Homemade: Chinese Spaghetti With Shanghainese Noodles
Raw and cooked Shanghainese noodles.
I’m not even sure how to describe the flavor of this. No idea what’s in the sauce. As I was getting ready for work this morning I ran into anthony’s mother rummaging through the pantry looking for the other jar of Chinese spaghetti sauce. Chinese spaghetti sauce? I didn’t realize there was such a thing. I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me…it kind of makes sense…why not? Spaghetti did originate from China after all, why not have sauce to go with it? When I got home from work I walked into the kitchen and found the sauce simmering on the stove. I think she added ground pork to the sauce but not sure because I was too excited to try Chinese spaghetti that I forgot to ask her. She instructed me to top the Shanghainese noodles with the sauce, bean sprouts, green onions and sambal olek if I wanted spice. The noodles were perfect, kind of like mini udon. How do I describe the sauce? It was like spaghetti bolognes without the tomatoes and a little spicy. There were bits of soy and other stuff that I couldn’t figure out. The flavor was very concentrated so the green onions and bean sprouts balanced it out and added another dimension of texture. If you can find a jar of Chinese spaghetti sauce in your local asian foods market, I would recommend trying it. Why not?
HOME MADE: Kao Piak
Okay, don’t laugh but this was my attempt to make Laotian rice noodle soup. I realize now that the noodles are a wee bit thicker than it’s supposed to be….but considering that this was my second time making the noodles from scratch, I was happy that these turned out edible. The ingredients (rice flour, tapioca starch and boiling water) are simple but making the noodles are a challenge. Aside from not cutting the noodles the right size, I don’t think I kneaded the dough for as long as I should have because the texture was a little off. Despite the sub par noodles, the broth came out pretty tasty and was also simple to make. I started by adding a whole stew chicken to a pot of water. If you don’t have a stew chicken, you can use thigh meat. Then ginger, a stalk of lemongrass goes in the pot and some salt. A neat little trick that I learned is to pound the stalk of lemongrass to release the aromas and tie into a knot before you add to the stock. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. The longer the better. So simple but soo good.
#018 SAU TAO Ho Fun Abalone Chicken Flavor
I was pleasantly surprised by the extra care that was taken in packaging the noodles. I like that it came in a protective tray because the noodles are very delicate but it makes me feel bad because it seems wasteful. Protective but not environmentally friendly. Not soon after the noodles moved from the pot to the bowl, they were quick to soak up the broth so it’s okay to use extra water. I tasted some spices (like star of anise or was it five spice) but there was a total absence of abalone and chicken flavor. The texture of the ho fun was soft and slurpy which I enjoyed a lot. I wish I had some abalone and chicken to add but all I had was cilantro.
*Product of China
instant noodles, Rice Noodles | Comments (3)#016 CHIKARA Hot & Spicy Udon
Sister, this is my first blog about udon so I dedicate this to you. Unfortunately, Chikara hot & spicy brand noodles were not great. Anthony complained that there wasn’t enough msg which I sort of agree with. Also, to my disappointment, the soup was not hot & spicy as the package claims. I rate udon by how soft and chewy the noodles are and despite the fact that I cooked the noodles for about 15 minutes, they still didn’t turn out as soft and chewy as I prefer. Even though I doctored these noodles up it was still OK….edible…but nothing to write home about. The truth is that I have yet to find really good instant udon except for this one time when I bought a package at a random asian grocery store, the problem is that I can’t remember the name of the brand OR the store I bought it from. Oh well, my quest continues for the best instant udon noodles.
The toppings I added were onion, cooked cabbage, chilis, daikon and a raw egg. I don’t usually add raw eggs to instant noodles but since the noodles were cooking for so long, the soup was hot enough to cook the egg.
*Product of Japan
Rice Noodles, udon noodles | Comment (0)