noodles

October 25, 2016

Beef Noodles With Gravy

When we’re on our way back home from a holiday, whether it’s been 2 nights or a week, I invariably say I want something wet when the subject of dinner pops up. Something soupy or something sauce-ie. Something noodlie.

No matter how fantastic the holiday was – whether we’ve been dining fine or fast, I always want something wet upon my return. It’s like the wonderfully comforting feeling of sleeping in your own bed again. It’s like a welcome home hug… for my taste buds.

This dish is similar to something I would order after a trip away – with the inevitable pain of holiday unpacking and washing to do, you didn’t think I’d say ‘cook’ would you?! It’s crammed full of flavour, slippery chewy noodles, tender, juicy beef and vegetables to help that holiday digestion.

The Cherubs are picky with the type of vegetables they eat, so I just put everything in separate bowls on the table and they just pick what they want and put it together themselves. It also means I don’t have to get the timing right with when to add the vegetables and beef together, so I won’t have a mix of over and under cooked food. Less stress, more happy. But most importantly of all – that gravy’s wet. Home Sweet Home!

Beef Noodles With Gravy

Ingredients

  • 250g noodles of your choice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sesame oil
  • 350g rump steak, sliced thinly
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour
  • 1 bunch bok choy (or green vegetable of your choice)
  • 1/2 bag bean sprouts
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • Fried shallots (you can get these from any Chinese grocery store or fry your own), coriander and lemon, to serve
Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
  • 1 spring onion finely chopped
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry
  • 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour

Let’s cook!

1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions

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2. Drain the noodles and mix in 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil, transfer to a bowl

3. Combine the beef, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, garlic cornflour and the remaining sesame oil and mix. Marinate in the fridge for an hour.

4. Blanch the vegetables in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, drain well and transfer to a bowl.

5. Heat a wok or deep fry pan over high heat and add the oil (make sure the oil is very hot).

6. Drain the beef and stir-fry in 2 batches for 1 minute or until it changes colour. Remove the beef into a bowl.

7. For the gravy: In the same pan, stir-fry the ginger and spring onion until fragrant.

8. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients (except the corn flour) and bring to the boil.

9. Combine the cornflour with some water to make a paste, add to the sauce and simmer until thickened.

10. Add the beef back into the wok or pan and toss quickly to coat with the gravy. Transfer to a bowl.

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To serve

Put the bowls of noodles, blanched vegetables, beef and gravy, fried onions, coriander and lemon at the table. Let everyone serve themselves with what they want. The usual process is to put the noodles at the bottom, then the vegetables, beef and sauce, fried shallots, coriander and a squeeze of lemon. Mix and enjoy!

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September 4, 2016

Coriander Prawns With Glass Noodles

Seafood is one of my favourite foods to eat. It’s light, tasty and doesn’t leave you feeling bloated and heavy like the land meats. Prawns are a particular favourite – once they’re shelled, you’ve got a firm, almost crispy, sweet, juicy piece of seafood that is so very, very satisfying. Deep fried crunchy mini school prawns in their shells are another favourite of mine – you just eat them, head, shell, body and tail. Crunch, texture and full of marvelous prawnie flavour, most of which you’ll find in the prawn head.

Money wasn’t plentiful when we were growing up, so prawns were only for special occasions like birthdays, Chinese New Year or when guests came over. Mum would stir fry the prawns in their shells with some shallots, onion, red capsicum and oyster sauce. As soon as she put the plate on the table, my older sister A, younger brother W and I would go into a feeding frenzy, shelling and eating as many and as fast as we could. W would sometimes shell and stockpile a whole lot of prawns in his bowl until we protested that he wasn’t playing fair. We’d make him eat his stockpile before he was allowed to shell some more.

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My parents would eat 1 prawn each and then suck on the prawn heads that we generously gave to them. The prawn heads are the best, they’ve got the most flavour they would say whenever we wrinkled up our faces at their preferred delicacy.

Years later, we could eat prawns whenever we wanted, for no occasion at all. And that was when I noticed my parents eating the prawn bodies and tossing the prawn heads away… and that was when I realized that when prawn money was scarce, they were just saving the prawns for us.

This dish is one of my parent’s favourite dishes – no prawn heads in sight, just in flavour!

Coriander Prawns With Glass Noodles

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 500g king prawns, peeled – make sure you keep the prawn heads in a small pot and discard the shells. You’ll need the prawn heads to make the prawn stock.
Marinade
  • 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
  • 8 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 3 tablespoons coriander stems and roots, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dry sherry
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
  • 3 spring onions (white and green sections), chopped into 2 cm lengths
  • 250g bean thread/mung bean noodles, soaked in hot water for 20 mins and drained
  • 250g broccoli chopped into florets
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Let’s cook!

Marinate:
  • In a mortar, pound the black peppercorns until crushed.
  • Add garlic, coriander roots or stems and salt, and pound to form a paste.
  • Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to the paste and mix well.
  • Add the paste to the peeled prawns, toss to coat and set aside for 10 minutes.

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Sauce:
  • Add 2 cups water to the prawn heads and bring to a boil. Simmer for  5 mins to make prawn stock.
  • In a separate bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together and set aside.
Putting everything together:
  • Preheat a 2 L clay pot or cast iron pot over medium heat.
  • When the pot is hot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and the prawns, a few at a time, and brown without stirring.
  • Turn the prawn over and brown the other side. Don’t cook the prawns through.
  • Transfer them to a bowl and brown the rest of the prawns.
  • Increase the heat to high and add the ginger, green onions, prawn stock and sauce.
  • Bring to a bowl, add the noodles and stir to mix.
  • Scatter the broccoli and prawns on top.
  • Cover, reduce the heat to medium and gently boil, stirring once or twice – this should take about 10 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and garnish with coriander.

Coriander prawns with glass noodles recipe

Notes:

  • If you don’t like the idea of cooking prawn heads, just add chicken stock or water.
  • Traditionally, this dish is served straight from the clay pot.
  • The glass noodles are crucial to this dish, it absorbs the sauce fantastically but won’t go soggy or gluggy like rice noodles.
  • If you’re using a clay pot, make sure you soak it in water the night before, otherwise it may crack when you put heat to it.
  • I’ve adapted this recipe from ‘Savouring Southeast Asia’ by Joyce Jue (The Five Mile Press)