Did you know that eating noodles is good luck for the new year?

I was googling around for some New Year’s eve dinner inspiration and I came across this article on Woman’s Day about the good luck foods for the New Year.

In China, Japan and other Asian countries, it’s customary to eat long noodles, which signify longevity, on New Year’s Day. Since the noodles are never to be broken or shortened during the cooking process, the typical preparation for “Long-Life Noodles” is a stir-fry.

Well, I’ll drink to longevity! You can choose any combination of vegetables you like. You can add some pork or some chicken if you want to make this a meaty dish. Also, in some countries, pork is a luck New Year’s food as the pig symbolizes progress.

But as I always say, the beauty of cooking is the ability to adjust to your specific tastes. So have fun with it. Just don’t break the noodles!

So here’s my New Year’s Eve, Long-Life Vegetable Lo Mein.

You will need

• 2 tablespoons chopped ginger
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 3 chopped scallions
• white button mushrooms, sliced
• snow peas
• shredded cabbage (I like the coleslaw mix because it has cabbage and carrots all shredded and ready to go)
• vegetable oil
• soy sauce
• stir fry sauce or teriyaki
• noodles ( I used Japanese somen noodles which are wheat noodles that cook in like 2 minutes)

To get started, bring a pot of water to a boil. Then, in a large skillet, drizzle olive oil and add the ginger and garlic. Sautee for a few minutes.

Next, add the mushrooms and cook until they are browned.

Add a little water, maybe 1/8 of a cup, to the bottom of the pain. Then add in the snow peas. The water will help you scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pain and will steam the snow peas so they stay nice and crunchy.

After about 3-5 minutes, toss in a few handfuls of the shredded cabbage.

Add a few dashes of soy sauce and two tablespoons of teriyaki or stir fry sauce.

Add the noodles to the boiling water and let them cook while the cabbage wilts into the mix. When the noodles are done, drain and toss them into the skillet, stirring to coat them in the sauce. Top with scallions.

Serve up heaping bowls and toast to a new year!