ayonecan-cook

I had planned to do a Hokkien Mee for dinner and then decided that I might as well blog about it. This is one of my favourite noodle dishes apart from a  hearty and spicy mee mamak. To be honest I didn't know that there were variations of this dish until I googled it. I had always thought of Hokkien mee as the dark, thick sauced, fat noodle dish. Period. Now I know that Penang has it's own version as does Singapore. All three look absolutely scrummy! This version however is really quick to put together and it must be made just before serving. Because the sauce is a simple mixture of sweet dark soy sauce, some oyster sauce and stock I find that the yellow noodles used in this dish cannot be substituted by any other because the flavour of the noodles contributes to the flavour of the dish as a whole. I had tried using my own home made noodles but it didn't quite taste the same because it did not have the flavour particular to Hokkien Mee made with yellow noodles. The yell...

Hi everyone! Here's a quick post of some breakfast noodles. It is simple and uses dried prawns as the main flavour base with added bean sprouts and chives for added flavour and texture. And crushed bird's eye chillie fo a nice kick. Yum! I made this on the same day that I made the hot sauce . I used skinny noodles from a packet (horrors) but it did have a few NO'S on the packet.....like NO preservatives, NO MSG, No Colouring. I suppose that's as close to homemade as I can get.  I'm out of steam, out of energy and out of time these past few days. I need to get working on those cookies. And I think I'm in  need of a plan just so I can carry out my plans.   The recipe ~ This noodle dish is so simple yet so full of flavour and makes a nice filling breakfast, lunch, snack or even dinner. 2 squares of skinny noodles 6-7 pieces dried prawns, soaked in water for about 10 minutes 2 pips garlic 2 bird's eye chillies or a large chillie pepper a handful of bean sprouts ...

I suppose when one has sucked, slurped and savoured a piping hot Char Kuay Teow from a road side stall no other noodle dish can ever quite make it into your book of heavenly noodles.  I made Pad Thai today. I used rice vermicelli instead of flat rice noodles because I wasn't feeling animated enough to make home made flat rice noodles (I never use commercially made ones).  All in all the Pad Thai was good. This is my second attempt at Pad Thai because I thought I did not quite get it right the first time. What made it different from other local fried noodles is the fact that it had the slight sourness of tamarind to it . I had also added extra chillie powder to the tamarind/fish sauce sauce because I like it hot. This was a noodle dish that did not blow me away but it was not bad. It was good. I'll give it a 7. I'll give Char Kuay Teow a 12 ~ no matter which competent person fries it. Pad Thai lovers please don't hit me. But you know, maybe it's just me. Maybe I...

  There's a reason why 'prawn brain' or 'otak udang' (oh-tuck oo-dung) is  a Malaysian idiom used to describe an extremely stupid person. It's because prawns pile poop in their heads. And along a little vein on their backs too. So the next time you're cleaning prawns snip the front half of their heads off in addition to removing the little 'vein' along the curve of their backs.  The reason I'm telling you this is because this recipe for fried rice noodles uses a sweet, rich and creamy pink prawn stock made by blending the shells and heads of sauteed prawns to a mush and the juice drained and squeezed out. So it is a pretty good idea to make sure your prawns are poop free. Agree? Having said that, can you imagine how delicious this noodle dish is? Prawn/prawn juice is one of the many natural flavour enhancers....it contains umami ......the fifth primary taste in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Put simply umami is a pleasant savoury t...

I totally connect with Ju, The Little Teochew .  I think it's a brilliant idea. Time flies and somewhere along the line we've got to take time spent in blog world and put it back into our real world. I've been so blessed with so many wonderful blog friends that I cannot thank you enough for all the lovely and kind comments that have more than made my blogging days. However due to time constraints and other commitments I'm closing comments indefinitely. But it won't stop me from saying a little hello every so often when life permits. Because of that I'm able to come back sooner (like now). And I might post recipes more often than I thought without having to dismiss my blog over a long and extended period of time as was with Plan A . It will also allow me to get on with my other work at the same time. If you need to get in touch you know where to reach me. I'll always be there. So since time is of the essence these days this quick noodle salad is perfect....

Glass noodles ~ cellophane noodles ~ mung bean threads ~ su'on ~ tunghoon ~ they're all one and the same. Slippery glass threads that are near impossible to scoop up if they were put into a soup. It's not to be confused with rice noodles. It's complete transparency and its feel as it slips through your lips, slides over your tongue and slithers down your throat makes it a very unique noodle.  It is an ingredient in a lovely soup with dried or fresh shrimps  that I used to eat as a child. A soup that's made up of bean curd skin, loofah, wooden ear fungus, golden needles and finally the glass noodles. Delicious. It was a favourite vegetable soup. But it was always the glass noodles that attracted and fascinated me more than anything else. It kept me busy. But the Thais have made it the main ingredient in a light and lovely salad. Less slithery because it is not in a soup but is a moist salad and very delicious because it is mixed with a spicy, salty, sour and sweet dr...

This dish is like a book with three main characters, all equally important, interesting and with personality. Noodles, sundried tomatoes and prawns. Each one different in flavour, texture and taste. I used whole wheat organic noodles which had a good bite to it, prawns that were full of flavour, succulent and juicy and sundried tomatoes that were quite intense, a little sour and with a sweetness of its own. The little sidekicks were a couple of garlic cloves and some chillie paste to spice things up a little. And some sweet basil leaves to add interest and to humour me. It turned out to be a very simple, interesting and delicious dish. And I loved it. I first came across the use of sundried tomatoes in a noodle cookbook I had bought once upon a time long long ago. Yes ~ that long.  And ever since then I have been meaning to try sundried tomatoes because it was an ingredient that was new to me and it sounded and looked really good. After many many years of meaning to-s I have in the...