Kardolicious: Asian

Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts

Udon Noodle Soup

I call this magic soup. Why? Because it's healthy and hearty. Because it takes 15- 20 minutes to put together. Because I can use leftovers from my fridge. And most importantly, it's comforting and delicious.

Udon noodles are thick, slightly chewy, Japanese noodles. It's easy to find in the Asian aisle of a good supermarket. If you don't find it in a supermarket, substitute it for any noodle you like (except for Maggi!), I have even used spaghetti at times.

I call this recipe my un-recipe. It's one of those things you throw together in a pot. It's a good soup to use up those odds and ends - a lone wilting celery stick, the last of the mushrooms, scratch the bottom of the jar pepper powder. I suggest you follow the recipe, but really make your own, if you know what I mean. And if you get your hands on Miso, do not let it go. I wish I could use some here, but I just couldn't find it :( I had leftovers from a Thai ingredients pack which I wanted to use, so my soup has a distinct south east asian tatse. You can skip the Thai ingredients all together.

Serves 2

4 cups water
1 fistful of udon noodles
1 Maggie Chicken cube or 1 cup of chicken stock
1 cup mushrooms (I used Shitake)
1 cup assorted veggies (I used broccoli)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 Thai mix packet: Kaffir Lime leaves, Galangal, Bird's eye Chillies, Lemongrass
Salt to taste

Note: I made a meatless soup as I didn't really have any meat at the time. I would really recommend using chicken for this recipe.

In a pot, bring water to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer. Add the chicken stock or soup cube and stir till well incorporated. Add all other ingredients except the soy sauce, and close lid. Let it simmer for 15 mins. At this point you can either add udon noodles and let it cook in the broth till al dente or you can just pre-cook your noodles and add it to the broth. Add the soy sauce and gently stir. Do a taste check and only then add salt if needed. Both the stock and soy sauce are considerably salty, so do not add salt at the start.

Divide the soup between two bowls. Top with a fried egg and some coriander and eat immediately.

Honey Sesame Chicken

There is this restaurant called PF Changs. You may have comes across it if you've travelled abroad. In my eyes, it can do no wrong. It makes lip smacking chinese food and one of my favourite dishes is the honey sesame chicken.

Its the most amazing combination of sweet and tangy. I can pop these like pop corn! Makes for an amazing starter. I've tried to rip off PF Chang's dish here. I know I come close, and if I don't, this chicken is still pretty good. I'll leave it up to you to decide though.

Serves 4:

300gms boneless chicken breasts cut into cubes
1 cup cornflour
Salt & pepper to taste
5 cloves of minced garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
3 tbsp vinegar, preferably rice wine or cider vinegar
2 tbsp ketchup
1/2 tbsp sesame oil

Heat oil in a large saucepan. In a large bowl, season chicken with salt & pepper. Add in cornflour and toss to combine. Cook chicken in pan till fully cooked and golden brown.

Set another saucepan on low heat. Add in the rest of the ingredients & stir. Add the chicken & cook for 2-3mins or till all the pieces are evenly coated.

Sprinkle some sesame seeds or spring onions and serve with noodles.

Asian Inspired Pork Chops

I just realised that I haven't put up a single pork recipe yet. While pork isn't my meat of choice, it does make some really grand dishes. In the catholic community, pork is a celebratory meat, one that is cooked for Christmas or Easter or during extended family Sunday get-togthers.

I'm not much into pork (except bacon), but I can wolf down pork chops any day. In my opinion, it is the perfect cut. You have the lean bone for flavour, a nice thick cushion of fat to keep the meat moist, and then you have succulent meat that is almost falling of the bone.Yum! Since I don't have much experience with pork, all credits for this recipe goes to Shrey Kamerkar. This is his dish through and through.

Before I detail out his recipe, here are my two cents on common mistakes people make while cooking pork chops.

Boneless is better: No its not! The bone gives the meat a richer flavour, plus its easier to handle.
From fridge to frying pan: Let your chops sit for atleast 30mins once out of the fridge. If the meat is too cold, the outside will overcook while the inside wont cook at all.
Trim fat: Instead of cutting off the fat, stand the chop on its side with your tongs and get that fat rendered, brown and crispy.

Serves 5

10pc Pork chops (I counted two pieces per person)

For the marinade:

3 thai or bird eye chilies (use regular red chillies if you dont find it)
2 tbsp garlic paste
5-7 Kaffir lime leaves
2 Lemongrass stems
1 medium sized root of Galangal (you can use ginger if you don't find this)
Basil (preferably thai basil)
2 tbsp Honey
2 tbsp Fish sauce
2 cups Pineapple juice
1 cup Soy sauce (preferably dark)
2 tbsp Sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste

*The first five ingredients are easily available in supermarkets (and Nature's basket) and is part of the ready made thai mix in the veggie section

In a mortar and pestle, mash the dry ingredients (galangal, chilli, garlic paste, lemmon grass, kaffir lime and bail leaves) to a coarse paste. Place pork in a large dish and gently spread and massage the marinade on the meat. Now add the rest of the ingredients, and make sure that all pieces of pork are evenly coated.

Refrigerate overnight preferably, but even 4-5 hours will suffice.

Remove from refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 30 mins. Heat oil in a sauce pan to sear the meat. Mind you, pork is a fatty meat, so please use a thin coating of oil. For chops I like the pan screaming hot, and then take it down to medium. That first blast of heat helps get a good golden crust. Searing meat might seem time consuming, but its well worth the effort in flavour.

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Once you've seared both sides of the meat i.e. both sides have changed to a brown colour, transfer the meat to your baking dish. Pour all the marinade over the meat and bake in the oven for the first 10mins at 180 and then turn down the heat to 120 degrees. Cook for approx 2hours or till meat is fully cooked.

After the meat is cooked, don't touch it for 10mins. If you cut into it right away. all its juices will run into the pan instead of getting redistributed into the meat. Trust me, you don't wanna lose all that delicious liquid.

Serve with toasted bread, steamed beans and carrots, mashed potatoes....

...and a leafy salad. Shrey recommends a salad of rocket leaves, pea shoots, basil, chilly, honey and lemon juice.

Look how pretty Shrey's plating is! It looked so good, I almost didn't wanna eat it.

Cold Asian Noodle Salad With Chilli & Pineapple

It was my turn to cook dinner today and I wanted to serve guacamole with nachos (that will most likely be my next post). I recently got back from a trip to Goa, armed with a car full of local produce. You can expect a lot of recipes involving pineapple, avocado and bananas now. I reach home only to find that the avocados are still raw.

So this dish is something I threw together based on what I had in my pantry at the time (see cooking notes for potential ingredients). I love cold noodle salads on hot summer days. As weird as it sounds, its actually quite refreshing in the heat. I did however jazz it up with some dried shitake mushrooms, which I also bought from Goa. I know its weird, but Goa has the most kickass international food store.

I can write a book on shitake mushrooms. Its my all time favourite mushroom variety. Both the fresh and dried versions are fairly expensive, but their taste is irreplaceable. I'd recommend buying dried instead of fresh mushrooms, firstly because its cheaper and more intense in flavour, but also because it can keep for years. So it is a good investment! And it is completely optional in this dish.

The best thing I love about this dish is the contrasting flavours. You get the heat of chilli balanced with the sweetness of pineapples. And the mint is just a breath of fresh air.

Serves 4:

1 pack or 200gms rice noodles. I used vermicelli
1 cup bell peppers, seeds removed and thinly sliced or cubed
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup pineapple, peeled, cored and cubed
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/4 cup chopped shitake mushrooms (optional)*

For the dressing:

2tbsp dark soy
1tbsp light soy
(use 3 tbsp soy sauce incase you have only one variety)
1tbsp sugar
1tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp chilli flakes or schezwan sauce
Salt to taste

In a large pot of boiling water, cook noodles till al dente. In the same pot of while the noodles are cooking, add the bell peppers in a strainer spoon, and cook for 2 minutes. We want the veggies to cook but still have a bite to them. Drain noodles and veggies when done and immerse in another bowl filled with cold or ice water.

In a large bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Add in the noodles, pineapples, bell peppers, mushroom and bean sprouts. Toss to coat all ingredients with the dressing. Serve in bowls, topped with chopped up peanuts.

Note: The salad can be made up to a day in advance and refrigerated. However, the pineapple must be added just before serving. If you are using vermicelli like me, the salad must be consumed within an hour or two of cooking

Tip: You can sub pineapples for mangoes or even use both.While I have made a veggie salad, you can easily create a non-veg variant. Chicken goes beautifully with pineapple. You can also add a tablespoon of fish sauce to the dressing, it makes such a difference!

You can also experiment with various noodles. My suggestion would be soba noodles as its best when served cold. You can also try angel hair pasta, pad thai noodles or even your regular egg noodles.

*I used dried shitake mushrooms. To use dried mushrooms, you need to soak them in hot water. Remove the stem and soak them in pipping hot water till soft. However soaking them overnight (if you have the time) does wonders. The soaking liquid works well as a stock for other recipes.

Spicy Chilli Garlic Prawns

This dish is my dad's spin on the popular Indo-Chinese dish called Chilly Chicken. And full marks to my dad! It is exactly like what we get in Chinese restaurants. And its so deliciously addictive, I can polish off a bowlful at the blink of an eye.

Serves 4

1/4kg prawns that have been cleaned and de-veined
1 whole bulb of garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, cubed
2 large bell peppers, de-seeded and cubed
4 large green chillies de-seeded and cubed
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 white pepper powder
Whites of two eggs, whisked
4 tbsp light soy
1 tsp corn flour
1 tsp chilli sauce
Spring onions to garnish
salt to taste

Whisk the egg whites in a big bowl till fluffy. Add in a pinch of salt and cornflour. Mix in the prawns and set aside for an hour. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the prawns till golden and set aside. In the same pan fry the cubed onion, peppers & chillies for approx.3-5 mins and set aside.

In another pan, heat some sesame oil. Add all the chopped garlic and lightly toast. Add the sugar, vinegar, soy and chilli sauce. Sprinkle cornflour to thicken. Toss in the prawns, peppers, onion and chillies. Add salt to taste.

Garnish with spring onions

You can obviously substitute prawns with anything. Chicken or pork would work well. If you are vegetarian, opt for paneer.

You can eat it as is or serve with some egg noodles.

Stir Fry Szechuan Eggplant

Someone described this dish as being the 'pork belly dish' for vegetarians. Such an apt description! Its crispy on the outside and lusciously soft on the inside. This dish is something you would imagine being served in a Chinese restaurant, and its completely Vegan. Ofcourse you can add any meat (try pork!) or veggies you like, but really the eggplant is star of this dish.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant cut into cubes

200g cornflour

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger

1 onion finely sliced

2 tbsp Szechuan sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce (preferably light soy)

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp vinegar

1 tbsp black bean paste (optional)

1 tbsp sesame oil

Cut eggplant into cubes and wash. Pat dry and toss in cornflour till evenly coated. Heat oil in a pan and fry eggplant cubes until it starts to brown. Its alright is it isn't fully cooked, as it will cook with the heat of the sauce as well. Drain and set aside.

In a wok, heat sesame oil. Add the ginger, garlic and onions and stir fry till the onions are translucent. Add the Szechwan sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar and black bean paste. Add some water if too thick. Turn the heat on high. Add the eggplant cubes and stir fry for a minute or two and you are done!

You can eat it as is or serve on a bed of rice or noodles.

Tip: I didn't have any at the time, but definitely add some cashews while stir frying. The crunch from the nuts goes superbly with the tender eggplants. Sprinkle some sesame seeds or spring onions to finish off the dish before serving. If you are making a non-veg version of this dish I would definitely recommend adding a tablespoon of fish sauce while stir frying.

Burmese Khow Suey

Khow Suey (pronounced khao soo-ay) is a Burmese one dish soup meal. Its traditionally made with egg noodles and beef or chicken, served with a coconut curried broth. You may wonder what is so special about a simple soup. But the thing I love about this dish is the variety of contrasting condiments that is served with soup and the flexibility with flavours. These are served on the side, which you can add according to your tastes, and truly make a customised dish to call your own.

Since I'm vegan for a few weeks, this was the perfect dish to make. Minus the meat, khow suey is naturally vegan and I didn't have to sacrifice any key ingredients or taste. You can obviously add meat while making the stew for the non vegetarian version. I have to mention, though this dish is easy to make, it does have a lot of components, so please account for some prep time.

Serves 6

For the Coconut Soup:

400ml or 1 can of Coconut milk
100ml Water or vegetable stock
2 tbsp ginger or galangal
4 cloves of grated garlic
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp red chilli powder
1 whole lemon grass
10 curry leaves
Juice and zest of half a lemon
1 pack of noodles (Try using thick noodles like spaghetti or egg noodles. I've used rice noodles as its vegan)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 cup mushrooms (optional)
1 cup tofu (optional)

For the accompaniments:

You can really add any fresh herbs or veggies to accompany this dish. See my topping suggestions at the end of the recipe

1 cup fried onions
1 cup spring onions
1 cup fried garlic
1 cup bell peppers
1 cup mint leaves
1 cup lemon wedges

To begin with, boil noodles in salted water and add a dash of oil to prevent it from sticking. Once noodles are cooked, drain in a colander and run under cold water to stop them from cooking further. Drizzle a little oil incase they are too sticky. Set aside.

In a deep pot pan, on a low heat add some oil and let it heat up. Add in the ginger and garlic and sautee. Add in the curry leaves, cumin, turmeric and chilli powder. Cook for 2 mins and then add in the tofu and mushrooms. You can fry the tofu before hand if you like it firm. Cook for another minute or so. Now add in the coconut milk. Ensure the heat is on low throughout or the coconut milk may curdle. Add in the stock and the whole lemon grass. Simmer for around 10mins or until all flavours are incorporated. Fish out the lemon grass and discard. Add in salt and pepper to taste. Add in the lemon juice and zest and stir.

While the coconut broth is simmering, prep the accompaniments. Deep fry the onions and set aside. Deep fry garlic until crispy. Chop up the spring onions and peppers. Arrange all ingredients in different bowls.

To Serve:

Each guest must have a large soup bowl to call their own. You can choose to serve the noodles and sauce separately. However, I have mixed the two in one big bowl. Place all accompaniments around it in smaller bowls so that guests can add everything according to their liking. I personally would recommend that one adds all topping in their bowl...so delicious!

Accompaniment Suggestions:

If I weren't vegan I would definitely have boiled eggs and prawns as an accompaniment. Besides these I would definitely recommend having some fresh chillies or chilli flakes, coriander (cilantro), crispy fried noodles, hot chilli oil, peanut oil and sesame oil. This is ofcourse over and above the existing list of accompaniments.

Asian Style Beef Steak

Steaks are effortless cooking. All you need is an all star marinade and around 5-10 mins of cooking time. But when you say the word steak, your mind immediately associates it with America & Texas style barbecues. So today I'm going to break away from the stereotype. I am not going for a traditional American marinade. Instead, I'm looking the other way, I'm looking eastward. My steak today is Asian inspired, the ingredients I've used are very yin and yang. I'm using soy sauce which is salty, sugar which is sweet, orange juice which is tart, cinnamon and cloves give a liquorice flavour, and finally BBQ sauce which is tangy. So as you can see its a combination of different flavours that come together beautifully, to make a steak that is finger licking good!

Makes enough for 4 slices of steak

For the marinade:

2 tbsp Black bean paste
2 tbsp BBQ sauce
2 tbsp Soy sauce
1 tbsp orange juice or Tang powder
1 tsp brown sugar (regular sugar will do, but brown sugar gives a nice colour)
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
Finely chopped ginger (approx 3" root)
3 Cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
1 tsp Peanut or Sesame (til) oil
A pinch of pepper
Note: Salt is omitted on purpose as soy sauce is naturally salty

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. Toss in the meat and using your hands ensure that the marinade is equally slathered on all meat slices. Leave to rest overnight or for a minimum of four hours before use.

Cook meat on a skillet at high heat according to doneness. Be careful as since the marinade is a little runny, it might start splattering will the heat. Below is a basic time reference for cooking an inch thick slice of beef. Ofcourse if you are using chicken instead, you don't have to worry about this as you cook the chicken through and through.