Fried Spicy Noodles

Dave DeWitt Leave a Comment

I like the way the cooks at Ruen Pair prepare their Khii Mao or “drunkard’s noodles.” It is less elaborate than some, but I prefer its simplicity. This is a typical bar food dish in Thailand, intended to be washed down with buckets of Singha beer. Don’t be afraid to make it as spicy as you can stand—it will certainly be true to the original. Stir-frying noodles isn’t hard, but it does require a lot of oil. To minimize the amount of oil used, add a little at a time as you cook the noodles.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound chicken breast

  • 4 tablespoons oil

  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed

  • 1 pound fresh wide, flat rice noodles (Sen Yai)

  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons fish sauce

  • 2 to 8 Thai chiles, chopped coarsely

  • 1 small bunch Thai basil

  • White or black pepper to taste

Instructions

Slice the chicken breast into strips 1/4-inch wide. Heat the oil in a wok and add garlic. As soon as the garlic begins to cook, add the chicken and cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, saving the oil. Stir fry the noodles in the oil with the soy sauce until cooked, then add the chicken breast. Mix together and add fish sauce, chiles, and basil leaves. Toss in a wok, remove from heat and add pepper. Serve with vast quantities of Thai beer.

Green Curry with Chicken and Noodles

Dave DeWitt Recipes Leave a Comment

This curry dish is adapted from a recipe by “The King of Curry” in his recommended book, Pat Chapman’s Noodle Book. In it he says that “green curry is probably Thailand’s most popular dish, both inside and outside the country. Cooked correctly it is a delicate bland of fragrance and flavor, of subtle color laced together with creamy coconut milk. In fact the sauce is not and should not be green; it, and the chicken, is a buff-white color. It is the accompanying herbs — basil and cilantro– and, traditionally, pea aubergines, and huge numbers of tiny green Thai chiles that give the dish its greenness.” Since pea aubergines (tiny eggplants) are somewhat bitter and difficult to find, they have been eliminated in this recipe.

Ingredients

  • 9 ounces dried or 1 pound fresh egg noodles

  • 1 boneless and skinless chicken breast, sliced

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped

  • 1 2-inch piece galangal or ginger, chopped

  • 1 to 3 teaspoons Thai green curry paste

  • 1 14-ounce can coconut milk

  • 2 or 3 stalks lemon grass

  • 2 to 3 Kaffir lime leaves, shredded, omit if unavailable

  • 5 to 6 green Thai chiles, stems and seeds removed, chopped

  • 1 to 2 teaspoon fish sauce (nam pla)

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

Heat a large pot of water to a boil, add the noodles and cook until “al dente.” Drain the noodles and keep warm.

Trim the stalks of lemon grass to about 3-inches in length. Trim away any hard portions, discard the outer leaves, and coarsely chop.

Heat a wok, add the oil and when hot, add the garlic, ginger, and green curry paste, and stir-fry for about one minute. Add the coconut milk, lemon grass, lime leaves, and simmer for 5 minutes stirring occasionally to allow the milk until thickened. It may look as though it is curdling, but it cannot do this so don’t worry.

Add the chicken and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time.

Add the chiles, fish sauce, basil and cilantro and continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Cut a piece of chicken to check to see that it’s done.

Immediately add the noodles, stir, and simmer until the noodles are hot.

Ramen Noodle Salad

Dave DeWitt Leave a Comment

This recipe and others can be found in the following article:

 Oodles and Oodles of Asian Noodles

by Nancy Gerlach, Fiery-Foods.com Food Editor Emeritus 

Ingredients

For the Dressing:

  • 3 tablespoons peanut oil

  • 3 tablespoons peanut butter

  • 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

  • 2 tablespoons Asian garlic chile sauce or sambal oelek

  • 1 tablespoon lime juice, fresh preferred

  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

  • 2 teaspoons grated ginger

  • 1 teaspoon sugar

  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

For the Salad:

  • 2 cups cooked ramen noodles

  • 1/2 cup shredded carrots

  • 1/4 cup green onions, chopped including the greens

  • 1/4 cup bean sprouts

  • 1/4 cup sliced cucumber

  • 4 radishes, sliced

  • Garnish: Chopped peanuts and chopped fresh cilantro

 

 

Instructions

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the dressing, mix well, and allow to sit at room temperature for an hour to blend the flavors.

Place the noodles in a large bowl or platter and top with the vegetables. Pour the sauce over the salad and gently toss.

Garnish the salad with the cilantro and nuts, and serve.

Korean Mixed Vegetables with Beef and Vermicelli Noodle

Dave DeWitt Recipes Leave a Comment

Whether you call it Chap Chee, Chap Chae, or Jap Chae (a combination of Japan and China),

this is a very popular dish that combines a variety of textures, colors, flavors, simple seasonings along with one of their staples, noodles. Koreans love beef and serve it more often that pork and chicken, and they never eat lamb or goat. Garlic, ginger, and sesame are common to most Korean beef dishes and this one is no exception. Traditionally, Chap Chee is spiced up with a bowl of kimchi. Available in Asian markets, it’s a fiery hot condiment containing fermented vegetables such as cabbage and turnips. An acquired taste! The meat will be easier to thinly slice if put in the freezer for about 30 minutes and have all the ingredients assembled before stir-frying.

Ingredients

For the Beef:

 

  • 3/4 pound flank or sirloin steak, trimmed and thinly sliced against the grain in strips 2-inches wide

  • 1/4 cup dried wood ear mushrooms

  • 4 ounces vermicelli noodles

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced

  • 1 tablespoon grated ginger

  • 4 green onions, finely chopped including some of the greens

  • 4 Thai chiles, stems removed, minced or substitute serrano or jalapeño chiles

  • 1 small carrot, julienne cut in 3-inch long pieces

  • 1 small red bell pepper, julienne cut in 3-inch long pieces

  • 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach

  • 1/2 cup straw mushrooms

  • 1/2 cup bean sprouts

  • Garnish: Chopped fresh cilantro

  • Toasted sesame seeds

For the Kimchi

Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 tablespoon sesame seed oil

  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Marinade:

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 1 tablespoon sugar

  • 1 green onion, chopped

  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic

  • 1 teaspoon sesame seed oil

 

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and add the beef. Toss to coat and marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Place the wood ears in a bowl and cover with warm water. Allow the mushrooms to steep for 30 minutes to soften. Drain the mushrooms and discard the water.

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package, drain and keep warm.

Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix.

Heat a wok or heavy skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil and when hot, add the meat and quickly stir-fry until browned, about 2 minutes. Remove and keep warm.

Add the garlic and ginger to the wok and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the onions and chiles and stir-fry for an additional 2 minutes. Next add the carrots, bell peppers, and spinach and stir-fry for 2 more minutes.

Stir the sauce into the wok and add the noodles. Continue to stir-fry until the noodles absorb the sauce. Return the beef and cook until all ingredients are hot.

To serve, place the Chap Chee on a large serving platter, garnish with the cilantro and sesame seeds and serve with the kimchi on the side.

Ants Climbing a Tree

Dave DeWitt Leave a Comment

This recipe and others can be found in the following article:

 Oodles and Oodles of Asian Noodles

by Nancy Gerlach, Fiery-Foods.com Food Editor Emeritus 

Ingredients

For the Noodles:

  • 1 4-ounce package cellophane noodles

  • 1/4 cup shitake or other dried mushrooms

  • 6 ounces ground pork

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, peanut preferred

  • 1 teaspoon minced ginger

  • 2 green onions, sliced including the green

  • 4 teaspoons hot bean paste

  • 2 teaspoons crushed red chile or substitute Asian chile paste

For the Marinade:

  • 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry

  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup chicken broth

  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce

  • 1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry

  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Instructions

Place the noodles in a bowl, cover them with hot water and allow them to soak for 15 to 20 minutes to soften. Drain and cut them into pieces about 4-inches in length.

In another bowl, soak the mushrooms in hot water for 10 minutes or until soft. Drain and mince the mushrooms.

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade, add the pork and marinate at room temperature for 5 minutes.

Mix all the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl and set aside.

Heat a wok over high heat and when hot, add the oil. When the oil just begins to smoke, add the pork and stir-fry until the pork begins to brown. Add the ginger, green onion, and the mushrooms, and stir-fry until the pork is well browned. Add the bean paste and stir-fry for about 15 seconds or until it is well-combined with other ingredients.

Add the noodles, the sauce ingredients, and chile. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes until the sauce is thickened and the bean threads just begin to stick to the wok.

Mound the noodles on a large platter and serve.