Curry Udon

Whenever I cook Japanese Curry, I like to serve it with flavored rice for one meal and use the leftovers to make the soup and serve with Udon. I love soups and this is one of my favorite ways to eat Udon. Udon is a thick noodle, mainly made of flour and has a chewy texture which sets it apart from other types of noodles. I usually buy the frozen kind so that I have it handy whenever I need them.

For the soup base, I usually like to make Kombu Dashi (Kelp Stock) and add curry and bring it to a boil but if I’m out of Kelp then I would just use water to make the soup.

Curry Udon

Serves: 1
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 – 3 inch piece of Kombu (Dried Kelp) – wiped clean with damp cloth
1 1/2 cups Water
1 1/2 cups prepared Curry (recipe here)
Salt to taste (optional)
1 serving of Udon – cooked per package instructions
1 Green Onion – thinly sliced or shredded

Directions:

1. In a pot, place Kombu and water and let sit for about 15 minutes.
2. Bring water to a boil and just before boiling, remove Kombu and discard.
3. Add Curry to the water, stir and bring it to a boil. Add salt if desired.
4. In a bowl, place Udon and pour the soup over. Garnish with green onions and serve hot.

Print this recipe >>

Pad Thai with Western Twist

We usually don't order Pad Thai when we go to Thai restaurants, mainly because I find that most restaurants give you lumpy and clump up noodles. I'm not too crazy about the texture of the noodles served in this dish. However, I love the version of Pad Thai that my younger sister makes. She uses Brown Rice Spaghetti for this dish. It might sound a bit awkward but this spaghetti absorbs the flavoring so well and has a good texture. I bought mine from Trader Joe's.

I've had this recipe for some time now but never actually got a chance to make it. I usually request for her to make this dish but with busy schedules and my cravings, I decided to give it a try. It turns out pretty good and we were so hungry and want to eat it while still hot that couldn't even plate it to take picture :). I added some mini sweet peppers as I had a lot on hand and served with some Stuffed Cucumber Kimchi on the side.

Pad Thai with Western Twist

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 pound brown rice spaghetti/fettuccine or White rice noodles
2 tablespoons oil
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon garlic - pressed or finely chopped
1/2 pound firm tofu - cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 cups bean sprouts
1 pound cocktail shrimp
1/4 cup roasted peanuts - coarsely ground
1/4 cup cilantro - roughly chopped
2 green onions - sliced thinly
3 mini sweet peppers of different colors – thinly sliced lengthwise (optional)
Crushed red peppers to taste

Seasoning:
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar or rice vinegar
3 tablespoons tamari
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons paprika

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and 1/2 tbsp of oil to boiling water, add noodles and cook until just tender, about 8 to 12 minutes (or according to package directions). Drain, rinse with cold water, drain again and set aside.
2. In a bowl, combine all seasoning ingredients and keep aside.
3. Have all ingredients prepared before starting to stir fry.
4. Heat remaining 1 1/2 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add garlic and stir-fry for about 30 seconds or so until it begins to turn golden.
5. Add tofu and sauté for 2 minutes or so, stirring often until tofu beings to brown.
6. Add the prepared seasoning liquid and mix thoroughly.
7. Stir-in the noodles, 2 cups of bean sprouts, shrimp and half of ground peanuts. Toss to mix well, adjust to taste and turn off heat.
8. Garnish with remaining bean sprouts & peanuts, cilantro, green onions, mini sweet peppers and crushed red peppers. Serve immediately.

Variation
For Vegetarian friendly version, skip shrimp. For Vegan version, skip shrimp and replace honey with brown or regular sugar.   

Print this recipe >>

Shan Khauk Swe (Shan Noodles)

Shan is one of the states in Burma bordering China, Thai and Laos. Their regional food has different types of noodles that are well known throughout the country. This dish is originally from there but I got to taste it when my sister was visiting us and she cooked for us. We loved it so much that I have been making this few times after her visit.

There are different versions of this dish and is usually served with some chicken broth soup and sour mustard greens. This is a dry version and I usually eat it by itself as it does taste pretty good on its own. During her time living in Loikaw (capital of Kayah State, neighboring state of Shan), my sister got this recipe from a lady that sells these noodles.

Recipe updated: Apr 10, 2012
Amount of Red Chili Powder used has been updated.

Shan Khauk Swè (Shan Noodles)

Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
For Gravy
2 pounds Tomatoes – slit a cross-shape just through the skin with a sharp knife, at the bottom of each tomato
1 teaspoon Salt
1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
3 tablespoon Soy Sauce (adjust to taste)
3 tablespoon Oil
8 cloves of Garlic – crushed or finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1/8 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
4 teaspoons Red Chili Powder (adjust to taste)
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
2 teaspoon Fish Sauce (adjust to taste)

Other Ingredients:
1 pound fresh Vietnamese Flat Rice Stick Noodle (Banh Pho)
1/2 pound Chinese Greens (Yu Choy) – discard few inches off the bottom; cut into 2 inch pieces and wash well
1/2 cup Roasted Peanuts – coarsely grounded
4 teaspoons Soy Sauce (adjust to taste)

Directions:

1. In a pot big enough to fit all the tomatoes; fill it with 1 cup of water and add salt. Stir and add the tomatoes, cover the pot and bring it to a boil. Once water comes to a boil, cook for about a minute or two, just to loosen up the skin but not to cook the tomatoes.  Remove from heat, pour out the water and leave the tomatoes to cool uncovered.
2. Meanwhile, chop the chicken into as small as you can or about less than 1/4 inch pieces. It will look almost like minced chicken. Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce mix well and keep aside. (I find that partially frozen chicken is easier to work with when chopping it.)
3. When the tomatoes are cool, remove the skin and discard. Cut the tomatoes in half and remove as much seeds as possible without removing any pulp. Discard the seeds, chop the tomatoes finely and keep aside.
4. Heat a pot with oil over medium heat. Once hot, add garlic, turmeric powder, chili powder and cook for few seconds till fragrant. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
5. Add chicken, increase heat to high and cook stirring frequently until all chicken pieces turns opaque and it starts to release water. Stir for few more seconds and add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, fish sauce and the remaining 1 tbsp of soy sauce.
6. Stirring occasionally, cover and cook over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes until all tomatoes are crushed and the oil starts to separate from gravy. You should not need any water but if it is too dry, add some water. Turn off the heat and is ready to be served.

How to serve:
Have all ingredients ready before serving. You will have to work with one serving batch at a time.

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. The pot should be big or deep enough with enough water for noodles to be dipped in with a noodle-strainer or any strainer that you will be using.
2. Once water comes to a boil, place a handful of Chinese greens into the strainer and dip the strainer in the boiling water for about 10 to 20 seconds for the greens to wilt.
3. Remove strainer from water, place a big handful of noodles into the strainer. Dip the strainer in boiling water for 3 to 5 seconds. Noodles will cook right away and you don’t want to overcook them, so work quickly.
4. Place the cooked noodles along with the greens to a serving bowl. Ladle couple scoops of chicken gravy on top. Top it up with peanuts, crushed chili and 1 tsp of soy sauce (adjust to taste) and serve immediately.
5. Mix everything before eating.

Note:

• If you cannot find the fresh noodles, dry noodles will work as well. Soak them in cold water for couple hours and cook as mentioned above.
• Since vegetables take little longer than noodles, start with vegetables and add noodles. However, they both can be cooked separately but having vegetables at the base while cooking noodles will help with not overcooking the noodles. 
• If noodles are all over the place and not able to fit neatly into the strainer while cooking, remove from boiling water and make sure that they are not dipped into water while gathering them.  
• Make gravy spicy enough so that you don’t need to add more chili at the time of serving. If not, serve with toasted crushed red pepper.

Print this recipe >>

Japchae (Korean Stir Fried Noodles)

I started eating Korean food only after moving to California and love it ever since. I like the BBQ and most of the side dishes offered in Korean restaurants. This noodle is one of my favorite dishes that I've tried. Few years back when I was a little obsessed with Korean food, I started looking for Korean recipes online and found this Maangchi's website which I absolutely love. I've tried many of her dishes and love them all.

This noodle is a must have for us whenever we do Korean BBQ. Since I always pair it with Korean BBQ, I just take some of the marinated meat from BBQ, slice it thin and use it for this dish.

Japchae (Korean Stir Fried Noodles)

Serves: 4 as a meal or 8 as a side dish
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
12 ounces Korean starch noodles (Dangmyun)
1 bunch spinach (about 1 pound) – cut off the roots
1 medium carrot – cut into matchstick size pieces (about 1 cup)
1 medium onion – sliced into 1/8 inch thick slices (about 1 cup)
1 packet of white button mushrooms – thinly sliced (about 2 cups)
8 green onions – cut into 3 inch length pieces
5 ounces (approx. 1/3 lb) beef – thinly sliced
5 dried shitake mushrooms – soaked in warm water for 30 minutes or until soften, squeeze out water and thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic – pressed or finely chopped
4 tablespoons soy sauce (adjust to taste)
3 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
3 1/2 tablespoon sugar (adjust to taste)
Black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
5 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil for cooking the vegetables

Directions:

1. Boil the noodles per package instruction till tender, drain and place it in a large bowl. Cut it up several times using scissors and season it with 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Mix well and keep aside.
2. Place spinach in a pot of boiling water and cook just until wilted, for about half a minute. Drain and rinse under cold water few times, removing any grit or dead leaves along the way. (You can use the same water for boiling noodles to cook the spinach). Squeeze out excess water and cut into about 2 inch pieces. Season it with 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sesame oil, mix and place it in the noodle bowl.
3. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Once hot, add a splash (about 1 tsp) of olive/vegetable oil and stir fry the carrots for about half a minute and transfer them to the noodle bowl.
4. Heat the same skillet with a splash more of oil and stir fry the onions until translucent and transfer to the noodle bowl.
5. Do the same with white mushrooms, stir frying them until lightly golden and transfer to the noodle bowl.
6. Repeat again with green onions and cook for about a minute and transfer to the noodle bowl.
7. Heat the same skillet again with a splash more oil and add beef, shitake mushrooms and stir fry for few minutes until the meat is cooked through. Add garlic, 1/2 tbsp soy sauce, 1/2 tbsp sugar, stir well and cook for about half a minute more and transfer to the noodle bowl.
8. Add 2 tbsp soy sauce, 3 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp sesame oil, black pepper to the noodle bowl. Mix everything up very well and adjust according to taste. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and serve.

Note:

• Precut all the vegetables before stir frying so that you can cook continuously while stir frying.
• Keep the heat to maximum and make sure the skillet is well heated while stir frying the vegetables.

Print this recipe >>