Spaghetti Stir-fry With The Works ..

As much as I love Asian flair in rice and noodles, I occasionally enjoy preparing just a simple pasta meal at home. No chopping, no dicing, and no leftover herbs. This is my kind of comfort meal ! That, besides a simple custom request to Olive Garden got rejected when I ordered my Alfredo Pasta with Portobello Mushroom with a light wine sauce :P

On a meatball spaghetti night, I love using jarred spaghetti sauce, especially the four cheese kind. Whereas on lighter days, I cannot do without canned tomatoes with all my favorite herbs - Del Monte Organic Tomatoes With Basil, Oregano And Garlic. I usually don't use canned tomotoes in stir-fries. With that, I am determined to put my taste buds to the test. This pasta recipe is an easy, breezy one, makes your summer days less hectic, I promise !

Look .. I found these huge luscious looking beauties - Heirloom Grilla-bella mushrooms.

I love chunks of these loaded up in my spaghetti pasta dish. If you have never had them, you must ! As much as I love all Asian mushrooms, I enjoy grilla-bellas Portobello mushrooms in the summer - light earthy flavors. Portobello mushrooms are great on the grill, or stir-fried, and you can just toss them into your favorite burger or a salad afterwards.

As suggested by Ruth Daniel's Presto Pasta Night, any pasta recipe will do. Go crazy with your noodle dish - hot, cold, spicy, creamy, saucy, and more ..as for tonight, I will be featuring Spaghetti Noodles Stir-fried with Portobello Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic and Beef Steak. Yes, it was delicious, and I hope you give my spaghetti noodles, with the works more than one go, bon apetit ! :)

Spaghetti Noodles Stir-fry With Portobello Mushrooms Recipe

Ingredients :
1 lb cooked spaghetti noodles ( I used Barilla )
14 oz Portobello mushrooms ( sliced )
2/3 can cubed tomatoes with oregano, basil and garlic
10 oz top sirloin beef
olive oil
onion powder
salt and pepper to taste
white wine ( chardonnay )
grated Romano and Parmesan cheese ( optional )

Method :
1) Marinate the beef with onion powder, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside for 5 minutes.
2) Heat the wok or skillet to a smoky point, pan-fry OR grill the beef on high heat until both sides are browned and cook until two thirds done.
3) Slice the steak to about 3/4 of an inch thick, and set aside.
4) Heat the wok, toss in a generous amount of olive oil, pan-fry the sliced portobello mushrooms until fragrant, toss in the cooked spaghetti noodles. ( at room temperature or slightly chilled, so that it doesn't stick to the pan )
5) Continue stir-frying the spaghetti noodles for 1 minute, add the canned tomatoes, salt, pepper to taste, sliced beef steak, splash the white wine in, give it a quick toss and stir, cover, and simmer for another 2 minutes.
6) Dish up, and sprinkle grated romano and parmesan cheese, and ready to serve.

Clay Pot Sticky Rice

Remember when I cooked Claypot Chicken with Mushroom ? I've been so eager to whip up another one of my favorite claypot dish - Claypot Sticky Rice. After drooling over Lyrical's "Claypot Chicken Rice", Precious Pea's "Lor Mai Gai" ( Sticky Rice with Chicken ), and WMW's Sticky Rice Feast, I screamed to myself, "I've got to have them all !" Oh well, since I only have two hands, I guess I'll stick to what I had originally planned on - Claypot Sticky Rice. Luckily I already have most of the ingredients I needed at home. Some leftover peanuts from my last peanut soup dish, chicken, dried shrimp, dried chinese mushroom, and wood ear mushroom (I enjoy the crunchiness so I tend to use it in any dish I can). All I needed from the Asian grocery store were just the glutinous rice and some quail's eggs.

There are numerous popular glutinous rice dishes in Asia. In Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Burma, glutinous rice is commonly used to make sweet savory desserts such as Durian/Mango sticky rice steamed with coconut milk and black sticky rice pudding. In Chinese dim sum, it is stuffed with meat, chestnuts and salted eggs, wrapped in lotus leaves and steamed. In Japan, it is used to make you see mochi, and in Korea and Shanghai, sticky rice cakes.

Sticky Rice aka glutinous rice or labeled as sweet rice comes in different grains - short, long, round and black, and it is usually soaked for hours before cooking to yield a sticky, chewy texture. The glutinous rice resembles the Arborio, Carnaroli Rissoto because they do exude more starch when cooked, becoming sticky, with one exception - glutinous sweet sticky rice is actually gluten-free.

Claypot Sticky Rice Recipe

Ingredients :
4 pc dried chestnuts ( skinless )
10 oz dried peanuts ( soaked and rinsed )
3 oz dried shrimps ( soaked and chopped )
1/2 a can of cooked quail eggs
4 oz wood ear mushroom ( soaked and shredded )
12 oz dried chinese mushroom ( soaked and shredded )
3 chicken drumsticks
chopped green onions
fried shallots
sesame oil
oyster sauce
thick sweet soy sauce to taste
thick black soy sauce for taste & color ( optional )
white pepper
salt to taste
chinese cooking wine
3 cups glutinous rice ( OR labeled as Sweet Rice )

Method :
1) Soak glutinous rice in water overnight ( or 12 hours ).
2) In a crock pot, boil peanuts and chestnuts in enough water to just cover them for 1-2 hours OR until soft.
3) In a wok, stir-fry green onions, dried shrimp, dried mushroom, and wood ear mushroom until fragrant.
4) Cut chicken drumsticks into smaller pieces and marinate with a dash of sesame oil, fried shallots, oyster sauce, and a splash of chinese cooking wine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes ( preferably overnight ).
5) Pan fry chicken until slightly browned on both sides. Add ingredients from Step (3). Stir-fry for 1 minute, add water ( enough to cook the sticky rice later ), white pepper, sesame oil, thick sweet soy sauce, thick black soy sauce, fried shallots, chinese cooking wine, and salt to taste. When the broth starts to boil, turn to low heat, cover, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes OR until chicken is done.
6) Remove chicken, debone and cut into bite size chunks.
7) Strain the broth to cook the glutinous rice with.
8) Rub some cooking spray all over the inside of a claypot, put in glutinous rice and pour in broth ( covering 1/4 inch above rice ), cover, and cook to a boil. Turn to low heat and cook for 5-10 minutes.
9) Remove cover. Use a fork to fluff the rice around. Check the texture of the rice. Add more broth if needed and continue to cook on low heat for another 5 minutes.
10) Add all the cooked ingredients and quail's eggs in. Stir until rice and ingredients are evenly mixed and simmer on low heat for another 5 minutes or until rice is done.

Instant Noodle 101

Since I ventured a little into instant noodles on my last post, I thought I might as well deliver the whole enchilada while my "noodle" is still in "oo-dle" gear. In my last post, I gave Mr. Yi from China his props for the concept of the instant noodle. But it was a Japanese company called Nissin that kicked it up a notch and gave birth to the colorful plastic-wrapped rectangular 4" by 6" bricks of dried "instant ramen" noodles that we are more familiar with today. Today, instant noodles aren't just about quick-fix meals for rat-racers or low-budget meals for starving students anymore. They are balanced with meat and vegetables and served as proper meals not only at home, but also at many Oriental restaurants, especially in Hong Kong-style cafes.

My favorite brand of instant noodles is "Maggi". I've tried many different brands that get all mushy after cooking but Maggi noodles retain that chewy, springy texture that is the first thing I look for. Not to mention their soup seasonings come in all the flavors I enjoy. From Asam Laksa to Curry and Tom Yum, or even Mee Goreng for dry noodle lovers. I believe Maggi is also the most popular brand of instant noodles in Malaysia and Singapore. Growing up, I can remember many a good time spent shooting the breeze with my buddies over "roti canai" and Maggi noodles at my favorite "mamak" stall back home. It might be the company, but even instant noodles taste better when someone else is doing the cooking :)

Okay.. on to my instant noodling for the day. I'm going to go with Maggi Asam Laksa flavor. For those who are unfamiliar with "Asam Laksa", it is a popular Malaysian noodle dish served in a sour tamarind-based fish soup. I'm also going to "de-instant-ize" my noodles with an egg, some fresh cut green beans and some stir-fried fish fillet.

Maggi instant noodles - USD$0.29
Ingredients - USD$1.00
Taste - Priceless.. For everything else, there is Master Card ? :P

Instant Noodle Soup with Sambal Green Bean and Fish Stir-Fry Recipe

Ingredients :
1 pack Maggi Asam Laksa Instant Noodle ( OR your favorite instant Ramen )
8 oz fresh cut green beans
8 oz sole fish fillet sliced
2 tsp minced shallots
1 tbsp chili paste
1 tsp toasted shrimp paste powder ( belacan )
2 tsp dried shrimps ( soaked and minced )
a pinch of turmeric spice
2 tsp cooking oil
1 tsp tamarind paste
salt and sugar to taste
water for cooking noodles
1 boiled egg

Method :

1) Marinate fish fillet with turmeric spice, cooking oil, and roasted shrimp powder. Set aside.
1) Stir-fry minced shallots and dried shrimp until fragrant. Add fish fillet slices and pan-fry on both sides until slightly browned.
2) Add green beans and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add chili paste, tamarind paste, salt and sugar to taste, and splash in some water. Continue to stir-fry for 2 more minutes and set aside.
3) Cook instant noodles according to instructions on package. Add boiled egg, prepared green beans and fish to your noodle soup.

P/S : If you have a favorite brand of instant noodles that you really like, do share it with me as I'm always on the look-out for good instant noodles for those lazy cooking days.

Braised E-Fu Noodles

After having seen the new Olive Garden "Crab Alfredo Venezia" commercial pop up on tv for the umpteenth time this past month, it's no wonder I've suddenly developed a craving for seafood and noodles. The power of subliminal messages indeed ! I've tried a variety of seafood-noodle combination, from a simple seafood rice noodle stir-fry to a lavish seafood udon served on a sizzling hot plate, but none of them can hold a candle to E-Fu noodles and seafood. They are.. IMHO that is.. a match made in food heaven, kind of like spaghetti and meatballs or the popular Malaysian noodle dish, "char kway teow" with cockles even :)

Also known as "yi meen" or "yi noodles", E-Fu noodles were invented and named after some guy called "Yi" in ancient China who deep-fried some noodles so he could keep them longer and boiled the noodles in water later before serving. I wonder if he had have some potatoes lying around the kitchen when he thought of that if we'd be having Chinese fries today instead of French fries. Hehe.. Just kidding, Mr. Yi, relax.. I'm sure you're already rich enough in the afterlife from all that ghost money the instant noodle companies must have burned for you :P

E-fu noodles are made from eggs and wheat flour and can be found on the noodle aisle in most Asian grocery stores. They are long and flat, deep-fried and dried, with a light yellow color. They are usually vacuumed packed in plastic bags in the shape of either 8" wheels or 8" squares. Bear in mind that since it isn't as dry compared to other dried noodles, it requires less boiling/softening time also. If you have ever listened to Alphaville's "Forever Young" and answered "yes" to the chorus, then you should really slurp down some e-fu on your birthday as it is a symbol of longevity.

Braised E-Fu Noodles With Seafood Recipe

Ingredients :
1 pack E-Fu noodles
8 oz cut cuttlefish ( OR baby cuttlefish, squids, etc )
8 oz sliced sole fish fillets
8 peeled and deveined shrimps
shredded green onions
10 oz chicken broth
cornstarch solution
2 eggs
prepared fried shallots
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
sesame oil
shaoxing cooking wine
salt, sugar and white pepper to taste

Method:
Cooking the E-Fu Noodles :

1) In a boiling pot of water, blanch or boil the E-Fu noodles for 3 minutes or until soft.
2) Rinse in cold water, let dry, mix the oyster sauce, soy sauce, a little cooking oil, mix well, and then set aside.
3) Pan-fry the noodles until slightly browned on both sides to a light crisp, remove to a plate or sizzling hot plate, and then set aside.

Cooking the Seafood Gravy :

1) In a wok, crack the eggs in, pan-fry the eggs lightly, with the bottoms to a light crisp, leaving the the rest of the eggs still runny, and set aside.
2) Stir-fry the green onions, and then add the seafood ingredients in and pan-fry until slightly browned, splash the sesame oil, cooking wine, salt, and sugar, and continue stir-fry for a 2 minutes.
3) Add the chicken broth, salt, sugar, pepper, cornstarch solution, let boil, and then pour the half cooked eggs in, and let simmer on low heat for 3-5 minutes.
4) Pour the seafood gravy over the pan-fried E-Fu noodle plate, drizzle some fried shallots, and ready to serve.

Rice Noodle Rolls

Two weeks of craving this Malaysian Style Chee Cheong Fun is a torture. Desperate needs call for desperate measures. I wasted no time at the Asian grocery market picking up a pack of rice noodle rolls and had a satisfying time with an easy rice noodle recipe. In Cantonese cuisine, rice noodle rolls are prepared by wrapping shrimp or BBQ pork in rice noodle sheets. Many times you will also see long and crunchy chinese dough cruellers wrapped in them as well, served at many Cantonese dimsum restaurants. In Vietnamese cuisine, rice noodle rolls, aka "bahn cuon", are served with crispy mungbean and shrimp fritters, crispy sweet potato strips, slices of pork meatloafs, bean sprouts with fish sauce. Rice noodle rolls are also call "lai cheong fun" in Hong Kong, which literally means pulled-intestinal-like-noodles, aptly named for their appearance. I love all variation of ways they are prepared and have tried them all. I am glad that they are widely available in Southern California so every once in a while, I can pick up a fresh pack and add my favorite sauce along with any ingredients I desire.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME : An embarrassing confession !! While preparing my rice noodle roll recipe, I had planned to mix in a particular shrimp paste that is used in the Malaysian style rice noodle roll Chee Cheong Fun, along with some sweet thick soy sauce, toasted sesame seeds, hoisin sauce and a tad of sweet bean sauce. Unfortunately, I had hastily left the plastic can of shrimp paste in the microwave w-a-y too long, resulting in a complete "melt down" !! :P

I had no choice but to dig up the next best sauce for the rice noodle roll recipe. I remembered back to my childhood years tagging along with mom to the morning market and picking up breakfast from the hawker stalls after shopping. We would always hit my favorite rice noodle roll stall first and I would be drooling as I patiently ogled the rice noodle vendor picking up the rolls, dicing them up with a blunt rectangular knife, and drowning them in a delicious light curry sauce. I always requested mine with extra ingredients like fried beancurd patties and some other scrumptious fixings similar to those found in the Japanese dish "Oden". A generous sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds and I was good to go.

CONCLUSION : My memory of this long-lost curry style Malaysian Chee Cheong Fun, is once again, rekindled ! :)
TIP : If you aren't fixing the rice noodle rolls right away after you buy them, keep them at room temperature and microwave at medium-low for about 2 minutes when ready to use. Keep in mind not to over-nuke them as they will get all mushy.

Rice Noodle Rolls with Curry Gravy

Ingredients :
1 pack ( 1 lbs ) rice noodle rolls
fresh cut red chilis
fried shallots
toasted sesame seeds
chopped green onions
curry gravy (see below for recipe)

Method :
1) Cut the rice noodle rolls into cubes, then set aside.
2) Pour the curry gravy over the rice noodle rolls, and top off with fresh cut red chilis, fried shallots, toasted sesame seeds, and green onions.

Malaysian Chee Cheong Fun Curry Gravy Recipe

Ingredients :
curry powder
minced shallots
ground cardamon
chili paste
coconut cream or milk
palm sugar and salt to taste

Method :
1) Add ingredients to a small saucepan of boiling hot water and cook to a boil.

Hainan Chicken Rice

For those who are attached to their rice dishes, I have yet another candidate that will not only satisfy your carbs cravings, it will take care of your protein cravings, all in one. The Hainan Chicken Rice is a chicken rice made popular in the Malaysia cuisine and Singapore cuisine, and it was brought in by the Hainanese immigrants of China. This chicken rice meal immediately evolved into the locals taste buds and became a pop-culture. The Hainan Chicken Rice recipe even made popular by the hawker stalls, street vendors, coffee shops, all the way to 5-star hotels.

There's a known notion that in the Malaysia and Singapore cuisine, rice dishes are mostly confined to their rich coconut rice and intense spicy dishes, but the Hainan Chicken Rice is one of the few recognised rice dishes that made headlines. A simple chicken rice recipe that is delicious when eaten with pieces of boiled OR roast chicken. If you like El Pollo Loco, Lucille's BBQ, or your favorite chicken griller/broiler, you will definitely love this, I guarantee !

The conventional way in preparing the Hainan Chicken recipe is to boil the chicken, and the broth is used to cooked the rice, with a few added aromatic ingredients. Some would prefer the Roast Hainan Chicken, which is just roasted on a slow fire. I was craving for this chicken rice meal so badly that I went ahead and make a quick and easy Hainan Chicken Rice. Instead of the the conventional method, this broiled chicken recipe is plain, simple and easy. You ever wonder what's the best chicken rice recipe besides chicken fried rice when you've got leftover cooked white rice ? A few pieces of delicious broiled chicken and a couple bowls of scrumptious chicken-flavored rice, my Hainan Chicken recipe made happen on the open pan. I am a happy-chicken-lover !

A) Hainan Chicken

Ingredients :
1 whole chicken cut into 4 parts
3 oz. minced ginger
3 oz. minced shallots
1 oz. minced garlic
1 tsp chinese Five spice powder
4 oz. shaoxing hua tiao cooking wine ( OR other chinese cooking wine )
1 tbsp thick sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp honey OR maltose
sugar and salt to taste

Method :
1) Marinade the chicken with all the ingredients for 20 minutes, preferably 2 hours.
2) Pan fry the pre-marinated chicken pieces skin down until nicely browned, flip over and pan fry an additional 5 minutes.
3) Cover and broil chicken for 10 minutes OR until cooked.
4) Remove cover, do a taste-test for the juices on the pan, add salt and sugar to taste if necessary.
4) Set chicken aside, let cool and cut the chicken into desired pieces.
5) Keep the sauce on the pan for later use.

B) Chicken Rice

Ingredients :
3 cups cooked white rice
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp minced shallots
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp chicken base powder ( optional )
1/4 portion of the sauce from the broiled chicken
1 tbp sesame oil ( OR butter )
1 pc. screwpine leaf ( optional )
1 tbsp shaoxing hua tiao cooking wine ( OR other cooking wine )
4 oz water
salt to taste

Method :
1) Saute the ingredients until fragrant.
2) Add the cooked rice in, stir fry for 5 minutes.
3) Add water in, mix well, and cover wok or skillet.
4) Set to low heat and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes or until serving time.


C) Chicken Rice Sauce

The sauce you kept aside after broiling the chicken.

D) Chili Sauce

Ingredients :
5 fresh red chilis
2 oz. garlic
salt and sugar to taste
lime juice ( 1/2 a lime )

Method :
1) Blend all the ingredients, then squeeze the lime juice in and mix well.

E) Garnishing

cucumber OR tomato slice
chopped cilantros

Using chinese five spice powder : Also good for marinating ribs and best in any chinese meat braising recipes.

Glass Noodles Stir Fry

The age-old debate on who invented the noodles was finally settled when they found a 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles in China a couple of years back. Today, owls of noodles can be found all over the world in a variety of shapes and sizes. The more popular ones are the Chinese yellow noodles and rice vermicelli, the Italian spaghetti and macaroni, and the Japanese udon and soba to name a few. Speaking of noodles, can anyone enlighten me on how the phrase "using your noodle" came about to mean "using your brain"? :P

One particular noodle I haven't had in a while is the "glass noodle", named for it's translucent appearance when cooked. It is also called "bean thread" because it is made from mung bean, not to be mistaken with the rice vermicelli, which is quite similar uncooked. I haven't tried this noodle in a while because there were rumors of lead-poisoning surrounding it a few years ago. I'm glad the whole mess is finally cleared up so I can finally get to enjoy it once again.

Two of the more popular dishes associated with glass noodles recipes are the Szechuan style "Ants Climbing A Tree" and the Thai style "Pad Woon Sen". Both are stir fried but glass noodles also go great in soups or salads. The dish I'm preparing today is a simple quick stir fry recipe similar to the "Pad Woon Sen" but I'm going to kick it up a notch by adding a little unsalted fermented soy beans, which I prefer to the salted black beans because of its rich bean-ier flavor.

Ingredients :
2 bundles glass noodles
1 lbs sole fish fillet sliced
minced garlic
shredded ginger
5 asparagus thinly sliced
red bell pepper strips
1 tbsp fermented soy beans ( unsalted )
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
sesame oil
sugar to taste

Method :

1) Boil a pot of water, turn off the heat and soak the glass noodles for 3 minutes.
2) Rinse in cold, running tap water, and then set aside.
3) Marinade the fish fillets with some oyster sauce, fish sauce, and then set aside.
4) Saute 1/2 portion of both shredded ginger and minced garlic until fragrant, add in the pre-marinated the fish fillets and pan fry on both sides until browned, toss in the sliced asparagus, red bell pepper strips, continue stir fry for 1 minute, and then set aside.
5) Heat the wok or skillet to a smoky point, saute the fermented soy beans and the remaining shredded ginger and minced garlic until fragrant.
6) Quickly add the chilled glass noodles in and stir fry on high heat until the fermented soy beans flavors completely infused into the glass noodles.
7) Splash the soy sauce, cooking wine, sesame oil and sugar to taste and mix well.
8) Dish up and serve with the pan fried sole fish fillets.