A mascot meets its end

This just in from S/a/O World Headquarters: the Orange has been made into stir-fry sauce! And it turned out pretty well. Perhaps beginning a tradition of monday recipe blogging, here’s a rundown of the ultimate fate of our dear mascot.

Seitan and egg noodles with orange sauce

Simple vegan stir-fry with a cool sauce.

UPDATE: More accurately, it can be made vegan, if you substitute rice noodles for egg noodles; in which case, prepare about 6–8oz, according to the package directions.

Ingredients

• 1 package stir-fry cut seitan. (What the hell is seitan? Seitan is a meat substitute made from wheat protein. It differs from real meat in that it has very little fat, a chewier texture, and of course a wildly different flavor. Still good, though, and very easy to work with.)
• 4 or 5 green onions, cut into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks, on the diagonal
• 1 big handful of raw or roasted, unsalted cashews
• 2 wodges of dried egg noodles
• Any other decent stir-fry vegetables
• 1 website mascot (Oranges are best), juiced—about 2/3 cup mascot juice
• 1/4 cup dark soy sauce
• 1/8–1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/8 cup mirin
• 1 tsp ginger powder, or grated fresh ginger
• cayenne to taste
• 1 tsp corn starch
• canola oil

Procedure

1. Cut everything up first.
2. Juice the juiceables, and combine juices, soy sauce, mirin, and spices; taste and adjust sour, sweet, and salt levels to your liking. The sauce should be very strong in flavor—it’s going to get spread all over things.
3. Boil a gallon or so of salted water and cook the egg noodles until al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water and mix with the cornstarch. Drain the noodles and hit them with cold water.
4. Meanwhile, heat a wok or other deep fry pan over very high heat. Seriously. High.
5. When the wok is very hot, add canola oil. Wait a bit for it to heat up, then add the seitan. You want it to brown a bit, so don’t keep it moving any more than is necessary to keep it from sticking.
6. When the seitan is a bit brown(er) around the edges, throw in the onions and cashews, and stir fry until the onions are bright green (the green bits, that is), and starting to wilt.
7. Throw in the egg noodles and stir to mix.
8. Pour in the sauce and stir to mix.
9. Pour in the cornstarch mixture and you get the idea.
10. When the sauce has thickened and is sticking to everything and gleaming, turn off heat, serve, and eat.

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