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I have never seen Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis. Likewise, I have never prepared stir-fried noodles, and even bought a wok for the occasion.

Die Hard follows John McClane, a New York cop who finally heads out to California to visit his wife and kids for Christmas, but gets caught up in a heist of sorts in his wives’s office building during a Christmas party. Realizing he’s locked in, and a lot of lives are at stake, he has to figure out how to take these criminals down one by one with very little weaponry or help from the outside world, all while pissing off their leader through a walkie-talkie, Hans Gruber.

Stir-Fried Noodles are equally action packed, starting with a marinade of soy, rice vinegar and crushed garlic for your meat or tofu to soak in, stir frying some cooked or soaked rice noodles then putting aside, making a small dish of soy, chili sauce and sugar for the noodles, cooking your meat or tofu thoroughly, and finally adding your veggies and noodles with the spicy sauce, and serving immediately, garnish with peanuts if you so chose.

Die Hard was a delightful surprise, being an action film from the ‘80s, I thought I knew what I was going to get. Even though how it’s going to end is fairly obvious, it’s such a fun ride getting there. There’s funny moments, action packed sequences and outrageous characters such as the party hard limo driver Argyle, the hyperactive news crew, the frat boy FBI agents Johnson & Johnson (“no, the other one”) and especially the impeccable Hans Gruber, played beautifully by Alan Rickman.

As far as action film villains go, he is incredibly human, in the way he straight-faced bullshits the cops on the phone with his demands, then puts the phone down for a second to point out he has no idea what he’s talking about.

The Stir-Fry was full of it’s own surprises and heart pounding action. Time is a factor and you never seem to have enough, while noodles are cooking, is that sauce ready? Is the chicken done yet, we gotta get these veggies chopped. Where the bean sprouts pre-washed? Oh no…!

Off all ’80s action stars, Bruce Willis remains the most enduring. I’m not so much waiting for his next crazy action sequence as I empathize with him, hoping he can just make it through alive. He gets really beat up in this film and you feel it. It’s to the point that you know his communication with the beat cop on the walkie-talkie (played by the Family Matters dad Reginald VelJohnson) is the only thing keeping him together, especially as he pulls pieces of shattered glass out of his foot (he spends just about the whole film bare foot… thanks a lot airplane suggestion guy… ASSHOLE!)

The noodles turned out really good too, they were the perfect density, not too hard, not falling apart, but the main star was the chicken, which had the most flavoring from the marinade.

Both the film and the food were a thrill to partake in. I can’t recommend them enough, and look forward to enjoying them again.

Score: 5/5