Showing posts with label noodles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label noodles. Show all posts

Monday, 17 October 2011

No. 29 - Back with a Brunei Bang!


I’m back with Brunei bang as I am sure the anticipation has been killing you!


I’m going to try really hard to get a good few countries Culinised over the next few weeks. Still being on B is depressing. However now that I’m settled into the new flat and college, I should to have more time to get a few more in. Yeah right.

Things are just about to kick off in college so I better Culinise my ass off before I fall into the dark abyss that is my architecture thesis. Alas, don’t worry, I am as determined as ever to culinise the world, one country at a time and one letter at a time. Slow but steady wins the race. Neither the cooking, nor indeed the eating is what is time consuming - it’s all this blogging. But then again, cooking my way around the world and not photographing the dishes seems wrong, like going on holidays and not taking a camera.

Mee Goreng (Spicy “Fried” Noodles)


This is a supposedly a dry noodle recipe although mine didn’t turn out that way because, like most of my cooking endeavors, I didn’t follow the recipe. This is usually because I either a) I don’t like something, b) like something else better, c) just plain can’t afford it d) cut it out for ease. This means that it usually turns out to be, not the same but similar to the original - and in my opinion, often better. I don’t have a wok because I don’t have gas and it turns out in this instance that a wok cannot or rather, should not be substituted with a heavy pot.  This of course I knew already. The pot didn’t cook the chicken fast enough and everything kept sticking etc. so I had to keep adding water. Not exactly a stir-fry master class this, is it?  Still though it was a satisfactory Sunday night dinner – good, sticky, spicy, sweet Chinese, he hem, Brunei.


Serves 2 with leftovers

200g noodles (or what ever your equilivent of two servings is.)
3 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce

3 tbsp oyster sauce

3 tbsp tomato ketchup
tabasco, to taste

2 tbsp oil
2 eggs

5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 handful of bean sprouts
1 handful cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, sliced finely
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
3 scallions, sliced


Note: This method is not what I did, it’s what I should have done.
Cook your noodles in plenty of salted boiling water until just under done. Rinse with cold water to stop them cooking and cool them down.
In a bowl combine your sweet chili sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, tabasco and tomato ketchup.

In a wok, add the oil, garlic and chicken and fry until cooked. Then crack in your two eggs and lightly scramble until just set. Then add the noodles, bean sprouts, cabbage, carrots and continue to stir-fry for a few minutes. You may need to add a little water. When everything is cooked stir in the chili sauce. Serve in bowls with the sliced shallots to garnish.  

Tuesday, 23 August 2011

No. 24 - Bhutan - It's a Pork Fing!


After a long day of flat hunting, smelly van endurance, missed viewings and late estate agents, the first fing I needed when I got in was a glass of wine. And the last fing? A pork fing. I was too tired to cook, yet too hungry to contemplate not eating. We’ve all been there and it’s this situation precisely, that make’s dodgy takeaways an absolute fortune. And no Jamie, sometimes we don’t even have 30 minutes to make a meal, let alone a two course one, like that’s possible for mortals anyway. Upon learning that pork fing potentially takes an hour and half to (there’s that word again) stew, I hate to say it but a wok in a box was looking like our best bet.  I was under the impression that all Asian food was fast, another extremely wrong generalisation on my part. Oh Culinisation, how you enlighten me.


Somehow, a few timing tweaks, a pot too small for the noodles (damn all you too-small-pots), a broken wine glass (empty at least) and a mini breakdown later, pork fing was on the table. Just.

Pork Fing
Bhutan is renowned for its love affair with chili’s, but we had a korma eater in our midst and so I halved the number of chili’s required by the recipe. The resulting pork fing was boring yet comforting after the day we’d had. There's not really that much to it. You really need those chili’s to spice up the otherwise bland noodle and pork combo, although really I put the bland factor down to my own impatience, tiredness, unwillingness to follow the authentic recipe (I barely glanced at it) and my I-just-do-not-give-a-shit-anymore attitude. Turns out a splash of soya sauce and a drizzle of sweet chili sauce was just the ticket anyway. I would definitely recommend making this, and I will again. Next time, however I’ll unleash the chili beast and won’t have to worry about dodgy areas, security deposits and landlord references.
A flat was secured the next day, by the way (although I don’t want to jinx anything) and the kitchen is amazing! I’m moving up in the world!
Serves 3
3 pork chops, cut into chunks
a nice knob of butter
rice or cellophane noodles
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 onions, chopped
1 ½ chili’s, seeds removed and cut into strips (add as many as you dare, 3 or 4 would do nicely)
about a cup of water
half a head of broccoli, cut into florets (optional)
salt and pepper

Fry up the onion, tomatoes and pork in the butter. Add the water, salt and pepper and simmer for about an hour and a half. (I however completely skipped this and lacking patience only just waited for the pork to be cooked through) Then add the florets or broccoli and when they are cooked but still crunchy, throw in the noodles and sliced chili. Give it all a toss and serve in bowls with soya sauce and sweet chili sauce, if like me you’re not afraid to waver from authenticity for authenticity’s sake.