Meat Ball Noodle Blues Buster

 

Pork Ball Noodles from Win Heng Seng, Jalan Imbi, KL goes upmarket to the Lot 10 food court

 My poor blog has absolutely suffered from a serious lack of attention. Just a quick check in and a little something to salivate over - it never fails to out a smile me face (believe it or not, I'm so deliciously hooked on Geordie Shore - for those of you not in the know how, it's the terrible wannabe Jersey Shore long lost relative but still a real stonker of a programme!)

Well, I'd say!

Miso Marinated Salmon Fillets with Vegetable Noodle Soup

Ultra quick dinner last week - flash marinated salmon fillets in miso, soy sauce and mirin. Grilled for about 5 minutes.

Served with a large bowl of vegetable noodles in miso soup, scattered with toasted black sesame seeds and coriander leaves.

Oodles of Noodles - Mien Tay, Battersea

I will unashamedly admit that I returned to Mien Tay the very next day after my first visit for another meal. It was supposed to be burger night but after a failed hunt for the reportedly best burger this side of the Atlantic sold by The Meatwagon for 1 day only outside the The Ship down in Wandsworth (oh, we found the truck alright but they had soldout!!! 3000 burgers made for the weekend, they had sold 2950 the day before in Islington leaving only 50 burgers to be fought over down south on Sunday. Oh rubbish, but maybe next time!) we trudged back to Battersea. It was a toss up between McD's (it was burget night, remember ...) and Mien Tay. Naturally I have veto power and Mien Tay it was.

We weren't into having another pig out like the previous evening and opted for a single dish each. I had the the Phở Đặc Biệt (£6), which I believe translates to 'special phở'- it basically had sliced beef, beef brisket and and beef balls (the greedy person's phở). The soup was a tad bland but nothing a little sprinkle of salt and a dash or two of fish sauce didn't sort out. I was so content after eating this, I felt like I had been wrapped up in a big fluffy blanket. Oh, I do like my noodle soups.

SM had the Mì Xào Bò (£5.50) or not so exotically translated to stir fried soft noodles with beef. Flavours were good, it was packed with sliced beef and veggies but only one problem .... SM hates celery and the dish reeked of celery. I confes I'm not a celery fan but I'll eat it cooked should the occassion call for it. SM dislikes celery even more than I do but I doubt it mattered that night as the dish was wiped clean within minutes after I took my last shot of the dish.

I forgot to grab a shot of the free fruit presented to every table at the end of the meal on my first visit. Cute way to present fruit.

Mien Tay
180 Lavender Hill, Battersea, London SW11 5TQ

Tempura Udon

I think I might just have found myself a winner batch of batter! Whoop whoop! A big thank you to the Japanese and their technique of using ice/cold water - I should never have doubted you. I have to say my fritters or should I say tempura was bloody fantastic. Light and crisp ... sigh ....

Tempura
Prawns - I could only get hold of a packet of pre-cooked teeny weeny prawns so I went with that
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup corn flour
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup cold/ice water
Oil for deep frying

• Mix the plain and corn flours and the salt in a mixing bowl. Add in the water and mix the batter lightly. You don't want to over mix it and definitely want it a bit lumpy. Tip the prawns into the batter
  
• Heat the oil in a deep pan until a breadcrumb sizzles and turns brown when dropped into it.
• Add a tablespoonful of prawns and batter into the hot oil. Cook the batter in batches of 2-3 fritters per batch for 2-3 minutes each, or until crisp and golden. When cooking in batches, ensure you leave enough space between them to ensure they don't merge into a large fritter.
• Carefully remove each fritter from the oil and drain on kitchen paper. Serve.

I served my prawn tempura with udon and broccoli.

Malaysia Eats

I thought I should finally sort out my photos tonight, starting with those of Istanbul taken all those months ago back in April. But ... there's always a but ... bloody Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Live Photo Gallery keep crashing my computer so I've given up. I'm too tired to faff around trying to troubleshoot something I haven't a clue about. So I've turned my attention to some of the stuff that never made it to my posts about my last trip home. Just a few photos from various meals. Oh hush my grumbling tummy .........! Enjoy :)

Marco Polo Restaurant
1st Floor, Wisma Lim Foo Yong, Jalan Raja Chulan, 50200 Kuala Lumpur

This used to be one of the places to hold a Chinese wedding banquet when I was a kid. I haven't been back in years. The dim sum is decent - think a step up from your local coffee shop on a Sunday morning and not quite as fancy as the Chinese restaurant at your favourite downtown 5* hotel.

Steamed black pepper chicken balls

Lor mai kai (steamed sticky glutinous rice with chicken, mushrooms and various other bits)

Din Tai Fung
Lot LG-207, Lower Ground Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City

Famous for their xiao long bau (Shanghainese soup dumplings) and very popular with my family. The food is pretty good and seems pretty consistent from the two occasions that I've been here. The one thing that grates on me is their insistence of the waiting staff to only speak Mandarin to their customers. Correct me if I'm wrong but Cantonese is the accepted Chinese dialect spoken in KL, so why insist on Mandarin? The waitress is only giving herself more work since she'll have to repeat everything she just said to me in English anyway. Yes, I sound like a spoilt brat and I refuse to apologise for it ..... making me sound even more brattish :)

Xiao long bau ... yum yum yum! Good splurt of hot broth but eat too many and you'll start to notice how fatty each little dumpling is.

Thin slithers of ginger in black vinegar, the traditional accompaniment to xiao long bau.

Deep fried beans with mince. I always thought of this as a Sichuanese dish but apparently it's Shanghainese too.

Braised seaweed topped tofu with Chinese mushrooms

Beard Papa
Lot LG007, Lower Ground Floor, Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur

I haven't had a Beard Papa custard puff in years and it seems like my mum had never had one ever so I bought us one to share. It's still good. And I still not a huge fan of choux pastry.

Ampang Yong Tau Foo (shop next to Foong Foong)
Jalan Besar Ampang, 68000 Ampang

Foong Foong is the family stall of choice when we want Ampang yong tau foo (like so many other families I suspect) but mum broke some rather sad news when I insisted we cross town in mid day traffic to eat here ... Foong Foong is closed. Seriously? Surely not ... it's been there since.... well, since I remember eating yong tau foo. We went anyway and sure enough the shutters were down and the gates firmly padlocked. I hope we went on a day they decided to close for the day or I shall be very upset. So we went to the stall next door. Usually sad and so in need of custom, they were doing a good trade with Foong Foong closed (I don't even know its name ... dearie me). To be fair the yong tau foo tastes (dare I say it .... ) almost the same as Foong Foong but years ago they cocked out and started selling other dishes to entice customers. Imagine ... assam fish with yong tau foo ... impossible!

Our miserly looking 15 piece yong tau foo plate for 4 people ... it just can't compare to my dad's order of 40 pieces for 4 people when I last ate at Foong Foong's in January 2009. This order was definitely enough considering our 4 this time included my 90 year old grandmother who now eats like a bird.


Deep fried sui kow (like wontons but better!)


This is really what I come for ... the soup sui kow. This has got to be one of my all time favourite foods.

Restoran SS2 Murni
Jalan SS2/75, Petaling Jaya

Murni has got to be one of the coolest mamaks around. Run by a Chinese owner (*eyebrow raised .... "really?"), it's frequented by a truely muhibah crowd ... we sat next to a large Indian family finishing their dinner, a Malay couple eating roti and sipping teh ais whilst talking quietly to each other, a young Chinese couple sharing an extra large juice and a maggie goreng as they busily texted friends and practically ignoring each other, a large group of friends who were very possibly in college together. And there was me and my sister busy stuffing our faces, nudging each other and cackling out loud as we watched out our neighbours. I've been coming here for years and it's still as busy as it was when I was in college. The food is insane ... the menu combination is like no other mamak - there's your traditional rotis and rotis with a new twist - roti hawaii, roti seafood, roti salad. There's also the steak and chips, loh shu fun, spaghetti marinara. Brilliant!

The juices are also another reason to drop by Murni. We both got the medium watermelon juice special. Fresh watermelon juice blended with lots of ice, topped with lychee, chopped watermelon and nata de coco. So damn good on a muggy evening.


Candice had a hankering for fried chicken so we got fried chicken. The waiter gave us a choice which was - batter or not batter? Errr .... no batter please. Batterless fried chicken .. almost pointless. It was quite nice though. A whole chicken leg marinated in soy and served with chili sauce.


My must have dish when I'm back in KL - Maggie goreng. Probably not as good as other mamak stalls but it'll do.


Roti Jepun - we're still not entirely sure what was in this but we think it was egg, cheese and condensed milk (or the Malaysian version of dairy free condensed milk anyway). Not sure how this is in anyway Japanese and it wasn't particularly great.


Roti Hawaii - a new twist on the traditional murtabak. Filled with mince beef, sliced frankfurters, tinned pineapple and cheese. Topped with a generous squeeze of the mayonnaise bottle. Served with a blob of red sauce (chili or ketchup?), dhal and curry. What a combination. I oddly liked this. Give me frankfurters and ketchup and I can be very forgiving.

Penang Teochew Cendul
Lebuh Keng Kwee, Off Penang Road, Penang

Part of our search for good Penang char kway teow included a cendul stop (see post here). There was apparently a very good stall that we just had to try. Personally I wasn't too bothered to get to this stall. It was a horridly hot day, I was stuffed from too much lunch and it was too comfortable in the air conditioned car to tempt me out. But hey I was on holiday and it would be mighty unsociable to continue snoozing in the car, which would get baking hot the moment the engine was stopped. So we trudged along Penang Road, not quite sure where we were going until we found it. A dingy little stall down a side street with a crowd of people holding plastic bowls. The sign proudly proclaimed it as the famous Penang Road Teochew cendol. So how is Teochew cendol different from ... let's say the Indian guy who sells it? No idea. This stall does however add red beans to their concoctions. Ergh! Hate red beans.

I just had to be difficult - my special order of no red beans. Good cendol? It was ok cendol.Less sweet than many other I have tried. My mother who has a particularly sweet tooth would have complained they were too light on the gula melaka. Ahhh each to his own I suppose :)

Summer Dinners

Tom Yum Mussels with Garlic and Chili Pasta

The mussels were a spur of the moment purchase from a Chinese supermarket one weekend. I cooked them up with a tom yum spice mix I had brought back with me from Malaysia and tinned tomatoes. Loads of herbs I also picked up from the Chinese supermarket went in - coriander, dill and mint. Served with pasta simply tossed in olive oil, garlic and chili.

Chedder Stuffed Burgers with Courgette Crisps

I stupidly didn't consider the size of my roll when I shaped out these patties. Amateurish mistake! I was so focus on getting the meat to encase the ball of cheese I forgot about everything else. The patties turned out pretty darn good though - oozy melting cheese. Yum. The meat was flavoured with a myriad of different things I found in my cupboard, which is possibly why none of my food ever tastes the same twice :) The courgette crisps were made by deep frying thin long strips of corgettes coated in cornflour.

Full English

Well, not really a full English since I decided against eggs and bread but I got the hash browns that I had been thinking about. I won't take any credit for this meal as Stuart knocked it up in about 10 minutes flat.

Bacon Fried Rice

I had some rice sitting in the fridge, a pack of bacon I couldn't find room for in the freezer and a whole load of bits and bobs lying around. So fried rice it was and bacon just goes so well with just about anything, doesn't it?

Sweetcorn Fritters with a Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Someone mentioned sweetcorn to me in passing one day and I just knew I had to have sweetcorn fritters for dinner that very evening. I mixed up a batch of batter of flour, corn flour and an egg, seasoned it and added some cayanne pepper. I then added as much sweetcorn as the batter could hold. On hindsight I should have defrosted the sweetcorn before I added it to the mixture to avoid the huge sweetcorn clump. Yes, I know it's summer with an abundance of sweetcorn but sometimes I just want a pain free evening that frozen food offers. Served with a simple salad of chopped tomatoes and cucumber topped with olive oil and chili pepper flakes.

Roast Teriyaki Chicken Legs

I marinated a batch of chicken legs in teriyaki sauce, honey, black pepper and spring onions overnight. All I had to do the next day was to shove it all into the oven and dinner was ready 40 minutes later. Served with steaming hot rice, of course.

Grilled Mackeral with Thai Inspired Salad

The mackeral fillets were quickly grilled (about 3 minutes each side) and served with what I like to call a Thai inspired salad (thinking along the lines of the Thai papaya salad, som tam). Long shreds of courgette, carrot, red onion, tomatoes and coriander tossed in a dressing of fish sauce, chili, lime juice, sugar and garlic.

Macaroni in a Fresh Tomato Sauce with Burger Patties

I love summer for it's abundance of fruit and veg and none makes me smile more than the tomato. My tomato love affair is intensely passionate and if I could, I would probably add tomato to all the dishes I cook. I bought a huge batch the other week and I'm desperate to eat them before they go bad. What better way than a fresh tomato sauce with olive oil, garlic and basil. I also added some spinach to my boiled macaroni and fried up some sun dried tomato burger patties (cut up into bite size chunks) to serve with it.

Fried Kway Teow (Thai Style)

My food is frequently Thai style but never truely Thai. I just like borrowing elements from Thai cuisine - I love the freshness, the herbs, the flavour. This is a lot like phad thai but minus quite a few of the essential ingredients like tamarind juice, crushed peanuts, lime juice, etc. I boiled up some flat rice noodles (which I love over and beyond any other kinds of noodles and know it as kway teow or hor fun), fried up some chinese leaf, thinly sliced tomato, spring onion, shredded chicken, prawns and egg. I added the softened noodles to the mixture before flavouring the dish with fish sauce, oyster sauce and my secret ingredient, ketchup. I guess I'm just a big kid who never outgrew her taste for ketchup with almost anything :) Some rough torn basil leaves went in just before the final toss of the noodles for extra flavour.

In Search of Penang's Best - Char Kway Teow

For every plate of char kway teow that is served up in Malaysia, there are only a few that gets the distinct nod of approval. And apparently there are more heads nodding in Penang than anywhere else in the country. Good char kway teow is all about the 'ummph' factor. The big fire to lend that great 'wok hei' flavour, the right amount of ingredients that goes into the wok at any one time just so not to overwhelm the heat ... it's beautiful art and science rolled onto a plate.

Whilst Sisters on McAlister Road serves up a decent plate of noodles; with those big crunchy prawns and sprinkling of crab meat just before the dish is served, I have always been left with a twinge of disappointment of the lack of ‘ummph’ I felt. On this trip to Penang (for VO’s wedding ….or should I now say Mrs VT) it was straight pass McAlister Road and on to Heang Huat on Lorong Selamat instead. Look for the lady in the wacky sunglasses and you know you’re at another of Penang’s char kway teow institutions.

The noodles were good but I was still not feeling the ‘ummph’ . I was not throwing up my hands in the air and declaring it one of the best plates of char kway teows I’ve ever had. Even worse I was beginning to think that Penang food was standing on an extremely rickety pedestal. All the elements of a good plate of char kway teow were there – good wok hei, good balance of the ingredients, some very nice big crunchy prawns but if I were to be pedantic (which I am so totally not … ) there was not enough chives and it was so oily that at least a healthy half a teaspoon of oil was left on the plate after I had finished. I walked out of Heng Huat feeling slightly dejected. At this rate there was still no challenger to my all time favourite from Seng Lee in Damansara Heights.

A flurry of wedding festivities over, we were headed back to KL but not before one last plate kway teow. This time we let a local take charge. First impressions of Khoon Hiang were pretty bad. Tucked away in a corner of a not particularly busy area (but let’s remember it was in the middle of the afternoon on a Sunday), the coffee shop was dead quiet save a few old men gathered around a formica topped table sipping cups of iced tea and a few strays flopped about in the shade. And it was hot, not helped much by the corrugated tin roofs. Grumpy and eager to be on my way home (it had been a terribly long weekend with too much food and booze and not enough sleep) I wasn’t even cheered up with arrival of the first plate of noodles. But as the chorus of ‘emmms’ and ‘not bad, not bad’ (high compliments coming from a bunch of discerning Malaysian eaters) compelled me to dig in. It was good. Good flavours without the feeling of an oil slick in my mouth (which was perhaps my biggest objection to the CKT from Lorong Selamat).

If I thought the first plate was good, the second was better. For a few ringgit more they add extra prawns (those big crunchy babies that are so darn delicious) and mantis prawns (which look suspiciously like smaller version of a witchetty grub). If you want the full whack, spend an extra 50 cents and your run of the mill chicken’s egg will be upgraded to a duck egg.


Belly full and burping wok hei garlic I think I may have just eaten some very good CKT. Is it my personal favourite? Maybe not … call me a KL girl at heart. I like my noodles with a touch of thick dark soy sauce KL style. Penang CKT may just be too fine a dish for me ….


Kafe Heng Huat, 108 Lorong Selamat,Penang
Ah Leng Char Koay Teow, Kafe Khoon Hiang, Jalan Dato Keramat, Penang
Sister’s Char Koay Teow, Lam Heng Cafe, Jalan Macalister, Penang

Ants Climbing on Trees

I've been absolutely fascinated by this dish ever since I saw it in my sister's copy of The Food of China by Murdoch Books (I love cookery books with lots of photographs, the more the better). The dish itself is pretty simple ... fried noodles with mince but it's the imagination behind it that I love. The noodles being the spindly branches of a tree, red ants with their fiery bite represented by the mince coated in stinging chili bean paste and I even added foliage to my tree with the addition of slices choy sum.

Ants Climbing on Trees
Serves 2

250g mung bean thread noodles, soaked and ready to cook
100g minced pork
small bundle of choy sum, sliced
heaped dessert spoonful of chili bean paste
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely sliced
a small handful of coriander, finely sliced
splash of oil
splash of soy sauce
splash of oyster sauce
light drizzle of sesame oil

• Heat a wok (large pan) over a medium meat. Add the oil and allow it to heat until it smokes (or thereabouts). Add the mince to the wok/pan in small batches to allow even browning. If too much liquid is released from the meat whilst cooking and like me you get too impatient for it to cook off, tip the meat and liquid into a strainer. Once the most of the liquid has been strained, return the meat to the wok/pan and let it sizzle to a nice light golden brown colour.
  
• Add the garlic to the meat. Allow the garlic to work it's magic in the heat - once there's a delicious aroma of cooking garlic (mind you burnt garlic is not an enticing smell), add the choy sum. Stalks first followed by the more tender leaves. Add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili bean paste and sesame oil. Toss to mix evenly. If it looks a little too dry, add a little water.
  
• Once the vegetables have wilted slightly, add the noodles to the wok/pan. Give it a good toss to ensure the noodles are mixed in properly. Taste - add more soy sauce/oyster sauce/sesame oil/chili bean paste if you think it necessary.
• Serve with a sprinkling of spring onion and coriander.
  

Fried Mai Fun with Beef and Kai Lan

A dinner of fried noodles with beef and kai lan(Chinese broccoli). I haven't made it in awhile and the last time it was with dried noodles. This time I used mai fun (rice vermicelli) and instead of soaking the noodles first, I put the noodles straight into the wok after frying up the beef and kai lan with lots of garlic and ginger (yes, a little unconventional). I made lots of extra sauce (mixture of soy sauce, oyster sauce, white pepper, shaoshing rice wine, sesame oil and water) to ensure the noodles had enough liquid to soak up and still have a reasonable of sauce left.

A Meal to Last The Whole Weekend ... For One

Autumn is definitely not my favourite time of the year. Actually, I hate it! I have spent the last 8 years despising it's arrival and hating the months of October and November. September's not too bad...with the odd English weather, it usually turns out to be the nicest month of the year :) Last weekend Stuart headed up north for a conference. Holed up in a nice hotel can't be all that bad :) as I was in London tucked up on the sofa, under the duvet trying to meet a Sunday night deadline. Yes, a Sunday night deadline! 3AM counts as Sunday night, right???

With no Stuart to turn his nose up, I bought some cauliflower. I'm not a huge fan of this vegetable myself, unless I have it roasted. Yum! Cut up into florets, tossed with oil and into a hot oven until lightly caramalised on both sides. I added broccoli to the roasting tin, which was a huge mistake ;) Live and learn I guess. The broccoli was a little too burnt and the cauliflower a little too waterlogged for my liking. Oh well! Also added some tomatoes sliced fresh tomatoes at the end, which had a nicely intensified tomato flavour. I also roasted sweet potatoes, cut into small chunks, with some pork sausages in another tray. I served this with sweet potato vermicelli (picked up from Chinatown), a dressing made from oil, soy sauce, Japanese vinegar and grated ginger, and a sprinkling of black sesame seeds.

Verdict?
Not the best meal I've cooked, not bad though. Cooked enough for a small army = roughly about 2 meals for me :D

Noodles and Dumplings - Baozi Inn

I dragged Stuart all the way to Chinatown last weekend amidst much excitement to try out Baozi Inn. The reviews were good and the menu sounded even better. At long last, I thought, there could possibly be a place to get some different Chinese food. We arrived at the about 5.00 in the afternoon, probably one of the most ungodly hours to turn up at a restaurant - but we beat the crowds and got a table. The seating is a little squashed and the place is decorated with Chinese Communist propaganda tack - not that I mind, mind you - it's pretty darn different and it did bring a few smiles to Stuart and I.

The menu is limited, good or bad, I'm not quite sure. As we were pretty hungry, we decided to share a pork baozi, a steamed minced pork filled bun (about £2 each) - no photos I'm afraid. It came out pipping hot and was very tasty. A little sloppy to share with the filling spilling out as I tried to split it the bun. Much, much better than the buns from the baozi stall opposite the restaurant. Next up, the pork dumplings with chilli and garlic (about £4 per portion). There were five dumplings to a portion and very good they were too. The dumplings were meaty and the chili oil imparted a good amount of heat. As much as I love garlic (I do get a little garlic mad at times)...this was way too much. It tasted as if a whole bulb was used for just one little dish. I tasted and breathed garlic for the rest of the evening and everyone else I passed on the street must have smelt the fumes.

Stuart chose the pork and aubergine sauce noodles (about £6.50). The little chunks of meat were very tender and went well with the aubergine on the noodles. The dish also came with fresh, green soybeans and little baby pak choy. From the little taste I had, I think the pork and aubergine was cooked with some bean paste. The dish sounds good, looks good... but unfortunately didn't taste that great. There was a lack of depth in the flavour as I would expect from a dish like this. Stuart allowed me to spoon over a little bit of extra chili oil. It gave it a slightly different dimension but the flavour was still flat.

I wanted something with soup and uncertain how spicy their spicy noodles were, I played it safe and ordered the pork rib and mushroom noodles. The meat was tender (if I was really picky...I would say it could have been cooked a tad bit longer) and quite generous with 5-6 ribs but meat looked a little......pink. Dyed pink rather than uncooked pink ... hmm... The soup was such a letdown. It lacked the punch and 'oomph' of a good meat broth. Actually it only had slight traces of meatiness, which demonstrated to me that meat and soup wasn't cooked for long enough. It was also lacked seasoning. I did ask for extra soy sauce and chili oil, which I used liberally. I ended up with a soy sauce and chili oil soup. Oh how disappointing!

Verdict?
If only the punch and flavour from the baozi and dumplings continued to the noodle dishes... the food here would be great. I love the dish combinations - pork and aubergine...Stuart and I fought to order it. However, I have read favourable reviews of this restaurant; perhaps it was the ungodly hour of my visit then? I would go back for the dumplings (minus the garlic, unless I feel particularly inclined towards a spot of vampire hunting that day) and the baozi, which I believe can be ordered as a takeaway.

Baozi Inn
25 Newport Court, London WC2H 7JS

Grilled Cod with Noodles and Vegetables

This was a quick and easy dinner after another long and stressful day at work.

The fish was put under a very hot grill on an oiled oven tray (if not the skin tends to stick) for about 5 minutes. I usually steer clear from buying cod (considering how little there are left...I thought I'll do my bit for cod conservation :D), but I was in a rush and the choice was between salmon and cod. I like salmon but I was in a white fish mood, so cod it was.

I cut the courgettes and field mushrooms up quite thickly. Both were stir fried with garlic, soy sauce and finished off with some chicken broth. The noodles, which I had boiled in a separate pot, went in last - just to finish off.

Dish up the noodles and vegetables onto waiting plates. Place the fish over. I actually forgot to season the fish but it tasted fine.

Soba with Roast Duck

As Stuart couldn't join the little family get together dinner over the weekend at Gold Mine, I bought back a roast duck for him ... well... for us :) I had a little bit too (alright quite a lot and then some as I sneaked in a few pieces whilst I was in the kitchen and he wasn't looking!). I did ask for a whole uncut duck but even though the waitress nodded and repeated the order, I was still handed a neatly cut up bird. Oh just as well...I don't own a cleaver and trying to chop up a duck "Chinese style" would have been a nightmare.

It made for an easy Monday night dinner with Japanese soba noodles and some boiled choy sum. I mixed the noodles with some of the sauce that came with the duck. A dark, sweet and sticky sauce, which never makes an appearance in the restaurant as the ducks get a good douse of soy sauce mixed in the the natural duck fat. Yum! The sweet sauce did, however, make a nice mixing sauce for the noodles. I heated the pieces of duck in the over wrapped in foil and once the meat was hot, I unwrapped the foil and switched on the grill to crisp up the skin. It worked wonderfully well, the duck skin was even crisper than what is served in the restaurant. Ohhh.... and the fat that dripped out! A dieter's nightmare :) I have to admit that I did sneak a tablespoon or two of the fat back into the noodles. Naughty, naughty! But oh-so-delicious!

The Big Soup

Every now and then I crave for a big bowl of noodle soup. Sometimes I'm lazy and reach for a packet of instant noodles - Maggie Mee preferably or if I'm really hungry, one of those huge packets of Korean noodles. But then there are times when I feel like putting more love and care into the cooking pot.

The shop bought wanton skins were filled with minced pork that had ginger, garlic, soy sauce, oyster sauce and a touch of sesame oil mixed in. The fish cakes were shop bought from Chinatown and came in a squidgy fish paste block for shape-your-own fishcakes. I get really excited whenever I see these - I like most things processed :) but these were slightly disappointing. A tad too bouncy for my liking (I like the harder, chewier version) and really over-salted, though I happily ate my way through the whole packet. Perhaps one day when I'm really feeling the love and devotion toward the cooking pot, I'll make my own fish paste.

Putting it all together

• Cook some noodles (your choice) according to the directions on the packet. Drizzle with a little oil so that the noodles don't stick together. Set aside.
  
• Bring to boil a nice potful (half a potful, quarter of a potful.... whichever takes your fancy) of stock up to the bowl. I had a bag of home-made chicken stock sitting in the back of my freezer so I used that.
• Drop in the wantons (they freeze rather well and can be dumped into a pot straight out of the freezer-they only need a few extra minutes). Let the stock come back to a boil. Put in the vegetables, harder bits of stalks first and softer bits of leaves last. Be careful not to prod the wantons too hard, the skins are delicate after cooking.
• When the wantons float to the top and their skins start to get wrinkly, it means that they are cooked. I usually give them a minute or two extra to make sure :)
  
• Spoon in the fish paste into the stock. It's the easiest way without getting your hands messy. *tip* Wet your spoon after dropping every spoonful of fish paste into the pot. This ensures that the sticky mixture slides neatly into the soup and not stick stubbornly to the spoon. The fish paste only takes a minute to cook.
• Get some big bowls ready. Divide the noodles into the bowls. Dish out the goodies from pot. Sprinkle on some fried shallots or garlic if you like. Slurp away! :)