Tom Yum/Tom Yam Noodles

The French Bean Omelette was done in Singapore, so is this dish. This dish basically, is on assembling rather than on culinary skills. But even if you assemble, you want to make sure the ingredients are compatible and the sequence is correct. Are you going to guess what I am preparing?


Tom Yum/Tom Yam Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
Instant noodles - less the seasoning packs(option: use any noodles or pasta, or even glass noodles!), canned tuna(I swear by AYAM brand tuna), tomatoes, bok choy, silken tofu(cut into cubes)

Directions:
1. Cook the noodles, then set aside
2. Prepare pot of water to simmer/boil - blanch the bok choy, then set aside with the noodles
3. Add in canned tuna to same pot of water so that the "spices" will work naturally to flavor the "soup broth"
4. Add in tofu and tomatoes in the soup broth if you want. Otherwise, you can add to your noodles and then ladle hot soup over the final dish before serving



Other Tom Yum recipes:
Tom Yum/Tom Yam Glass Noodles
Tom Yum/Tom Yam Fried Rice

Tag: noodles, tom yum, tom yam

Herbal Chicken Vermicelli Soup - Mee Sua Soup?

Vermicelli that is made of wheat instead of rice - 面线 (Hokkien: mee sua, Cantonese: min seen, Chinese: mian xian). While appearing similar to bee hoon (rice vermicelli), this has a very different texture, and for different culinary uses as well. If it's made of wheat, isn't it considered a kind of pasta ?

On the package, it was written buckwheat and mee sua! So...something like thin soba ?


Looks like whole wheat angel hair pasta when cooked.

However, I believe the moisture content in the making(kneading) of pasta, vermicelli and buckwheat noodles (soba) varies PLUS we tend to look for al denta in pasta but not in rice vermicelli unless you overcook the pasta to be as soft as rice vermicelli's texture. Beachlover's Kitchen also talks about somen and mee sua here.

You can substitute mee sua with angel hair pasta by slightly overcooking the latter! :D

Back home, mee sua soup is commonly seen once a year - during birthdays. A bowl of simmering mee sua soup with minced pork balls and one hard-boiled egg. Rice vermicelli (mee sua) and as the Chinese characters literally mean Noodle 面 Threads 线...threads tend to be long, so signifies longevity in birthday celebrations.

Herbal Chicken Vermicelli Soup
Ingredients:
Chicken, chopped to pieces; 1 Chinese herbal pack; some vegetables(bok choy) blanched; mee sua (vermicelli) cooked according to instructions.

Directions:
1. Boil the chicken with herbal pack according to herbal pack instructions.
2. When ready, ladle the soup over the cooked mee sua, serve immediately

It is easy to think of what you can with Chinese herbal packs. This is a one-dish meal I'm serving other than boiling the chicken with the herbs to make Herbal Chicken Soup, and steaming the chicken with the herbs to make Steamed Herbal Chicken, also known as Emperor Chicken.



Tag: noodles, vermicelli , mee sua

9 sober soba recipes

9 sober ways with soba and still counting...

















That's soba in-
Sesame dressing
Pork-rib tea, bak kut teh style
Braised E-fu style
Minced pork topping and wontons
Green onion dressing and mushrooms
Almond butter dressing
Spicy Korean broth
Braised pork ribs

Am I sober or crazy ?

Tag: soba, noodle

Home-style beef noodle soup

I prefer to slow cook a good ol' beef stew. Tender chunks of beef, the flavorful essence in the beef stew gravy...and easiest cooking ever! Since I cannot put my slow cooker to good use here (why can't the world standardize on the electrical usage and voltage?), I could only try the other way, to slowly braise the beef stew in a sauce pan. This braised Pearl Onion Beef Stew turn out still good but I prefer the slow cooker version, definitely.

I just love the sweetness of pearl onions. Better than the usual yellow, or white onions :)


Pearl Onion Beef Stew
Ingredients: Stewing beef cubes, sliced celery, sliced carrots, sliced pearl onions, black pepper

Directions:
1. In light oiled pan, saute the onions, then add in beef, sliced celery and carrots.
2. Once slightly fried, add in some stock/water, add some black pepper, and allow it to simmer low heat for at least 30minutes

And what can a good beef stew do ? Wonders!

I could keep the leftover beef stew essence (mainly the gravy, and few pieces of meat) and use it to have some beef noodles soup the next day. Boil some noodles, add in some "new" greens at the side, and...a new meal - Home-style beef noodles soup

A very flavorful broth (beef stock) has cooked a simple noodle soup.

Tag: noodles, soba, beef noodles

Soba Noodles in Tahini Sesame, Nori and Pork Floss

You can eat them with bread, top them on a bun and bake them in a puff, we all love pork floss, isn't that obvious ? Now, I have discovered another new way to eat it. With NOODLES! :D

Little Corner and Mandy...maybe we can come up with...something like... how about "101 Ways with Pork Floss". HA! This is so simple but exudes depths of flavors - the sesame dressing + unami nori + savory pork floss. You called me Noodle Queen, you are right! And you said I like soba, yes yes....indeed, indeed. :D

Tahini Soba/Stone ground Sesame Soba
Ingredients and directions as follows -

You need: pork floss and thin nori strips


You need: Tahini


You need: 2-3tbsp tahini (stonegroud sesame), 1-2tsp sesame oil, 1tsp crushed ginger (with some ginger juice) - noodle dressing

Plus: soba, cooked according to instructions


How: Tossing the soba in tahini dressing, then sprinkle with nori strips and pork floss

Tag: noodles, soba, tahini

White Pepper Chinese Braised Noodles

You may have never guessed it but the highlight of this Fried Noodles or rather...Braised or Simmered Noodles is...white pepper - the mild heat you get in your noodles without any use of chilli.


Of course, you don't just get a hot pungent taste. There is a mixture of vegetables used that gives this noodle dish lots of flavor. The addition of pork will render it even more tasty. Fried Noodles almost on the verge of being braised, because the noodles is simmered with all the ingredients and the final appearance - kinda wet, instead of fried-and-dry.

Fried Noodles/Braised Simmered Noodles
Ingredients:
-Half an onion, sliced
-cabbage, shredded
-1 carrot, shredded
-1 celery, julienned
-2 green peppers
-pork strips/slices slighty seasoned with rice wine, soy sauce, white pepper
-chinese greens
-dashes white pepper, adjust accordingly during cooking
2tsp sesame oil

Lovely vegetables that I am going to use for my Fried Noodles


Seasoning:
-1tbsp soy sauce
-1tsp oyster sauce
-300 ml water/stock, adjust accordingly during cooking

Directions:
1. Fry the pork strips then set aside
2. Use the oil in the pan and fry the vegetables - onions first, then add the rest, green peppers the last
3. Add in cooked pork strips and seasonings

4. Allow simmer for few minutes
5. Add in cooked noodles and allow to simmer again till water/stock/gravy reduce by half
6. Dash in white pepper(lots of it!), mix well. Drizzle sesame oil the last, turn off heat



End result - mild spicy soft noodles, fragrant and delicious!

Tag: noodles, braised noodles, fried noodles

Pork Ribs Tea Soup. Noodles with Bak Kut Teh

The monologue continues...

In Singapore, they have this for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner

Brain: You are taking convenience too easily
Me: You meant... ... too seriously?
Brain: Whatever. The party is long over, 2-weeks over. You should get back on your feet. Why are you still using convenience meal kit ?
Me: Last few last few. I bought this to try, among their range of hawker fare products. I have to do a taste-test.
Brain: Is Bak Kut Teh (literally meaning Pork Bone Tea) about the PORK BONE...PORK RIBS ? ... ...


Brain (cont'd): ... ...or the TEA?
Me: Oh now, this "tea" is confusing. Are you referring to the "broth" -OR- the Chinese tea that is usually served with this pork rib soup dish ? Well, the broth of this pork rib soup is made from a mix of herbs and spices, and boiled together with pork bones for hours. Well, I don't keep stock of all the spices and herbs in my pantry. So I can't cook my Bak Kut Teh (BKT) from scratch. A convenience pack is really just one reach away! If you are meaning the tea, as in the drinking Chinese tea, served separately with this pork rib soup dish, that tea may be just a "mirage" - leading you into the belief ..or rather...illusion that Chinese tea will "dissolve" and get rid of the "fattiness" of this soup. You know, that [Chinese tea + "oil and fats" = "less oil and fats"] equation. Hmmph, I don't think Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Soup) is that unhealthy and "fatty". We are all talking about balance and leverage in foods, aren't we ?

Does this look spicy ? The spice comes from the pepper!

Me (cont'd): I was also attemtped by Little Corner when she showcased her BKT-flavored instant noodles. What can I do ?
Brain: So now you have used soba to go with your Bak Kut Teh...what is your verdict?


Slurp hard and slurp loud, just like how Japanese enjoy their ramen

Me: Well, although the Bak Kut Teh from Prima Taste is not that great, this is still my kind of Bak Kut Teh. The Teochew style Bak Kut Teh which is lighter in color and very peppery. The other variant which is darker in color (either more soy sauce used, or more medicinal herbs added) is typically not my preference. And I would like to add, adding noodles to eat with Bak Kut Teh is really ...errrrmm....S-M-A-R-T!

Me (cont'd): Similar to why most Japanese have to eat and slurp their ramen noodles nosily - so that the noodles pick up the tasty soup broth when they slurp hard and slurp loud *swooo...oooop* - it's this same technique to enjoy a good 'ol bowl of noodles dunked in superior broth. This case, soba dunked in Pork Rib Tea Soup can be one best way to enjoy the soup AND...the noodles! Yummy!



Tag: bak kut teh, pork rib soup tea, noodles

Mee Siam, spicy sweet tangy rice vermicelli

Spicy Sweet Tangy Rice Vermicelli - MEE SIAM!

Spicy Sweet Tangy Rice Vermicelli - MEE SIAM!


A rich tamarind (assam) gravy of delightful aroma, drenched over rice vermicelli fried in a sambal spice mix, further defined by the zest of a fresh lime squeeze. This is an all-appetizing delectable dish, originally from the Thais, then later became a marriage among the Nyonyas, Malays and Chinese. Where else can you find spicy, sweet, savory, tangy - all in one dish?

From these pictures, would you have thought I have done this from scratch - pounding the spices for chili paste, pre-frying the chili paste, preparing the vermicelli sambal and tamarind paste etc. ?? If only I did. Now, I could only say "Thank you" to Ready-to-Cook Meat kit from Prima Taste.

Other than their Mee Rebus meal kit which I swear by when I simultaneously get pricked by the "cravings" needle AND biten by the lazy bug , this Mee Siam Meal Kit is also one of my favorites. You are spoilt for ready-made pastes when it comes to curry chicken and even Thai green curries but when it comes to Mee Siam and Mee Rebus, there are not many decent products out there, and I promise Prima Taste stands to the taste test of authenticity.

In the kit, you get Mee Siam paste, chili paste for frying the rice vermicelli, sambal chili and even lime juice - all individually packed! Perfectly sealed and hygienically packaged. You just need to prepare your own rice vermicelli, eggs and shrimps/prawns.

Cooking the rice vermicelli: Soak the rice vermicelli in a pot of hot-warm water till soft. Then heat the rice vermicelli chili paste with some water in a frying pan, and add the soaked rice vermicelli into the rice vermicelli chili paste and mix well.

Cooking the Mee Siam gravy: Mixing the Mee Siam paste with water in a pot and bring to a boil, the lower heat to simmer.

You are all ready to serve. Portion the rice vermicelli into individual servings, top with hard-boiled eggs, and cooked shrimps/prawns, then pour the Mee Siam gravy into the rice vermicelli. You will get all the necessary details in the package instructions.


Mee Siam never look so good when it can be ready in 10 minutes.

Tag: mee siam, noodles

Chicken noodle - instant noodles with steamed chicken

Steamed chicken noodle/Noodle with steamed chicken

Ingredients: Chicken thigh meat sliced; ginger cut into fine shreds; scallions/spring onions jullienned on the bias, some crushed ginger; red/yellow peppers

Marinade: oyster sauce, cornflour, sesame oil

Method:
1.Marinate chicken for 30 mins
2.Lay the chicken slices on a plate, sprinkle ginger and scallions on top of chicken, add in the additional crushed ginger and put it to steam for about 15-20mins (or until the chicken is cooked)
3. Dish the steamed chicken (with its gravy) over cooked instant noodles (like me...no time...so need to be instant) or cooked rice (when you have more time), and toss the noodles well to let them soak the gravy.
4. Serve with any vegetables of your choice.

For detailed quantity of ingredients and marinade, you can refer to this steamed chicken recipe.


This is another surprise though the name steamed chicken noodle itself may sound so-military, so-bland, and so-unappetizing. Remember...when you steam the marinated chicken with ginger and scallions, you get natural sweetness from the chicken mixing with the marinate seasonings and ginger+scallions. The result is...AWESOME, though nothing fanciful. That chicken clear gravy will line each previously-tasteless noodle strand with moist, and flavor. I wonder if this sounds easy to you but all I had to do was to marinate, assemble the chicken to let it steam; cook the noodles; finally toss them together and I said...PRESTO!

P.S. You can choose the so-much-effort-and-pride-put-in recipe here, or the quick-turn-around-yet-delicious recipe here, to prepare and cook the chicken. I chose the latter.

Tag: steamed chicken, instant noodles

Minced Pork Soba with Wontons

Soba

+


Wontons

+

Minced pork with black vinegar


= y

Let me score that for you...Minced Pork Soba with Wontons !


Maths is straightforward. 1+1 = 2 and nothing else (don't tell me it's eleven, please?)
Don't agree? Give me your answer for y then.


It was such a pleasant surprise. The nutty flavor of soba blends well with the minced pork sauce concocted here. Check out that recipe. For making wontons, you can check it out here.


Tag: wonton, boiled dumplings, minced pork, linguine

Minced pork linguine - Bak Chor Mee with fish balls

Minced meat with linguine - Bak Chor Mee Pok with fish ball and spinach
Ingredients: Minced pork, dried mushrooms julienned, 1 glove minced garlic, 1 shallot sliced thinly, 1tbsp or more dark soy sauce- to taste, 1tsp oyster sauce, brown sugar to taste, salt and pepper to taste, 1tbsp or more black vinegar- adjust accordingly, water, frozen fish balls (option) - boil to cook, spinach-blanched.

Directions: Cook some linguine and set aside. Heat some oil in frying pan, fry the garlic till fragrant, then add pork and lightly fry till the pork is cooked (no more than 5mins so that the pork is not too chewy-tough). Dish out the pork and set aside. Add in the shallots and mushrooms and fry on low-medium heat for 6-8mins, till shallots turn translucent/golden brown. Add in dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar and water, allow the mixture to simmer for 10mins or more on low heat till entire mixture(of shallots and mushrooms) becomes soft. Add in the pork to the mixture and continue to simmer with some dashes of black vinegar.



Before serving, add in pasta and mix well with minced meat mixture (picture above). If you like more black vinegar, more dashes this time, and mix well with pasta.



Top pasta with more minced meat , serve with boiled fish balls and cooked spinach. ENJOY!


I always like black vinegar in my minced meat noodles - bak chor mee. How about you?


Why is that plate of Bak Chor Mee so difficult to reach?

Tag: minced pork, linguine

Stir fry hairy gourd with glass noodles

Stir fry hairy gourd or little winter melon with mushrooms, and glass noodles


Ingredients: Hairy gourd peeled off skin and cut into thin strips, shitake mushrooms - julienned, 1 clove garlic-minced, Chinese dried shrimps(haebee) soaked in warm water for few mins then drain away water, glass noodles soaked in warm water till soften, chicken or veg broth (or water), 1-2tsp oyster sauce, pepper to taste.


Method:
1. Heat oil at low-medium in frying pan
2. Add garlic and chinese dried shrimps and fry till aromatic
3. Add in mushrooms and hairy gourd, lightly fry for 5mins, mixing well with garlic and dried shrimps.
4. When slightly softened, add in oyster sauce, then water/broth and slowly let simmer 6-8mins, or till hairy gourd is soft. Add in pepper to taste.
5. When almost ready, add in glass noodles and mix well

Thanks, Keropokman. I cooked this (from imagination) based on the key ingredients you mentioned - hairy gourd, mushrooms, glass noodles, and the picture you posted. I added some haebee though. Did your aunt use any other secret ingredient?


Very tasty and quite light. Love it!

Soba and mushroom medley in a spicy Korean broth

I love Korean tofu stew - soon dubu. Wontons in it, as spicy wontons. I even "soak" my soba noodles in it ! This time, without seafood. I'm delighted the noodles in the spicy broth are as appetizing and tasty.



Soba and a mushroom medley in a spicy Korean broth
Ingredients: soba noodles, Korean tofu broth seasoning, bushimeiji mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, silken tofu, egg, green/spring onions as garnish


Method:
1. Cook soba and set aside on a plate
2. Cook egg to "runny" or poached state, set aside on top of soba noodles in (1)
3. Cook the soup/broth according to packet instructions, then add the tofu and mushrooms.
4. When ready, ladle the soup/broth over the noodles and egg
5. Garnish and serve


Simply love runny eggs even in this! :)


Let this be my entry for Presto Pasta Night.

Enjoy.

Do you like Korean tofu stew and where did you try that best one?

Tag: korean, soba, soon dubu

Stir-fry veggie glass noodles

Stir-fry veggie glass noodles
Ingredients:
- ~2-3 oz glass noodles, soaked in warm water to soften
-some brown crimini mushrooms, chopped finely to small pieces (note: substitute with shitake mushrooms if you wish)
- 1 stalk of celery, cleaned throughly, chopped to small pieces
- 1 cup mixed (frozen) vegetables - corn, carrots, peas and/or long beans
- 1tbsp oyster sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- water/broth, adjust accordingly

Method:
1. Heat a little oil in a saute pan and stir fry the mushrooms, celery and mixed vegetables. Add in oyster sauce and some salt and pepper to taste
2. When mixture is cooked, add in glass noodles and mix well. If too dry, add some water/broth.
3. Serve warm

Glass noodles, mung bean threads, mung bean noodles, mung bean vermicelli - they are the same. You can also use them to make
Tom Yum Glass Noodles or Nyonya Chap Chye