In: 30 mins
• Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 250  g  mung beans, vermicelli they are also called cellophane (found in the asian section of your supermarket) or 1  glass  noodles
• 2  tablespoons  oil
• 1  large onion, diced
• 2 -4  garlic cloves, crushed (or a good tablespoon of the prepared garlic in a jar)
• 1  tablespoon  of fresh grated gingerroot (or 1 tb of ginger from a jar)
• 300  g  mincemeat (all meats are fine, beef, chicken or pork) or 500  g  of chopped  meat (all meats are fine, beef, chicken or pork)
• 2  tablespoons soy sauce
• 2  cups water
• 1⁄2 cup soy sauce
• 2  tablespoons ketjap manis
• 2 -5  cups  chopped  vegetables, I love veggies so I added 5 cups (fresh or frozen)
• 1  teaspoon  vegetable stock powder or 1  teaspoon  chicken stock powder or 1  teaspoon  beef stock powder

Directions

1. In a large pan, fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion is translucent over a med/high heat.
2. Add and fry the meat for no more than 2 minutes It needs to be just seared. Stir so it doesn't burn.
3. Add the soy sauce and water (the water should almost cover the meat - not totally). Let simmer over a med. heat while you prepare the noodles (about 5 minutes).
4. Prepare the noodles as per the pack instructions (place hot water in a bowl and add the noodles, let stand until they are re-hydrated and plyable).
5. Snip the noodles, you want each strand to be short.
6. Add the noodles plus 1 cup of the water from the noodles.
7. Add the remaining ingredients. It will look soupy - this is normal.
8. Stir and let simmer over a medium heart for 10-15 minutes.
9. Serve as is!