As strange as it sounds for a skinny white English girl living in Panama and cooking an Asian-Mexican fusion dish, this recipe has a lot of history for me. One of my old boyfriends’ mum’s used to make this for me and her three boys, and I used to love it; this before I was even vegetarian, and it used to be made mostly with chicken and fat noodles. I often used to think about it but, for some reason, never thought to make it myself.

Skip forward a few years and, living in Toronto, I stumbled upon an amazing take out restaurant called Chino Locos. The first time we made the trek across there from my apartment on the west end, it was probably a 2 hour round trip, and it was totally worth it. A couple of years later I lived right by them, and my whole office was addicted to their Asian burritos. You can find General Tao Chicken burritos stuffed with Mexican rice, Chow Mein burritos with egg noodles, and even an absolutely fantastic vegan burrito stuffed with Mexican rice, edamame, tofu and beautiful glass noodles.

It was a combination of these two inspirations that made this dish what it is today. Instead of tradition chow mein (egg) noodles, we use glass rice noodles, and instead of chicken, we use green beans, mushrooms, yellow peppers and onions. I probably would have throw in some edamame, but I’ve yet to find them in Panama. Still, this blows my socks off – and the Putin loves it too!

You’ll need:
(Feeds 2-3 hungry mouths)
2 wholewheat tortilla wraps
2 portions glass noodles
1 white onion, sliced
2 yellow bell peppers, cored and sliced
2 cups green beans, chopped with the ends removed
2 cups button mushrooms, chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
1 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons agave nectar (you can sub this for 1 teaspoon brown sugar if you like)
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
a little oil

Method:
In a large frying pan, fry the white onion, garlic and ginger in a little oil for 3-4 minutes
Add in the yellow peppers and green beans, and fry for 2-3 minutes
Add in the mushrooms and fry for 2 more minutes
Stir in the hoisin sauce, soy sauce and agave nectar (or sugar) and mix well
While this is cooking, cook the glass noodles according to the instructions. This should only take 2-3 minutes
When the noodles are cooked, drain then add to the pain. Stir well to ensure everything is combined
Remove from the heat, and stir in the chopped spring onions
Take half this mixture (or a third, if you like) and set it in the middle of a wholewheat wrap
Fold the wrap together to make a burrito shape; it’s easier to work with if the wrap is very full
If you have leftovers, save them in the fridge; they make a delicious treat of a breakfast, separated between 2 mini wraps (as seen in the photo)!

I am a huge fan of this recipe, and it’s a great way to have a relatively quick and filling meal – and it’s easy to make more of. If you double the recipe, you can take the rest of the chow mein to lunch without the wrap, and it’s just as delicious. Squeeze a little lime juice on the leftovers to freshen them up!

Shall we start an Asian burrito revolution? I think it’s time…