It is now a little more than two weeks after the surgery and the restrictions on solid food is finally lifted. A little celebration is in order, and in my world the word celebration is synonymous with the word noodles; preferably those that are MSG-laden. But since my doctor made me promise not to eat any more of them (seriously, he might as well made me sign some form of agreement), I settled with this Korean noodle dish laden with vegetables and flavored with a spicy, sweet and sour sauce using red pepper paste. Also, just to kill two birds with one stone, I hope this will answer the food wishes of the many who asked if I could post more vegetarian recipes. Although you really needn’t worry, my dietary restrictions regarding meat is good for another two months.

JJOL-MYEON (쫄면): (Serves 1-2)

[ 1 packet of Jjol myun (I used egg noodles) +  toppings: (1/2 cup bean sprouts + 1/2 cup julienned cucumber + 1/2 cup julienned carrots + 1/2 cup julienned cabbage + 1/2 - 1 hard boiled egg) + sauce: (2-3 tablespoons gochujang (Korean red pepper paste) + 2 tablespoons gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) + 2 tablespoons vinegar + 1 tablespoon sugar + 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic  + 2 tablespoons Sprite + 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds +  1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil) ]

Julienne carrots, cucumber, and cabbage using a mandolin or a really sharp knife. Set aside.

Bring a pan of water to a boil and cook the beansprouts (covered) for 5 minutes. You don’t want to be overdone, so keep an eye on it. Drain and rinse. Set aside.

Cook jjolmyun noodles in boling water 8 minutes or until tender. Rinse with cold water and set aside to drain.

For the sauce, combine all ingredients listed above in a bowl.

Place the noodles in a bowl and add the toppings and sauce.

Mix thoroughly before digging in.

Enjoy!

  3 months ago       177 notes
  food  hansik  Korean food  jjolmyun  noodles  

courtesy of Kevin Tan.

  5 months ago       115 notes
  food  noodles  foodinmybelly  

I would eat this all damn day, everyday, if I could. 830mg of sodium and all.

  9 months ago       858 notes
  noodles  food  my love for it is long  winding  and never ending  indomie  food blog  cooking blog  recipe blog  photographers on tumblr  

Mapo Tofu Ramen

  9 months ago       523 notes
  food  mapo tofu  ramen  chinese food  noodles  food blog  cooking blog  recipe blog  photographers on tumblr  

I’ll come back to write something witty or explain the dish here later, because as of now I’m [very] late to an iftar party. So read on for the recipe and enjoy!

MAPO TOFU RAMEN:

[ 1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth + 2 teaspoons potato starch (halve if using cornstarch) + 2 teaspoons soy sauce + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1 tablespoon sesame oil + 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced + 2 teaspoons minced ginger + 4 green onions white part only, minced + 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, roughly chopped (black bean paste will also work) +  10-12 shiitake mushroom, finely chopped + 2 teaspoons doubanjiang (chili bean paste) + 14 ounce block of silken tofu, drained and cut into 3/4” cubes + 2 packets instant ramen ] OPTIONAL: 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, black seeds removed then ground.

Add the chicken stock, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar to a small bowl and stir to combine.

***OPTIONAL STEP:

I fried my tofu in a tiny bit of oil just to firm them up to prevent from breaking when I toss them in the sauce. Feel free to omit this step.

Heat a wok or large frying pan until very hot. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger and green onions and stir-fry with a spatula until fragrant.

Add the black beans and Sichuan pepper and continue stir-frying. Add the chopped shiitake mushroom and use the spatula to break it up into small pieces.

Add the doubanjiang and stir to distribute. Give the stock mixture a good stir to incorporate anything that may have settled, and then pour it over the mushroom and tofu.

Add the tofu, and toss to mix (if you stir it, the tofu will lose its shape).

While the tofu is cooking, boil the instant noodles (sans seasoning packet) for half the amount of time in the package instructions. 

Drain and add to the tofu mixture.

Toss to coat, then boil until the sauce thickens. Garnished with the green parts of the green onions.

MAPO TOFU RAMEN:

[ 1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth + 2 teaspoons potato starch (halve if using cornstarch) + 2 teaspoons soy sauce + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1 tablespoon sesame oil + 2 medium cloves of garlic, minced + 2 teaspoons minced ginger + 4 green onions white part only, minced + 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, roughly chopped (black bean paste will also work) +  10-12 shiitake mushroom, finely chopped + 2 teaspoons doubanjiang (chili bean paste) + 14 ounce block of silken tofu, drained and cut into 3/4” cubes + 2 packets instant ramen ] OPTIONAL: 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, black seeds removed then ground.

1. Add the chicken stock, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar to a small bowl and stir to combine.
2. ***OPTIONAL STEP:
3. I fried my tofu in a tiny bit of oil just to firm them up to prevent from breaking when I toss them in the sauce. Feel free to omit this step.
4. Heat a wok or large frying pan until very hot. Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger and green onions and stir-fry with a spatula until fragrant.
5. Add the black beans and Sichuan pepper and continue stir-frying. Add the chopped shiitake mushroom and use the spatula to break it up into small pieces.
6. Add the doubanjiang and stir to distribute. Give the stock mixture a good stir to incorporate anything that may have settled, and then pour it over the mushroom and tofu.
7. Add the tofu, and toss to mix (if you stir it, the tofu will lose its shape).
8. While the tofu is cooking, boil the instant noodles (sans seasoning packet) for half the amount of time in the package instructions. 
9. Drain and add to the tofu mixture.
10. Toss to coat, then boil until the sauce thickens. Garnished with the green parts of the green onions.

Enjoy!

  9 months ago       289 notes
  mapo tofu  food  ramen  chinese food  noodles  food blog  cooking blog  recipe blog  

***This post goes out to Fkphotographie who made a foodwish for Drunken Noodles with Chicken.

From what I gathered, there was once a man who usually comes home drunk out of his mind and with quite the hunger pang. He would then ask his wife to make him something to eat, but would always complain on how the food tasted bland. Tired of being insulted about her cooking, the wife puts everything she could think of inside the wok along with the noodles the next time the husband came home drunk and asked her to make him some food - all the salt, hot chili, vinegar and garlic. It turns out the husband enjoyed it and said nothing but praises about the dish, and so comes about the name “Drunken Noodles”. Now I don’t know if this story is 100% true, but you can bet that you don’t have to be drunk to fully appreciate this plate of noodles.

THAI DRUNKEN NOODLES:

[ 1 1/4 cup wide rice noodles + 1/2 cup baby corns + 1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (can be substituted with firm tofu or other meat or seafood) + 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil + 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced + 2-3 Thai chilis, chopped + 1/2 cup packed Holy Basil leaves or Thai basil + 1 tablespoon black soy sauce + 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce + 1 tablespoon fish sauce + 1 teaspoon sugar (not in picture) ]

Separate the noodles by peeling them apart one at a time. If you bought dried ones, cook them according to the instructions on the packet. If you bought one that has been cooked and packaged, soak them in some warm water to loosen up so you can separate the strands.

Set aside

Now this recipe calls for “Holy Basil”, which is different from the regular sweet basil. They have hairy stems and the leaves that are strongly scented. The leaves are up to 5 cm long, usually slightly toothed. I didn’t have Holy basil on hand and just used some regular Thai basil in its place.

Pick out the basil leaves and give them a good rinse. Cut the baby corns into 1/2 lengthwise. Mince the garlic and chop the chilies, and set aside. 

Mix the soy sauces in a bowl. Set aside until needed.

In a very hot wok or frying pan over high heat, add about 1-2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the chilies, garlic and stir-fry for about 20 seconds. Add the meat and cook until just done. 

Add the baby corn and continue to stir-fry for about 1 minute.  Add a couple squirts of fish sauce and remove everything quickly to a bowl. Set aside.

Reduce the heat a little.

To the hot wok, add about 1 or 2 tbs more oil, and when it’s hot add the separated noodles. Stir-fry until the noodles begin to soften, maybe 3 or 4 minutes. Give the noodles a few seconds between turns to allow them to take on some color. 

Add back in the meat and veggies and give it a few good stirs to mix. 

Add in the sugar and about half to 2/3 of the sauce and stir-fry to mix it well. Taste the noodles and add more sauce as needed.

Throw in the basil and give it a quick turn, just until it starts to wilt.  Then you’re done. 

Serve immediately with fish sauce and/or soy sauce flavoured with minced garlic, more Thai chilis and vinegar on the side to allow diners to adjust the taste to their liking.

THAI DRUNKEN NOODLES:

[ 1 1/4 cup wide rice noodles + 1/2 cup baby corns + 1/2 cup cubed chicken breast (can be substituted with firm tofu or other meat or seafood) + 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil + 2 cloves of garlic, minced + 2-3 Thai chilis, chopped + 1/2 cup packed Holy Basil leaves or Thai basil + 1 tablespoon black soy sauce + 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce + 1 tablespoon fish sauce (not in picture) ]

1. Separate the noodles by peeling them apart one at a time. If you bought dried ones, cook them according to the instructions on the packet. If you bought one that has been cooked and packaged, soak them in some warm water to loosen up so you can separate the strands. Set aside.
2. Pick out the basil leaves and give them a good rinse. Cut the baby corns into 1/2 lengthwise. Mince the garlic and chop the chilies, and set aside. 
3. Mix the soy sauces in a bowl. Set aside until needed.
4. In a very hot wok or frying pan over high heat, add about 1-2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the chilies, garlic and stir-fry for about 20 seconds. Add the meat and cook until just done. 
5. Add the baby corn and continue to stir-fry for about 1 minute.  Add a couple squirts of fish sauce and remove everything quickly to a bowl. Set aside.
6. Reduce the heat a little. To the hot wok, add about 1 or 2 tbs more oil, and when it’s hot add the separated noodles. Stir-fry until the noodles begin to soften, maybe 3 or 4 minutes. Give the noodles a few seconds between turns to allow them to take on some color. 
7. Add back in the meat and veggies and give it a few good stirs to mix. 
8. Add in the sugar and about half to 2/3 of the sauce and stir-fry to mix it well. Taste the noodles and add more sauce as needed.
9. Throw in the basil and give it a quick turn, just until it starts to wilt. Then you’re done. 
10. Serve immediately with fish sauce and/or soy sauce flavoured with minced garlic, more Thai chilis and vinegar on the side to allow diners to adjust the taste to their liking.

Enjoy!

  1 year ago       106 notes
  food  thai food  drunken noodles  pad kee mao  noodles  fkphotographie  foodwish  

Chinese New Year Cooking Marathon: Tea Eggs, Crispy Duck with Pancakes, Flaky Swirl Mooncake and Noodles with Garlic-Ponzu Shrimp.

  1 year ago       35 notes
  food  chinese new year  duck with pancakes  tea eggs  noodles  mooncake  photographers on tumblr  

I’m going to be honest and say that my brain is unable to formulate anything witty or quirky at the moment, but I will say this though; this recipe post might have just caused me to earn myself the workout of a lifetime.  Feel free to just proceed for recipes and see how today’s cooking marathon went. I posted the steps for the recipes in the chronological order that I did them in - this allows maximization of time to get everything done as quickly as possible. In any case, if you’re ever curious as to what it would be like to cook 4 different food in the span of a few hours, feel free to follow the steps to the letter and see yourself reaching the finish line (even if completely worn out) rather victoriously.

Eggs have a special symbolic significance in China as they symbolize fertility, and even though I’m not looking towards incubating anything anytime soon, I made these because I love the look of marbled eggwhites. I think it’s fun to see what kind of pattern you get as you peel the eggshells…or maybe that’s just me. In any case, enjoy. 

TEA EGGS:

[ 5-6 eggs + 3/4 cup soy sauce + 2 star anise + 2 tablespoon (or 2 bags) of black tea + 1 cinnamon stick + 1 teaspoon sugar + 1 tablespoon Chinese 5 spice powder ]

Put the eggs in saucepan and cover with water until fully immersed. Add some salt to the water and put on high heat. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat so that it simmers for about 15-20 minutes.

At the same time, combine soy sauce, sugar, star anise, cinnamon stick and Chinese 5 spice powder with 2 cups water and bring to a boil in a saucepan.

Remove from heat and add tea. Let steep for 10 minutes.

Drain and rinse the eggs with cold water and then using a spoon or a knife, gently tap the shell to crack it.

Return the eggs to the soy-sauce mixture saucepan. Bring to a boil and let cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Take off from the heat and then let cool in marinade for an hour or two before serving.

Once the eggs have cooled down, leave it alone to steep while you prepare other things, like the duck, for example;

I must admit I’ve never cooked a whole anything before so this duck was my first (there was a lot of squirming while I stuck my hand to rub inside the cavity. It also came with the head still attached and I literally begged the household management team to discard it for me). I personally am not particularly fond of duck because of the gamey smell.

Making crispy skin duck itself proved to be a very daunting task because you always hear cooking tales of crispy duck; how it has to be bathed in boiling water or have air blown in between the skin and meat to ensure crispness. I for one know that I’ll want a foolproof recipe and I happened to find one courtesy of Jamie Oliver. I don’t know if I’m allowed to call it a Peking duck since it’s not a Peking duck and it’s cooked in a shortcut rather than the traditional method, but that was the name on the recipe.

Trivia: Did you know that duck symbolizes fidelity in the Chinese culture?

CRISPY [PEKING] DUCK (recipe by Jamie Oliver)

[ 1 whole duck + 1/2 tablespoon salt + 1 tablespoon grated ginger + 1-2 tablespoon Chinese 5 spice powder ]

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3.

Rub the duck with salt, inside and out. Rub the grated ginger round the cavity, leaving the ginger inside to flavour.

Dust the duck all over with 5-spice powder and then place it on a rack on top of a roasting tray.

Leave it in the oven for the first 1 hour and all you’ll need to do is check on it every so often and spoon away the excess fat that has rendered out of the duck. This will make the skin go wonderfully crispy.

While you wait for the bird to cook, do something else, like make the Flaky Swirl Mooncake (make it, but don’t bake it yet!)

The Flaky Swirl Mooncake has intrigued me for a while now. I found a picture of it accidentally while browsing for I-don’t-even-remember-what-anymore, and thought that it looked very unique. Unlike the more popular mooncakes, this one doesn’t use a mold and is very flakey instead of gelatinous. It’s made from 2 types of dough - the “water” dough and the “oil” dough; rolled up a couple of times to make the signature planet-like appearance.

FLAKY SWIRL MOONCAKE (recipe from House of Annie) = WATER DOUGH + OIL DOUGH + FILLING

WATER DOUGH:

[ 2 cups all purpose flour + 1/4 cup icing sugar + salt + 1/3 cup cold butter + 1/3 cup cold water ]

Sift flour, sugar and salt. Then cut butter into flour mixture using fingertips or pastry blender until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Add in water and mix to form a soft, non-sticky dough. If it is sticky, you will need to add a bit more flour to get it to be the right texture.

You should be able to form a soft ball that won’t stick to your hands. You don’t have to knead it. Cover and set aside to rest for 20 mins.

Now prepare the oil dough:

OIL DOUGH:

[1 3/4 cups all purpose flour + salt + 1/2 cup oil + 1 teaspoon food colouring of flavour essence of your choice ]

Sift flour and salt.

Then, make a well in the centre of the flour and add in oil and food colouring or essence.

Draw in the flour from the sides and mix to form a soft even coloured dough (same thing here, if it’s too sticky, add more dough till you form a soft ball that doesn’t stick to your hands). Do not over-mix. Cover and set aside for 20 mins.

ASSEMBLY:

Divide Water Dough (WD) and Oil Dough (OD) into 10 equal pieces and roll into balls.

Take one ball of WB and flatten it up using your palm or a rolling pin. Take one ball of OD and put it in the middle. Wrap WD around OD. Pinch to seal edges.

With the sealed side facing up, roll into a rectangle. Roll up tightly to form a cylinder.

Turn the cylinder 90 degrees, with the sealed end facing up. Roll out again into a long thin strip.

Roll it up tightly again and then using a sharp knife or a pastry cutter, cut the cylinder in the middle into two pieces.

With the cut side facing down, flatten the dough, making the edges slightly thinner than the centre.

Wrap the filling and pinch to seal. Try not to ‘tug/pull’ too hard, otherwise the layers will tear. Best to flatten the dough larger than smaller so it’s easier to pinch. And when you pinch, you will find that the bottom looks ugly—don’t worry about it. Repeat these steps to the rest of the WD and OD balls; it’s a bit time consuming but definitely worth it.

Set these aside until it’s time to bake them.

Check on the duck:

Make sure that the heat is high enough (but not too high) that the fat is rendering out. You can now flip the duck so that he belly side is facing up and then return it in the oven for another hour or so.

Generally, after about 2 hours of complete cooking time it will be perfect – the leg meat will pull off the bone and the skin will be wonderfully crisp. Near the end of the cooking time, you can turn the heat up to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6 for a short while until the skin’s really crispy.

Now you can carve and cut duck meat, put it in a plate and tent it with foil and then leave it in the oven to keep warm. Get the storebought pancakes and plum sauce, scallions and cucumber sticks ready. If you can’t get storebought pancakes, then make some:

PANCAKE for CRISPY DUCK:

[ 1/2 cup all purpose flour + 1/4 cup water + 1/4 cup milk + 2 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 egg ]

Whisk all the ingredients together until combined, then leave the batter to sit for 5-10 minutes.

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Brush with some oil or butter.

Pour a tablespoonful of batter into frying pan. Spread to form a thin pancake, about 16cm in diameter. Cook for 2 minutes. Turn and cook for a further 1 minute. Transfer to a plate.

Repeat with remaining batter. Set pancakes aside.

Now we’re coming up to the last leg of the marathon, and this is where things get speedy. Get your duck out of the oven and turn it up to 185C.

Get your mooncakes and place them sealed side down on lined baking tray and bake for about 30 mins until the top and bottom are a light golden brown.

While this is happening, go make the long-life noodles:

Noodles are eaten as part of the Chinese tradition on birthdays, new year and weddings because noodles are said to represent long life, so be prepared to slurp these baby up or risk having your life shortened by a couple of ends.

NOODLES with GARLIC-PONZU SHRIMP (adapted from the recipe by Wolfgang Puck):

[ 1 pound fresh large shrimp, shelled and deveined + 2 tablespoon vegetable oil + 1/2 cup sliced shiitake mushrooms + 1 cup sliced baby bok choy or tatsoi leaves + 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced + 2-3 shallots, sliced + 1 pound lo-mein noodles or spaghetti, cooked al-dente following the package instructions + 1/4 cup storebought Ponzu sauce + 1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions to scatter on top ] 

NOTE: If you can’t find Ponzu sauce, then substitute it by adding orange juice, lemon juice and dried red pepper flakes to some regular soy sauce.

Preheat wok or large skillet over high heat.

Using paper towels, pat shrimp dry. Lightly season shrimp with salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoons oil to wok. Heat until oil swirls easily and gives off thin haze. Immediately add the shrimp. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or just until they turn pink. Remove shrimp to strainer. Set aside to drain oil.

Drizzle remaining oil into hot wok. Heat until hot. Immediately add mushrooms and bok choy. Stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes or just until colors are bright and vegetables are tender but still slightly crunchy.

Add garlic, shallots and noodles to vegetables in wok, separating noodles as you add them. Stir-fry for 2 to 3 minutes or until noodles are heated through and garlic is fragrant. Return shrimp to wok. 

Add ponzu sauce. Stir-fry, tossing well, until the sauce is hot and coats all ingredients.

Transfer mixture to serving bowl or platter. Arrange some shrimp attractively on top. Garnish with scallions. Serve immediately.

Now get the rest of your food; the duck and pancakes (with all the extras)…

Drain the eggs out of the marinating mixture…

And serve!

Enjoy and a Happy Chinese New Year!

  1 year ago       46 notes
  chinese new year  food  cooking  duck and pancakes  noodles  mooncake  tea eggs  tired  

Hangover Cure - Part.2 : Instant Ramen Bowl and Ginger Ale

  1 year ago       52 notes
  food  hangover food  hangover cure  noodles  ginger ale  photographers on tumblr  

The current time is 3:30AM and I’m still very much awake. These bouts of insomnia are pretty hard to shake off so I thought I might as well do something productive with the time, and so here comes the second post of Hansik week - ambassador Lee Hyukjae (“Eunhyuk”)’s favourite Korean food, Japchae.

Having been done at 12:14AM, the post exemplifies all the reasons as to why I’ve always avoided doing a post after the sun has gone down. Sunlight really does make all the difference, especially when you don’t own professional tools to compensate for it’s absence. But let’s get back to the food. The noodles used in japchae are called “dangmyeon”; it’s made from sweet potato starch and turns translucent when cooked rather than white as in the case of rice noodles and as you scroll further down, you’ll notice that I used the latter - the main reason being I couldn’t find the dangmyeon. I’m fully aware that I can no longer call this Japchae, but I’m going ask you to pretend that dangmyeon was used in this and just go with it, pretty please?

Japchae = Noodles + Stir-fried vegetables and meat.

Japchae:

- Noodles:
[ 5 oz dangmyeon (Korean potato starch noodles)  + 1 tablespoon sesame oil, plus more for drizzling + 5 tablespoons soy sauce + 2 tablespoons sesame seeds ]

- Stir fried Vegetables & Meat:

[1/4 lb sirloin beef tips or rib eye steak +  1/2 lb Korean spinach + 2 tablespoons canola or other neutral oil + 1 tablespoon soy sauce + 1 small onion + 1 large carrot (or 2 smaller ones)  + 6 dried shiitake, reconstituted in water]

Peel and cut the vegetables into matchsticks. Cut the meat into strips and set aside.

Cook the sweet-potato noodles in a large pot of boiling water according to the package directions, 4 to 6 minutes.

Immediately drain and rinse thoroughly under cold water and put into a bowl.

**Be sure not to overcook the noodles, or they will lose their chewy texture.

** If you like, cut the noodles with scissors into 6- to 7-inch lengths for easier eating.

Add in the sesame oil and soy sauce and toss together until evenly coated.

Blanch the spinach in boiling water.

Rinse immediately under cold water, squeeze the water from the leaves and form into a ball and chop the spinach roughly. Set aside.

Heat some oil in a skillet or frying pan and sautee the carrots. Set aside.

Do the same to the onion slices until it turns translucent. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the beef, 1 teaspoon of the soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil. Stir-fry until the beef is cooked, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and transfer to a plate.

Assembly:

In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the noodles, beef mixture, spinach, vegetables.

Add soy sauce and sesame oil and some sugar, if you like, to your taste. 

Serve warm, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Enjoy!

  1 year ago       32 notes
  dangmyeon  food  japchae  korean  noodles  eunhyuk  lee hyukjae  hansik  super junior  food photography  food blog  korean food