Chiang Mai Curry Noodles with Chicken

Our three year old sous-chef.



...and the kitchen apprentice who was born with a wooden spoon in his mouth.

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Tonight was an unplanned noodle night. That's not an unusual occurrence when my family gathers, but having to alter at least one of the recipes to please the tastes of a three year old is something I haven't done in a very long time. I was given very specific instructions. He wanted fat noodles with chicken and yellow gravy and he agreed to be my official taster. We added and subtracted things from a Thai recipe called kao soi and came up with a curry noodle dish that he actually enjoyed. Half the fun, of course, was slurping slippery noodles, but he ate some chicken and had a few vegetables and shared his dish with others at the table. What I hadn't counted on was that those who are no longer three would also enjoy it. Who knew? While the noodles only resemble a dish in the Thai or Asian cooking repertoire they are a wonderful introduction to the food of the region. The rice noodles and vegetables I added to the recipe are atypical, but crispy noodle nests always top the dish when it is served in Thailand. I make my mine by reserving a small portion of cooked egg noodles and deep frying them. This is extremely easy to make and all the ingredients can be found in a good sized supermarket. I've cut way back on the curry paste and powder that give this recipe its heat. I'm including the authentic amounts in parenthesis for those of you who want to sample the real deal. This is a great family recipe and I hope that those of you with adventurous souls will give it a try. Here's the recipe.

Chiang Mai Curry Noodles with Chicken...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons red curry paste (2 tablespoons)
1-1/2 pounds boneless chicken, cut into chunks
1 large carrot, cut into fine julienne strips
1 small red pepper, cut into fine julienne strips
1 medium onion, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 (14-oz.) can coconut milk
1-3/4 cups chicken stock
1 teaspoon ground turmeric (2teaspoons turmeric or curry Powder)
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
.
1/2 pound dried Chinese-style egg noodles or wide rice noodles
1/3 cup coarsely chopped shallots
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion

Directions:
1) In a medium sauce pan set over medium heat, warm the oil until it begins to ripple, and then add garlic. Cook for about a minute and add red curry paste, stirring it to soften it, about a minute. Add chicken and cook for about a minute, tossing to combine it with the curry paste. Remove chicken from pan and add carrot, red pepper and onions. Stir over medium-high heat until softened. Return chicken to pan. Add coconut milk, chicken stock, turmeric, soy sauce, and sugar, and stir well. Bring to a slow boil, and lower heat to bring it down to a simmer. Cook for about 8 minutes, until flavors have begun to meld. Stir in the lime juice, remove from heat, and cover to keep warm.
2) Cook the noodles per package instructions. Drain, rinse in a colander under cold water, drain again, and divide noodles among serving bowls. Ladle on hot curry, and sprinkle each serving with shallots, cilantro, and green onions. Serve immediately. Yield: 4 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Rebecca's Asian Noodles - Chow and Chatter
15 Minute Asian Noodles - Steamy Kitchen
Mie Goreng - RasaMalaysia
Pad Thai - Joy's Thai Food
Garlic Butter Noodles - White on Rice Couple
Mee Goreng - The Perfect Pantry

Gingered Noodle Salad

Zach and Drew at Delta Ponds



The Silver Fox

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We've had a wonderful day. Our final destination was a place called Delta Ponds, which is a habitat that's been created adjacent to a stretch of the Willamette River here in town. The ponds are teeming with life at this time of year. So are our grandsons. They needed to burn a little excess energy, so we hiked about five miles of the river trail to get there. They were good, though tired, sports when they realized we could have driven to the ponds directly and they had been tricked. They'll sleep well tonight. So will I. Tucked into the picnic hamper were the remains of the noodle salad I talked about earlier in the week and promised to share with you today. This is very easy to make and uses ingredients that can be found in any major supermarket. If you are unable to find seasoned rice wine vinegar, combine three parts rice wine or cider vinegar with one part of sugar and a big pinch of salt and you'll be fine. If you are unable to find a mango, substitute thin slices of fresh pineapple. The pineapple is not traditional, but it's PDG and works well in this salad. The salad can be held for a day or two before it becomes unappetizing. It works really well as a base for the Chicken Rissoles we featured yesterday. As you skim through the ingredient list, you see that this gorgeous salad is low in fat and calories, as well as being delicious. It is, however, a bit more sour than most salads of this type. I hope you'll give this recipe a try. Paired with a small portion of meat or poultry it makes for a wonderful light summer meal. Here's the recipe.

Gingered Noodle Salad...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Gourmet magazine

Ingredients:
Vinaigrette
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1-1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1-1/2 to 3 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon minced fresh jalapeño chile, including seeds, or to taste
2 teaspoons chopped garlic
Noodles
8 ounces bean thread (cellophane) noodles
1 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced diagonally
1 bunch scallions, thinly sliced diagonally (1 cup)
1 firm-ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
2 thin carrots, very thinly sliced diagonally
1 cup fresh cilantro sprigs

Directions:
1) To make vinaigrette: Blend all vinaigrette ingredients in a blender until smooth.
2) To make noodles: Soak noodles in cold water in a bowl until pliable, about 15 minutes, then drain in a colander. Cut noodles in half with scissors. Cook noodles in a 4-quart pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 2 minutes. Drain noodles in colander and rinse under cold water to stop cooking. Drain noodles again well, then spread out on paper towels and blot excess liquid.
3) To assemble salad: Toss noodles with dressing in a bowl. Add cucumber, scallions, mango, and carrots and gently toss until just combined. Serve topped with cilantro sprigs. Yield: 6 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Long Life Noodles with Pickled Cucumbers - One Perfect Bite
Thai Sweet Chili Noodles - One Perfect Bite
Garlic and Cashew Noodle Salad - Bitchin' Camero
Asian Noodle Salad - Gourmet Traveller
Sesame Soba Noodle Salad - Herbivoracious
Ramen Noodle Salad - Chaos in the Kitchen
Lynne Rossetto Kasper's Rice Noodle Salad - The Wednesday Chef
Moosewood's Soba Noodle Salad - Table and Spoon

Bun Rieu

This is my version of Bun Rieu, it might not be authentic Vietnamese but it did taste fantastic.   This soup is Alexander's favorite and he called it = The Red Soup.  I learned this recipe from my friend, Lan who has opened my door to Vietnamese Cuisine.

Ingredients:

One 14 oz can of crab meat paste in spices
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup of crab meat or chopped shrimp
1 lb of ground pork
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp of ground pepper

1 yellow/white onion -chopped

4 ripe tomatoes - diced

3 liters  pork/chicken stock

1 box 14 oz firm tofu - cut into bite sizes and shallow fried until crispy

1 tbsp tomato paste/puree
1 tbsp fine shrimp paste

1 packet of vermicelli noodles





Method:

Cook the vermicelli noodles according to manufacturer's instructions and set aside.

Heat 3 tbsp cooking oil in a large pot and add in the diced onions.  Sweat the onions and add in the diced tomatoes and tomato paste/puree.  Saute until fragrant, add in pork/chicken stock, fried tofu and bring to boil.

Combine ground pork, crab/chopped shrimp, can of crab meat in spices,fine shrimp paste, fish sauce,pepper, and sugar. Add the beaten eggs and mix well.

When the stock comes to a boil, slowly add this crab mixture into stock in spoonfuls, do not disturb the soup and let the stock cme back to the boil and continue to simmer - pork/crab/shrimp balls will float when they are cooked through.

Adjust stock with salt or fish sauce.

Serve this soup with cooked vermicilli noodles and fresh garnishes.

Bun Rieu is usually served with plenty of fresh herbs and veggies.

Common accompaniments include:

chopped green onion
cilantro
perilla
mint
lime wedges
bean sprouts
split ong choy/kang kung/rau muong stems
Shredded cabbage
Fine shrimp paste

Serves

Mac And Cheese From Scratch

Today is the first day of Kindergarten for Alexander.  I can't imagine that he is going to be five at the end of this month.  I can remember my first day of school which is a long long time ago.  It was a very scary event for me  to be amongst strangers and to make matters worst, the nuns in The Convent wore black long outfits and in my tiny eyes, they were huge shadows towering over me.  My grandmother was the one who managed to bribe the nuns so that i can get admitted - The Convent admission priorty was for the catholics and the rich.  I can't blame them cos they needed donations to run the school and being a catholic school, therefore meant for catholics.  My grandmother had her ways of getting things done - i was to bring with me to school on my first day, a wicker basket which was my school bag and that was the fashion for girls at that era.  I did not have books yet but i did have somethings in my basket.  I had a Chinese Almanac and in between the pages, there was a sprig of chinese celery(kan choy), a stalk of green onions(choong) and a mirror.  Only later in my life did i find out what was the significance of all these contents.  The chinese celery which is 'kan choy' was to prepare me to be 'kan lek'/studious, the green onion which is 'choong'  will make me 'choong meng'/inteligent and the mirror, haping that i will have clarity to solve problems and questions answered.  Last but not least, the Chinese Almanac - it  is called 'Thoong Seng', it should give me the ability to understand anything put forth to me.  I did not put all these in Alexander's bag but  blessings and hopes were in my heart as i bid him 'goodbye'. 

While waiting for him to come home from school, i made him his and Renee's favorite - Mac and Cheese.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 lb. (8 oz.) VELVEETA Pasteurized Prepared Cheese Product, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 cups elbow macaroni, cooked, drained

Method:

MELT 3 Tbsp. butter in medium saucepan on medium heat.

Whisk in flour; cook 2 min., stirring constantly.

Gradually stir in milk; cook until mixture boils and thickens, stirring constantly.

Add VELVEETA; cook 3 min. or until melted, stirring frequently. Stir in macaroni.

Serve and enjoy. 

Shrimp Spaghetti with Cilantro Pesto

A pack of pasta is a must in my pantry, so are many more musts.  I must confess, i am a hoarder, i can never pass off a good deal and a sucker to new brands and types of noodles.  They are like recipes, you try them once, if they are good, then they are keepers.  My freezer is packed,  my daughter would warn my grandchildren that they are not to open the freezer, if they have to do it, they would have to have their bike helmets on.  My most favorite item in the freezer, is the 26 - 30 shrimps,  when they are on sale, $4,00/lb, i will buy a few packets(2 lbs/pkt).  They are the quickest to defrost and shrimp dinner will be served as soon as they are defrosted.  Having a tub of homemade cilantro pesto in the freeser,  aided my quest for dinner too, especailly when friends or family decide to drop by.

Ingredients:

1 pound spaghetti pasta
1  pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil (for frying the shrimps)
1 cup Cilantro Pesto












Method:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes.

 Drain pasta.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large heavy skillet (i like using the wok) over high heat.

Season the shrimps with salt and pepper.  Add a few in the hot oil and cook shrimps until they turn pink.  Remove and set aside.

Repeat frying the shrimps in small batches, this is to prevent crowding as shrimps fried this way is succulentand juicy.(This is the chinese way - passing through oil)

When shrimps are done, remove all the oil from the skillet/wok.

Put the drained pasta into the skillet/wok, add in the cilantro pesto and toss to combine.  If the spaghetti seems like too tight(dry), add a little of the pasta water to loosen.

When pasta is well mixed, add in the cooked shrimps,  Toss well and adjust the taste with salt and pepper and more olive oil as you wish.

Serve immediately and garnish(optional)

Serves

Birthday Claypot Yee Mein

Yan Yat is the seventh day of the lunar new year, a day designated  as 'Everyone's birthday', 'Day of Man' or 'Day of Humanity' and this is an occasion for celebration.  Everybody L-O-V-E-S Birthday, especially when Everyone Around You Celebrates on the Same Day

According to the  believers of The Goddess Nüwa, She created human beings on the seventh day, by molding them from clay, so today is our birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY.

A drink from seven types of vegetables is made for health and to celebrate this occasion.  Noodles are eaten to promote longevity and raw fish for success.  Since i had 'yee sang' on New Year's Eve, i will have noodles today.

Ingredients:

4 pieces dried egg noodles(Yee mein if available) - for 4 persons
1/2 lb choy sum - washed and cut into i inch lengths
1.2 lb of pork/chicken slices
4 cups or more stock
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp tapioca starch mix with 2 tbsp water for thickening
4 eggs
Oil for deep frying the noodles if yee mein is not available

Marinate for the meat:

2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp tapioca starch
1 tsp sesame oil
a dash of pepper

Seasonings

4 tbsp oyster sauce
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp shao-xing wine
1 tbsp sesame oil

Method:

Heat wok with enough oil for deep frying.and when oil is 375f, drop one piece of dried noodle in and deep fry noodle until golden brown.  Remove and plunge fried noodle into a large pot of cold water.

Repeat with the other 3 pieces of dried noodles.  (If you have yee mein which are already fried, parboil and then put in cold water)

Marinate meat slices with the marinate and set aside.

Heat wok with 4 tbsp oil and brown marinated meat slices.  Add in chopped garlic and saute until fragrant.

Add in stock and seasonings, bring to a boil.

Add in deep fried noodles/yee mein and bring to the boil.  Reduce heat, cover wok and simmer noodles until noodles are soft. (Add more stock if you want more sauce).

Add in choy sum and increase heat.  Cook until choy sum is cooked just right.

Thicken sauce with tapioca starch solution.  Make sure the sauce is back to the boil and cook for 1 minute before adjusting the taste with salt and pepper.

Divide noodles into 4 portions and put each portion into a small claypot.  Bring back noodles in claypot to a quick boil and crack in an egg  together with a dash of shao-xing wine and sesame oil before serving.

Serve noodles immediately so that the egg can be cooked through from the heat of the noodles.

Serves

Wonton Noodle

Making good wonton was a long process as i was not able to buy good thin wonton wrappers and had to Homemake from scratch but i have found it - the brand is Double Happiness and they are thinner than the ones i homemake.  I am glad that it is available cos my grand daughter, the picky eater, has come to like wonton and even eat the wonton noodles.  We were on vacation in Vancouver and she ate 5 meals of wonton noodles. Talking about vacation and wonton wrappers/skin, there is something that has to be told.  It is the opposite to what the ad. say - What happened in Vegas, remain in Vegas?  What happened to me and my friends in Vegas had to be told.  I was at the checkout in Ranch 99 Supermarket and heard someone ordered 2 boxes of wonton skin.  2 boxes, this lady must have found the wonton skin that i am looking for,  so i turned around and asked this pretty lady what the brand was.  We started talking and from my accent she had to ask where i was from and when i told her that i came from Malaysia, she was grinning with joy and told me that she was malaysian too.  She asked  if i would like to go to her place and she will make me 'Ice Kacang', Ice Kacang in the desert, it was 104f that day, I accepted right away and had to gather my friends to meet her.  She made the best Ice Kacang and insisted that we come back again to meet her other malaysian friends and she will be cooking 'Chilli Crabs'.  We went back to have chilli crab the next day and met up with WPY, who was just as sweet and hospitable - she treated us to Harvey Mandel and drove us Las Vegas and brought us to the biggest outlet.  The night before we left Las Vegas, KD, the wonton skin lady, brought us to the best buffet in town - Rio , the food stretched as long as the Grand Canyon.  These two wonderful ladies, KD and WPY have renewed my faith in the human kind.  Thank you KD and WPY, i, nancy and siew chin will never forget your kindness and generosity and i hope you will remember these 3 ladies you picked up off the strip.

Ingredients:

Wonton Noodles
Wonton Wrappers - Double Happiness brand (make your own Homemade Wrappers)
Choy Sum/Shanghai Bak Choy
Spring onions - chopped for garnishing
Sesame oil and lard

Filling:

Same as Fried Wonton
or
Same as Wonton Soup

Soup:

2 lb pork bones - neck or otherwise (in Malaysia, hawkers like to use bones from the head - chee tau kuat)
1 cup ikan bilis - rinced
1 piece ginger, peeled and sliced
6 cups water
1/2 tsp msg (optional)
salt and pepper to taste


Method

To Cook the Soup:

Place pork bones and enough water in a big pot and bring to the boil.  Continue to boil until all the scum floats to the top.  Drain pork bones and discard the water.  Wash the pork bones thoroughly with cold water.

In the pressure cooker, place cleaned cooked pork bones, ikan bilis and ginger and 6 cups of water.  Close the lid and let it pressurised for 30 minutes with 15 lb pressure.  Release the pressure before opening lid.

Remove the pork bones and ikan bilis and pass soup through a sieve.

Adjust the taste with msg, salt and pepper.

Bring back to the boil before serving.



To cook wonton noodles:

Bring a large stock pot of water to the boil.

Loosen the wonton noodles before putting into the boiling water.  Swirl noodle with a pair of long chopsticks to prevent noodles from sticking together.  The thin noodles cook fast to al dente.  Remove with spider strainer and dung into a large container of cold water.  Return noodles to the boiling water just to warm it up.
Remove from water and put into serving large bowl and add in sesame oil and lard.

Bring the water back to the boil and add in the choy sum or shanghai bok choy - green vegetables will remain green when cooked because this water has alkali after cooking all the wonton noodles.  Remove and distribute among the bowls of noodles.

To cook the wonton:

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil and drop in the wontons.and simmer uncovered, stirring gently, when wontons float to the top, that usually means they're done. Unless there is too much air inside the wontons due to bad folding. Cut one open to check for doneness. Remove wontons and distribute among the bowls of noodles.

To serve:

Pour a cup of hot soup into the bowls of noodles which are topped with vegetables and wonton. Garnish with chopped spring onions.

Serve hot and enjoy with pickled green chillies. (Green chillies/jalapenos are pickled with vinegar and salt and the acid in the vinegar will contra the alkali used to make the noodles and wonton wrappers - giving the bowl of noodles a good eat)

NOTES:

My preference to a good wonton for soup would be the fill and squeeze method for wrapping the wonton as the skin is not doubled and will remain soft and silky when consumed, like swallowing the cloud, befitting its name WONTON.  In cantonese - won is the cloud and ton is to swallow.  The beautifully wrapped ones are better for deep frying.

Serves

Handmade Loh See Fun and Lai Fun

ALEXANDER'S LUNCH - Loh See Fun with shredded chicken and soup.

This was the result of the first batch of dough i made to make 'Putu Mayam'. Since i did not have the correct template for 'Putu Mayam' but i do have bigger holes template, Viola, the dough was pressed and steamed and became 'Lai Fun'.

These 'Loh See Fun' was hand-rolled. Pinch a tiny pea-size dough and rub it between your palms, the dough will form into a strip with both ends pointed. You might have to dust your palms with tapioca starch. When done, steam until cooked and serve them in soups of choice or 'kon loh' with fragrant oil, black thick soya sauce and c ooked ground pork. In Malaysia, we call this 'Loh Shi Fun' and in Hong Kong it is called 'Silver Needle Noodles' but it is made with 'wheat starch a.k.a. Tung Mein Fun'.

Recipe for dough, use the same ingredients and method as in Putu Mayam. Ground Pork Sauce goes very well with soup or 'kon loh'.

Serves

Ipoh Sar Hor Fun

Ipoh, the capital city of the State of Perak in Malaysia, is famous for this dish. The best, thinly sliced 'hor fun', which is 'rice noodle', can be found in Ipoh and it is so, cos of the water found there is good for making good rice noodles . In the good old days, when there were no highways and byways, it takes forever to reach Ipoh but now, it takes less than 3 hours, not that long to drive there and have a bowl of this noodles. Ipoh has many more good eats so it is worth the drive.

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh rice noodle/dried Hu Tieu

1 lb shrimps with head - on

2 nos. whole chicken leg

Chinese chives (sectioned)
2 stalks scallions (chopped)

Ingredients for Chicken Broth:

3 nos. whole chicken carcass/2 packets of Swanson Chicken stock
Shrimp's shell (removed from the above 1 lb shrimps)
1/2 lb soya bean sprouts (tai tau nga)
2 x 1 inch size rock sugar
1 tsp whole white peppercorns (crushed)
5 liters water
salt to taste

Ingredients for Shrimp Oil:
125ml cooking oil
Shrimp head (removed from the above 1 lb shrimps)

Method:

To cook the shrimps, bring 1 liter of water to the boil and blanched the shrimps until they turn pink and cooked through. Remove and shock in ice water. Remove the heads and drain dry, to be use for frying with the oil. Remove the shells for making the chicken broth.

To cook the chicken legs, bring back the above water which was used to cook the shrimp, to a rolling boil. Put in the chicken legs and when water comes back to a boil, let it simmer for 5 minutes and cover with lid, turn off heat and let chicken legs poach for 15 minutes. Remove and shred when cooled.

To make chicken broth, rinse the chicken carcass,place them into a stock pot, add in the rest of stock ingredients, together with the water which was used for cooking the shrimp and chicken legs, bring to the boil. Reduce to low heat and cook for approximately 1-2 hours. Alternatively, use the pressure cooker which will take less than 1/2 the time.

Season with salt and strain the stock. Leave aside.

To make shrimp oil, heat up the cooking oil in the preheated wok, place in shrimp heads, stir-fry over low heat until the shrimp oil separates. Remove from heat, strain well.

Pour some of the prawn's oil into the chicken stock.

Blanch the "Hor Fun", Chinese chives in boiling water separately. Dish up and drained.

To assemble, place the "Hor Fun" into a serving bowl, add in blanched Chinese chives, , chicken shreds and shrimps.

Serve with hot chicken broth, add in a little shrimp oil and chopped scallions.

Serve hot with fried sambal or chopped chilly in soya sauce.

Serves

Fried Udon

I have been so behind in everything and have to prepare a quick and easy lunch for my guests who came all the way from Melbourne, Australia. This noodle dish has never failed time and again to provide a delicious platter for any occasion.

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh udon noodles

1/2 pound ground pork

1/2 cup each of julienned green, red and yellow pepper

1 tbsp chopped garlic

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp light soya sauce

3 tbsp oil

salt and pepper to taste
Sesame oil

Method:

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil over high heat. Cook the noodles for 2 to 4 minutes, stirring to separate the strands, until they are tender but not mushy.

Heat oil and brown the ground pork. Then add in chopped garlic and the julienned peppers, mix well.

Drain the noodles and add in to the ground pork and pepper mixture. Add in oyster sauce and soya sauce. Stir-fry until noodles are heat through and adjust the taste with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle with sesame oil before serving.

Serves

Zhajiang Mein/Jajangmyun

Korea has a fun tradition for all those preparing for "April Love". The tradition goes as follows, on Feburary 14th, Koreans celebrate Red day. Although similar to Valentine's Day, there are some specific guidelines one must follow on Red Day, namely, only the women give Valentine's to the men. This is significant, because Korea is a male dominated society and this allows for the women to be assertive in dating and for it to be acceptable. In fact it's quite competitive as to who got what from whom.

The next month on March 14th is White Day, when the men give gifts to women. If the man likes the woman sender, then he must return the favor by giving the woman chocolate, candy, flowers, etc. Girls are very competitve also as to who go what-the bigger, the better follows here.

Finally, just as spring is really in full bloom it's time for Black Day. On Black day, all those men and women who did not receive anything go out and eat Jaja Myun (Black noodles). It is a noodle dish with a tasty dark (black) sauce served on top. The idea is that, all those that didn't receive anything can mingle together and hopefully next year they will be sending gifts on Red and White Day. When it comes to the dating game Korea has many options as to how to go about it. This is only one of them. I hope you all get to experience this and hopefully won't have to eat Jaja Myun, but if you do, it's a really good dish!

This is my version of the Black Noodle which i made a black gravy/sauce like Jajangmyun and the toppings of ground pork, onions, cucumber which is like the chinese - Zhajiang Mein

Ingredients:

1 pkt of wheat noodle of choice(follow instruction to cook from the back of pack)

1 lb Gound Pork

2 tsp shaoxing wine

2 tbsp light soya sauce
1/4 cup chopped garlic

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp oil

Toppings:
1 onion - cut into bite-size
1 cucumber - cubed - center removed

1 small carrot - cubed

1 tbsp oil

salt and pepper to taste

Chopped spring onions for garnishing

Gravy/Sauce:

1/2 cup chopped shallots

1/4 cup chopped garlic

1 tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Black bean garlic sauce

2 tbsp Hoisin sauce

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp corn syrup

2 tbsp shaoxing rice wine

2 tbsp Thick Caramerl Sauce - Yuen Chun Longivity Brand

2 tbsp oil

2 cups water

2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water

Method:

Preheat wok and add in oil.

Add in the ground pork and cook it until it is no more pink, then add in the garlic, soya sauce, wine and pepper. Remove and set aside.

Heat oil and add in onions, saute, then add in salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are sweat through. Add in the carrot and cucumber , stir fry, adding a little more salt and pepper. Remove and set aside.

To make the gravy:

Heat oil and fry the shallots, then add in the ginger and garlic. Add in the remaining ingredients except the cornstarch solution. When the gravy/sauce comes to the boil, then add in the cornstarch solution. Bring the gravy/sauce to the boil and it has thickened. Adjust taste as desired.

To serve:

Put noodles in a bowl, then top with gravy/sauce. Spoon in some ground pork and toppings.

Sprinkle in chopped spring onions and enjoy.

Serves

Lobster and Pork Noodle

Which way would you consider the most humane and best method?

A lot of people consider boiling a lobster alive to be inhumane and cruel. Other people believe that the nervous system of a lobster is too simple for it to feel any pain at all, similar to insects. This subject remains a topic of controversy, still to this day.

Studies have been carried out by a number of researchers and universities to determine the most humane method of boiling lobster. Various methods of relaxation techniques were carried out prior to boiling and the lowest number of tail flicks upon insertion into the boiling water was thought to mean that the lobster felt less pain.

It was found that the best way to minimize the tail movements of the lobster upon boiling is by placing the lobster in the freezer for a period of 5 - 10 minutes in order to numb the lobster before cooking.

I like steaming the lobster, although it require a longer cooking time to steam the lobster, however, the result is better than boiling, giving you a succulent and tasty lobster meat.

Ingredients:

Kon Loh Mein

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Steamed Lobster
Blanched Green Leafy Vegetables of choice


Method:

Steaming the lobster

Place a steaming rack to hold the lobster in the bottom of a wok/large pan
Pour 2 inches of water into the pot and add 1 tablespoon of sea salt.

Cover the pot with the lid and bring the water to the boil.

Once the water is boiling fiercely, place the lobster onto a rack, cover the pot and bring back to the boil.

Begin timing once the water is boiling again., steam the lobster for 14 minutes for the first lb of weight and then an extra 3 minutes for each extra lb. A 2 lb lobster will cook in 17 minutes, a 3 lb in 20 minutes.
Once the lobster is done, drain immediately and let it sit until it is cool enough to remove the flesh from the shell.

Serve it with

Kon Loh Mein
Stuffed Pork Tenderloin and blanched green leafy vegetables and drizzle with the sauce from the pork tenderloin.

Enjoy with pickled green jalepeno or chilly sauce.

How to tell when your lobster is cooked

Care must be taken not to overcook the lobster, as this will result in tougher and less succulent meat.

Overcooking also means that some of the delicious flavour will be lost and the meat may shrink, become stringy or even mushy

Do not remove the lobster from the pot before the shell has turned bright red

The lobster is properly done when an antennae comes off easily when pulled gently.

The cooked lobster meat will be firm and white in colour

The internal temperature of the lobster meat will have reached 180°F (80°C).

The green tomalley or liver, which is situated inside the body cavity, will have turned a greenish yellow colour.

Which parts of a lobster can you eat?

The majority of the lobsters meat is found in the tail and in the two front claws. Smaller amounts of meat can also be found in the legs and in some parts of the body. Parts which should not be eaten, are the shell, the sac behind the eyes, the black vein running through the tail and the green tomalley, although this is debatable, as some lobster eaters claim this to be the best part.



Serves

Bun Bo Hue

Unlike in Malaysia, my friends are either Chinese, Malay or Indian descent but here, i have made friends from all over the world and that is how my culinary ventures expanded. Not only do we become good buddies, we share our cuisine too. This is the first time that i cook Bun Bo Hue and it was delicious and not difficult to prepare. I do not claim authenticity but this recipe is a keeper for me, sorry no pig's blood and all unusual salads to garnish like banana flower blossom or perilla. The pig's hocks and the Gio were so delicious that there were none left for photo session.

Ingredients:

Water - enough to cover the bones, hocks and shank

4 lbs beef bones, cleaned
4 lbs pork bones, cleaned
2 - 3 lbs pork hock and trotters, cleaned

2 lbs beef shank
4 stalks Lemon grass, bruised

1 whole peeled onion

1 small piece of ginger
2 tablespoon Bun Bo Hue paste
1 tablespoon Fish sauce
2 teaspoons Salt
5 - 6 pieces rock sugar
2 tablespoons Annatto seeds
Oil for frying annatoo seeds

2 pkts Rice vermicelli size xl

1 lb beef balls - recipe is Here

1 vietnamese meat paste - Gio - recipe is Here- cut into slices

Garnishing:
Bean sprouts

Thai Basil

Red cabbage - sliced thinly
Limes, cut into wedges
4 Red chilies, 2 finely sliced and 2 pounded
2 tablespoons Fish sauce

Method:

Pre-boil the bones, hock, trotters, Beef shanks until the impurity floats on top of the water. Usually 5 to 10 minutes.

Drain and rinse the bones, hock and trotters and beef shanks.

Put back contents into stockpot with enough water to cover and add in the whole peeled onion, ginger and lemon grass. Bring to the boil and reduce to simmer.

Simmer until shank and hocks are tender. Remove shank and hocks and soak in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes until cool.

Slice beef shank.

Add in rock sugar to the stock and continue to simmer until flavorful.

When stock is done, strain stock through a fine sieve and add in fish sauce, salt, bun bo hue paste.

Add beef balls to the hot stock.

Heat oil and when oil is WARM, add add annatto seed. Steep seeds in warm oil until the oil turns red. Strain oil into stock. (I was advised by the cashier at the asian store that annatto seed will burn easily and if too hot oil is used for steeping, the color will be yellow and not red.)

Blanch vermicelli according to the intruction at the back of packet.

To serve, Put vermcelli in a large bowl, top with pork hocks, beef shank slices, gio and beef balls. Pour hot stock over.

Garnish with bean sprouts, thai basil, sliced red cabbage, lime wedges and sliced chilies.

Mix pounded chilies into fish sauce and serve on the side.

Serves