Monday, February 11, 2013

Oodles of Noodles - Chinese Beef Noodles

For the Chinese beef noodles, I used beef stock and made braised beef shank. Instead of making noodles from scratch, I just used the packaged dry wheat noodles that you can get from any Asian market! I'm lazy! This version of beef noodles is one that my in-laws make, so it's not exactly the same as other beef noodle recipes out there.

Soup Base ingredients:

Beef stock - I fill up a medium sized pot with it, usually enough for 2 bowls of noodles
5-6 Star anise
White/light green chopped sections of 2 green onions
Chopped dark green sections of green onions for garnish
6 Dried lily flowers - wash and rehydrate them
1-2 plum tomatoes - chopped
Soy Sauce
Black Vinegar
1.5 inch piece of ginger
Sliced Braised beef shank (or you can use beef from beef stew)
Cilantro for garnish

Bring the beef stock to a boil and add the ginger, white/light green sections of green onions, and the lily flowers. Add soy sauce and black vinegar - amounts for these is really by tasty you want your soup to be. I generally pour in approximately 3.5 tbsp of soy sauce and about 1 to 1.5 tbsp of vinegar. If I want it to be more salty, I'll add some salt. Let it boil for 1 min or so and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 30 mins and add the tomatoes. Let it simmer for another 30 mins or so. While the soup is simmering, cook your noodles in a separate pot. Prep your noodle bowls - add the cooked noodle, along with the meat and other veggies (e.g. bok choi, yu choi etc...). Pour in your soup and garnish with cilantro and green onions. Eat up!

Braised Beef Shank

Prepping the noodle bowl
Yum! Chinese Beef Noodles




Friday, February 1, 2013

Oodles of Noodles - Tonkotsu Ramen

I made my noodles from scratch for this dish! Tonkotsu Ramen is a pork based Japanese soup noodle. I definitely bought the Tonkotsu flavored ramen packages many a times, but after realizing that I really shouldn't be eating packaged ramen since they're not all that good for you, I've decided to make it from scratch.


After a bit of searching, I came across a few ramen noodle recipes, but I also looked it up on Wiki to see what ramen noodles are made from. According to wikipedia ramen noodles are made from wheat flour, alkaline mineral water (kansui, lye water, available at most Asian groceries), salt, and water. For all the recipes I found, people have added an egg, and/or substituted the kansui with baked baking soda. Yes, baking soda that is baked at 250 degrees. Since I could obtain kansui pretty easily, I opted to use that in my noodle recipe. People also use pasta machines to make the noodles, but my pasta thing-a-ma-jig is kind of broken! So, I did it the old fashioned way, cut the dough by hand. The outcome of my noodles - meh... I think it might be because I used all-purpose flour instead of bread flour. The texture should be chewy/springy and I believe you need a flour with high wheat gluten. Either way, I'll be making them again until I get something I really like.

Hand-made ramen noodles. Since I used kansui (aka lye water) to make the noodles, I boiled them, drained and then boiled them a second time to reduce that lye water/soapy taste.
The soup broth on the other hand came out a wee bit better than the noodles....

Tonkotsu Ramen

Pork stock (I made it with pork neck bones and pig trotters: see my oodles of noodles post for stock making)
Kombu
Minced garlic cloves (2 - 3 cloves)
Sesame oil
Miso paste (2-3 tblsp)
Sesame paste (2-3tblsp)
Soy Sauce (2 tblsp)
Salt to taste

Add the kombu, miso paste, sesame paste, soy sauce and salt to pork stock. Bring to a boil and simmer. While it's simmering you can add other ingredients such as baby bok choi, enoki mushrooms, char siu, a soy braised egg, shredded seaweed. Simmer until your other ingredients are cooked/heated. Cook your noodles separately, drain and rinse the noodles and place them into your bowl and pour in your soup. Fry the minced garlic cloves in the sesame oil until brown and add to your bowl of noodles. Enjoy!

Bowl of tonkotsu ramen









Oodles of Noodles

Noodle and pasta dishes are my favorites! You can cook them any way and they are still delicious (provided that you have the right combination of ingredients). Given the extra time that I now have (since I've been done with school and haven't quite found the right job... yet), I've become a wee bit obsessed with the notion of 'hand-made' foods. I've tried my hand at making bao and bread loafs, and have made dumpling wrappers before (though I can't say I've mastered them just yet). Now I'm giving noodle making a try! In terms of soup noodles, I'm completely satisfied with how I've 'mastered' some of the different types of broths. For the noodle aspect, let's just say I'm getting there...slowly. The only problem with making soup noodles is the amount of time that goes into the stock/broth (there is a difference between stock and broth, which I didn't learn until now :P Stock = made by simmering bones, meat and veggies for long hours, generally you brown the ingredients first, Broth = same process only no bones and generally no browning beforehand) making as well as the noodle making. But certainly one can always make a big batch of broth and freeze it for the future. Same goes for the noodles - just make a lot and then save the extras in the fridge.

I'll share the recipes that I've tested for Beef Pho, Chinese Beef Noodle Soup, and Tonkotsu Ramen in a 3 separate posts. This first one covers stock making and Beef Pho.

The Beef Pho and Chinese Beef Noodle Soup use beef stock as a base and the Tonkotsu Ramen uses pork stock as a base. Making the stock is really simple, but it take awhile to simmer.

Making the stock:

Bones - People have suggested to use leg bones, short ribs and such. I tend to use what I can get at the supermarket which is usually neck bones, ribs, feet and sometimes, beef marrow bones
Water - Have more water than bones and fill the pot to about 1-2 inches from the top
Large Yellow Onion (I use either a 1/3 of the onion or half of it)
Green Onions (white/light green parts) 
Ginger (about 1-1.5 inch piece - bigger if you have a huge pot)

Blanch the bones first for about 5 min, then wash them thoroughly. Once they're washed, put them into the pot and fill with water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 3 hours. While it is simmering, "char" the onion, green onion and ginger. I usually just use the broiler to get them slightly burnt, but you can fry them or grill them. I remove any big black parts afterwards. Once you done the charring, throw them into the pot of simmering bones.

Beef Pho (Vietnamese Soup Noodle) Ingredients (Medium Pot)

1 to 2 bags of bean sprouts

Thinly sliced yellow onion 
Thinly sliced beef (I buy the shaved beef steak!)
Sliced beef tripe (not the honeycomb, blanch first)
Beef tendon balls (I like to cut them in half, boil separately first)
Chopped cilantro
Thai basil
Lime wedge
4-5 Star anise
1-1.5 inch Cinnamon stick 
5 whole cloves
3 tablespoons of fish sauce
1 inch of rock sugar
Beef stock (Enough to fill the medium sized pot)
Bahn Pho noodles (Cook separately according to package directions - make sure to rinse well in cold water after draining)

Put the star anise, cinnamon stick and whole cloves into a tea ball (that way you don't have to pick them out when you eat your noodles!) and put in with the beef stock. Add the fish sauce and rock sugar, beef tripe and beef tendon balls and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and add the bean sprouts, yellow onions and sliced beef. Simmer for about 1-2 minutes.

Have your noodles ready in bowls and pour in the broth. Garnish with cilantro, thai basil and fresh squeezed lime juice if you like :). Enjoy!

http://flic.kr/p/dL1sdm