Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

I've loved this noodle soup since I was small thanks to a restaurant not far from my school, I have to admit I still haven’t gotten it right. The best Taiwanese beef noodle locally now in Brisbane is from Yang Mama in Sunnybank.

Ingredients

1kg gravy beef/any casserole cut

2 cloves of garlic

3 cm knob of ginger

2 tbsp of bean paste (I used chilli bean paste today, DH complained it was too spicy)

1 star anise

5 cloves

1 cinnamon

2 cups of beef stock

2 carrots cut into large pieces

1 lobak (chinese turnip) cut into large pieces

Yang Chun noodles (flat wheat noodles) 1 bundle per serve

1 bunch of pickled salted mustard greens, finely chopped

Chilli paste (optional)

Salt and pepper

Method

1.          Boil the beef, herbs and spices with the stock in a large pot on low heat until the beef is tender. I used my pressure cooker which only took 10 minutes.

2.          Add in the carrots and turnips and cook till they’re softened. (Another 10 minutes in the pressure cooker). Add salt and pepper to taste.

3.          In a separate pot, cook the noodles in boiling water.

4.          Drain and rinse the starch away with cold water.

5.          Place drained noodles at the bottom of the bowl.

6.          Ladle over the beef stew.

7.          Serve with the pickled mustard greens and chilli paste.

Birthday Noodle (Seh Jit Mee or Lam Mee) 生日面/淋麵

My family hails from Penang, Malaysia where this dish originated from; this noodle dish is a family tradition. I used to look forward to this every year. It is a hawker dish that you seldom see outside of Penang. Thankfully it is very easy to cook, basically boiling a soup and blanching everything in it. (Hence quite a low fat dish too, bonus!) Well it was my birthday yesterday, mum not being here, I had to make this for myself didn't I?

Ingredients (serves 4)

         

200g Hokkein noodles, blanch for about 5 minutes

200g Rice vermicelli noodles, soaked in cold water, then blanch for 5 minutes

100g Fresh bean sprouts, blanch for 2 minutes

100g Chinese greens, blanch for 5 minutes

100g garlic chives, blanch for 2 minutes

300g fresh prawns, shelled (reserve the heads and shells) and deveined, blanch for 5 minutes

200g pork neck/fillet

200g chicken breast

3 cloves of garlic

3 eggs, beaten lightly

2 tbsp of soy sauce

2 tbsp tapioca starch

2 tbsp cooking oil

3 cups water

Salt and pepper

Garnish

1 fresh chilli, sliced (optional)

4 sprigs of spring onion, finely chopped

3 tbsp of fried shallots

Method

1.          Sauté prawn heads and shells with a tbsp of oil in a large soup pot.

2.          Add water and garlic and bring to the boil.

3.          Turn the heat down to a simmer; add the pork neck (whole strip) and the chicken breast.

4.          I blanch everything in the soup instead of using a separate pot of boiling water.

5.          In a flat pan, heat a tbsp of oil and make a thin omelette with the beaten eggs. Slice the omelette into thin strips when cooled.

6.          When the pork and chicken are cooked, fish them out of the soup, cooled, and slice thinly.

7.          Lay out all the blanched ingredients on a platter.

8.          Remove the prawn shells from the soup and skim all the impurities.

9.          Make a paste with the tapioca flour with a little water, add into the soup and add soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

10.      Boil it for a little while till it thickens slightly.

11.      To serve, put the noodles and vermicelli in the bowls, add the veges, then the meat, eggs, the garnishes.

12.      Lastly scoop some thickened soup over and enjoy!

Soba/Buckwheat Noodle Salad

This is a simple healthy meal perfect for summer, as the dish is often eaten cold. I bought some soba or Japanese buckwheat noodles to try, as I’ve heard of its excellent nutritional value. Have you followed any food fad recently?


Here’s what I learned while researching buckwheat. Buckwheat isn’t actually a grain; it comes from a hardy, weed-like plant related to rhubarb. Its seeds are used for centuries as staple food. Buckwheat is therefore gluten free and can be eaten by people with coeliac disease. It is high in protein, fiber, magnesium, copper, manganese, antioxidant flavonoids (especially rutin) and lignans. Diets that contain high intake of buckwheat have been linked to lower risk of developing high cholesterol, gallstones, and diabetes.

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 bundles of soba noodles

1 capsicum, julienned

1 carrot, julienned

Snow peas

4 dried shitake mushrooms

1 piece of chicken breast

2 cm piece of fresh ginger

2 stalks of spring onions

4 tbsp soba sauce (or use gluten free soy sauce)

1 tsp sesame oil

Method

1.          Poach chicken breast in a pot of simmering water.

2.          Add to it sliced ginger and the dried shitake mushrooms.

3.          When the chicken is cooked (about 15 mins), set it aside to rest.

4.          Blanch the snow peas and capsicum for about 2-3 minutes, drain.

5.          Cook the noodles in boiling water for about 10 minutes, drain.

6.          Add the soba sauce and sesame oil to the noodles, toss well to coat.

7.          Slice the chicken and mushrooms.

8.          Toss all ingredients with the noodles.

9.          Top with a sprinkle of chopped spring onions.

Wonton Mee (Noodle)云吞面

What are everyone’s childhood food memories? Mine would definitely include this wonton noodle. My mum was a schoolteacher, one of the student’s dad owned a wonton mee stall nearby, and it was the best in town. Dad would buy them for us every weekend when he went to the market. It was delish served with lots of pickled green chillies. I haven’t found one locally that even come close comparatively to the one in my memory. I’d just have to make it myself!

Ingredients (serves 4)

Fresh egg noodles (buy from Asian grocery shop) 4 bundles

A bunch of Chinese greens (I used choi sum)

300g of bought BBQ pork, sliced

For the sauce

4 tbsp oyster sauce

4 tbsp kecap manis

3 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp vegetable oil

For the wontons

A packet of fresh wonton skin

300g pork mince

100g canned water chestnuts (finely diced)

1 clove of garlic, finely diced

3 tbsp finely diced celery

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine

2 tbsp light soy sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1.          Mix all the ingredients for the pork mince together and marinate for at least 30mins.

2.          Wash and prepare the vegetables. Blanch them in boiling water until cooked, drain.

3.          Blanch the noodles in the boiling water until cooked, rinse in cold water, drain.

4.          Wrap the wontons (see step by step pictures below), then plunge them into a pot of clean boiling water, the wontons will be cooked when they float. Fish them out and set aside.

5.          Mix the sauce up and place a big dollop at the bottom of each serving bowl.

6.          Plunge the noodles back in the boiling water you used to cook the wontons in to reheat them, drain and plop them on top of the sauce.

7.          Mix the sauce through the noodles with tongs or chopsticks.

8.          Carefully place the vegetables, sliced BBQ pork and cooked wontons on top of the noodles to serve.

Place 1 heaped tsp of pork mince mix in the centre of the wonton wrapper.

Wet the edges with water, fold in half into a triangle.

Bring the top two corners together, wet with water and stick them together.

This is how it looks on the flip side.