Food Court Noodles

Is it really 3 years since I blogged last time? Really?

 

As far as I know most major shopping malls have a place set aside where all fast food vendors set up small kiosk and every one of the malls we have visited here in Canada and Eastern States have at least one of Chinese fast-food chains represented. Not one of them failed to have a warm or room temperature vegetarian chow mien noodles on their menu. My guess is that at least 8 out of 10 times this is what we would order.
Since it is such a favorite of mine and also for so many other people I think, I thought that there will be hundreds of recipes on the Net replicating the taste but after trying few none was what I was looking for, there was always something missing. So, I have decided to give it a try and do my own version, I have done that dozens of times before after all and done quite well.
Most important part in this great and simple meal is the noodle and I knew that I will have to find them but problem was that we don't have Oriental Supermarket or even a small Oriental food store so I am dependent on local supermarkets: Zehrs, Metro and Sobeys, all of which do have Oriental Food section. As we talked about this meal on our weekly grocery shopping trip, I found fresh (actually previously frozen) noodles in fresh pasta refrigerator at our Zehrs Supermarket. They were exactly what I was looking for! In other part of the supermarket you are likely to find Sesame Oil, Soy Sauce, Hoisin Sauce, Oyster Sauce and Sriracha (all were already in my very well stocked pantry) which will make sauce. Other ingredients for this vegetarian version were in my refrigerator so it was off to the kitchen!

It is difficult to write a recipe where all ingredients are basically “to taste”; some like it hot, some like it mild and same goes with salty or sweet. Some like broccoli, some can’t stand it and same for onions that I just can’t imagine not to have in my pantry and use them! So, this will be more of a list of suggested ingredients followed by some important procedures or techniques then a real detailed recipe. 

Ingredients (for large bowl)

Fresh Chow Mein noodles (I use half a pack)
Carrot, grated or julienned
Broccoli, flowerets only and blanched (I use microwave for 1 minute)
Green onions, whole onion chopped
Asparagus (in season, blanched and cut into short pieces)
Green or Yellow Beans (in season, blanched and cut into short pieces)
Any vegie that you like… 

For Sauce

Sriracha, Sesame Oil, Hoisin Sauce, Oyster Sauce, Light Soy Sauce (Kikkoman),

Directions
Prepare your sauce in a bowl or as I do in a glass measuring cup. Since I cook by feel and never measure, except in baking, it is difficult to give exact volume of the finished sauce. Also, it depends on amount of noodles as well. I start with:
1 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce
1 Tbsp. Oyster Sauce
1 tsp. Sriracha
1 tsp. of Sesame Oil

Mix, taste and adjust. Set aside.

Very important part is to loosen and untangle the noodles before boiling. If you don’t, you very likely end up with a mess of noodles where all the knots will be undercooked; not a great texture to bite into.

Notice the tangle of noodle strands

All nice and loose...

To boil your noodles follow manufacturer’s suggestion. Mine called to boil for 1 minute and it is very close. I always have a bowl with cold water next to boiling pot to test for doneness of pasta and start tasting a bit past half the suggested time. Also, salt the water just like for regular pasta.

When done, drain, rinse under cold running water and then transfer to bowl with cold water. When they are cool, less than half a minute, transfer them to salad spinner lined with a tee towel. Spinning the cooked noodles in salad spinner will ensure that noodles will separate and be ready to absorb the sauce. Omitting this step will result in soggy, mushy noodles.

 

When noodles are dry mix in about half the sauce and taste. Add more sauce and mix again; hands are the very best tool to coat all the noodles with sauce.

Mix in the vegies and serve.

By adding stir fried chicken, beef or shrimp makes this into a real restaurant dish. I used just chicken thighs cut into strips and shrimps in this version.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oriental Chicken and Noodle Salad

Oriental noodle salad is my favorite food that I go for at any food court in a mall that has a Chinese fast food joint. It is so simple to make! The regular noodle salad has only chow mein noodles and julienned carrots, celery, red pepper and sprouts but I wanted something a wee bit more substantial so I have added cooked chicken thighs but I have also omitted sprouts for a simple reason – I didn’t have any.  And yes, it is fast food, 20 minutes from start to finish.

Ingredients

2 bundles of dry chow-mein noodles
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces
Salt and pepper
1 Tbs. peanut oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 carrot, julienned
1 celery stick, julienned
2 green onions, julienned
1/2 red pepper, julienned

Dressing
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tbs. Hoisin sauce
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. Sesame oil

Coriander for garnish

Directions

Cook noodles till al dente, plunge in cold water to stop cooking, drain, cut into shorter pieces and set aside.
Cook the seasoned chicken pieces in hot frying pan with peanut and sesame oil for about 5 minutes or until done and set aside.
Mix all dressing ingredients in a mixing bowl then add vegetables, chicken and noodles and toss until everything is well combined.
Serve at room temperature garnished with chopped coriander.

Chicken Breast with Vegetables and Noodles

After all the comfort food that I have cooked over the Christmas it was about time to come up with something light. I had some vegies left over from our traditional Friday night thin crust veggie pizza and a chicken breast so I had lot of choices as to how to prepare it. In the end I settled on sort of sauté with wide egg noodles. I had parts of white onion, zucchini, red and green peppers, cremini mushrooms and Roma tomatoes, excellent base for a sauce. At the end just before plating I stirred in a bit of balsamic vinegar and large pinch of dried basil (from my garden). Freshly grated Parmigiano and sprinkle of chopped parsley on top finished the plate.

 

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups of julienned red and green peppers and zucchini

1-1/2 cups sliced mushrooms and onions

1 cup chopped Roma tomatoes

1 chicken breast cut into strips and tossed with salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes and olive oil

1/2 cup Marsala wine

1 Tbs. Balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. dry basil

Spread the chicken breast strips in hot non-stick frying pan and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Remove to preheated bowl or plate and place into 250 °F toaster oven. Cook noodles, toss in butter and keep warm.

 In same frying pan add 1 Tbs. of olive oil and sauté mushrooms and onions until lightly colored, about 5 minutes.

 Add julienned zucchini, peppers and tomatoes, stir and cook for 5 minutes, covered. Remove cover and stir in Marsala. Cook uncovered until the sauce thickens. Stir in balsamic vinegar and basil.  

Mix in previously cooked noodles and toss so that all the noodles are coated with sauce. Serve on preheated plates or shallow bowls, place chicken strips on top and sprinkle with cheese and chopped parsley.

Mongolian Beef with Fresh Lo Mein Noodles

This is not to be confused with chow mein dish. Lo Mein noodles have a great texture, lot of bite and are flat and relatively thick. Chow Mein noodles are more like wheat vermicelli. Fresh noodles are always so much better then dried variety.

This dish, like most Chinese dishes takes very little time to cook but the preparation takes time:

Cook noodles till almost al dente, drain, rinse in cold water, drain again and toss with a bit of peanut oil.

Slice flank steak very thin and marinade with chopped garlic and ginger, soy sauce, sugar and sake.

Prepare vegetables you are using (in my case it was just garlic, ginger, white onions, red pepper and snow peas.

Prepare sauce using 1 part each of Hoisin sauce, Oyster sauce and sake and 1/2 part Sriracha sauce. You will need about 1/2 cup for each serving.

Once mise en place is done it is very fast.

To a very hot wok add peanut oil and brown the beef for about 30 seconds. Remove and keep warm. Into same wok ad another half tablespoon of oil, add vegetables and stir fry for a minute or two. Add sauce, then noodles and reheat. Beef goes back into wok, toss to combine and serve.

Sunomono

Sunomono is Japanese cold noodle salad made with somen (buckwheat) noodles, served with rice vinegar dressing and topped with cooked cold shrimp, crab meat, daikon, shiitake mushrooms and cucumber. Very much a summer favorite.

3 bundles of Somen Noodles

Cook somen:
Bring 2 1/2 quarts water to a rolling boil in a 4-quart saucepan over moderately high heat. Add noodles and 1 cup more water. When water returns to a boil, add 1 cup cold water and bring back to a boil. Simmer noodles until just tender and slightly translucent, about 2 minutes. Test noodles for doneness by dipping 1 strand in cold water and sampling. If noodles are not tender, add 1 cup more water and return water to a boil. Drain noodles in a colander and rinse well under cold water. Return to saucepan filled with very cold water and rub noodles till all starch is removed. Drain again and keep noodles cold.

Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup Mirin (or 2 Tbs. honey dissolved in 2 Tbs. sake)

1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce

1/4 cup water

Mix all ingredients and adjust to your taste. Sauce should taste sweet and sour.

Toppings:

Sliced cucumber

Sliced daikon radish

Cooked shrimps

Crab meat or imitation crab meat (processed Pollock)

Sliced Shiitake mushrooms braised in teriyaki sauce

To serve:

Place somen in chilled bowls, drizzle with 1/4 cup of dipping sauce and top with seafood and vegetables of your choice. For little bit of kick I add 1 tsp. of wasabi paste to my dipping sauce.

Italian Style Stir Fried Chicken Breast

This is my version of typically Italian pasta dish eaten with chopsticks. Yes, very weird but tasty and practical.

We just love wide egg noodles, especially the short twisted ones, but they are so difficult to eat with knife and fork so now we always use chopsticks and since there is no knife with table setting all ingredients have to be cut into bite sized pieces. It is that simple, just like any Chinese stir fry. I used chunky and thick tomato sauce with chopped zucchini, onions, garlic and roasted peppers.

First, cook noodles of your choice, drain and toss with little butter and olive oil. Set aside and keep warm.

While the noodles are boiling heat up non-stick skillet, add little olive oil and stir fry chicken breast that was cut into small, bite sized strips, together with julienned zucchini, sliced onion and sliced cremini mushrooms. At same time add the sauce, mix and cook till chicken is done, about 2 minutes.

Serve noodles on preheated plate, top with chicken, sauce and veggies.

That’s it. If you have a sauce ready it takes well under half an hour total.

Shanghai Flat Noodle Stir Fry

Let’s just say that I had a hard time to figure out what do I call tonight’s dish. It is my original creation based on what I bought in Chinese market and what else was available to me. Even though I bought new carbon steel round bottom wok and seasoned it same day I didn’t want to use it till I stir-fry some green onions and garlic in it to remove the metallic taste. So, my trusty 12” pan was called to duty.

Anyway, fresh ingredients from market were flat Shanghai noodles, fresh water chestnuts and Lap Chong (Chinese sausage). I bought 2 kinds but in this dish I used pork and duck liver Lap Chong. I have used this sausage before many times but never correctly. I have never steamed it before using it in a recipe. What a difference the 20 minute steaming makes! It is so good! And so was this meal. Let’s just say that my wife was just oo-hing and ah-ing through the whole meal. Of course, the fact that Shanghai flat noodles have incredible texture if cooked correctly doesn’t hurt. Here is just a recall of ingredients and process. Very, very seldom do I use somebody else’s recipes, so do the same, be creative. If I remember correctly I used garlic, ginger, green onions, Chinese black mushrooms, fresh water chestnuts, steamed Lap Chong, green beans, red pepper and chicken tenders. Sauce included soaking water from mushrooms, rice wine, Hoisin sauce, Oyster sauce, Sriracha and sugar. It is another must have again and soon stir fry.

Char Siu Pork with Crispy Noodles

Chinese Barbecue Pork Chow Mein

Even though the actual stir-fry takes about 3 minutes to make the two main ingredients take a bit longer. The Char Siu pork can be done few days ahead and noodles will take just over half an hour and they too can be done ahead.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup Char Siu pork, shredded into larger pieces 1/4” thick

3 Chinese mushrooms

1/2 carrot, julienned

16 – 20 Snow peas, ribs removed

2 green onions, sliced diagonally

1 large clove of garlic, chopped

1” piece of ginger, chopped

2 tsp peanut oil

Sauce:

1/2 cup mushroom soaking liquid

1 Tbs. Hoisin sauce

1 Tbs. Oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp corn starch

In a small bowl mix all ingredients till well combined

Noodles:

Chinese egg chow mein noodles, 2 bundles

1 Tbs. peanut oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

Boil noodles according to instructions on a package drain well and divide into 2 equal bundles.

Heat 1/2 Tbs. of peanut oil and 1/2 tsp. of sesame oil in nonstick frying pan, add noodles and spread evenly. Cook till light brown crust forms on bottom. Turn over and crisp up other side. Place on cookie sheet lined with paper towel and place in 200 °F oven. Repeat with second bundle of noodles.

Stir fry:

Soak the mushrooms till soft, remove stems and julienne. Reserve soaking liquid for sauce.

Heat oil in a wok till very hot. Add oil and coat sides of wok with oil using steel spatula. Add garlic and ginger and stir fry for few seconds. Add mushrooms and carrots and 1 Tbs. of soaking liquid. Stir fry for few seconds then add shredded char siu, snow peas and sauce. Cook till sauce thickens a bit and snow peas turn light green.

Place noodles on preheated serving plates, pour wok contents on top and garnish with green onions.

Veal Ragout with Mushrooms and Noodles

This is one of my favorite dishes since my childhood in Czech Republic and it is a regional specialty. Just like so many ragouts and stews it is better next day after all flavors have combined. This is my slow cooking, no-worry version.

To serve 4

2 Lb. veal shoulder chops, deboned and cut into 1” cubes

3 cups sliced Cremini or Button mushrooms

1 onion, chopped

3 T. butter

2 T. flour

½ cup veal or chicken stock – mushrooms will release lot of liquid

Salt

Pepper

Preheat oven to 220 °C.

Sprinkle the veal with salt and pepper. Melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat and when the foam subsides, add onions and cook until translucent, 6 – 8 minutes. Stir in the veal cubes till meat changes color, sprinkle with caraway seeds and flour and stir to coat meat evenly. Cover tightly and cook over very low heat for 10 minutes, shaking the pan now and then to prevent sticking.

Stir in stock, add mushrooms and stir till well mixed. Bring to simmer and place on middle rack in preheated oven and braise for 2 hours. This allows for the collagen of the connective tissues to melt into gelatin, while keeping the drying up of the muscle fibers at a minimum. After 2 hours raise temperature to 275°C for another hour. After 3 hours in the oven start checking for doneness  (sharp tip of a knife should go in without resistance). At this time you can start boiling water for noodles.

When meat is done, remove from oven and let rest so that meat will reabsorb some of the juices. Boil noodles, drain, toss in butter and keep warm.

Of course, this ragout can be cooked on a stove top at very low heat but it will have to be stirred every 15 – 20 minutes for 3 hours.

All done! Serve with buttered wide noodles. 

Stir in the veal cubes till meat changes color, sprinkle with caraway seeds and flour and stir to coat meat evenly.

Stir in stock, add mushrooms and stir till well mixed.

3 hours plus later...

All done.

 Note: It is very difficult to photograph and plate stew, any stew. It is not a pretty meal regardless of how great it tastes. I did my best with my $150 Canon point-and-shoot camera. Also, for garnish I used parsley from my garden. I am sad to say that they were the last leaves left. I still have plenty of arugula but no parsley.

Arugula in cold frame.