shanghai pork noodles

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The Hong Kong Supermarket in San Gabriel, CA, has an excellent variety of dried, packaged, and fresh noodles. Among the fresh kinds, they sell thin Taiwanese noodles, the thick Cantonese rice noodles (fun), egg noodles, and lots of others. The other day I picked up some Shanghai noodles (thicker with a round cross section, very absorbent) and when I got home, I found a recipe for Shanghai pork noodles.

shanghai pork noodles

shanghai pork noodles
(from the essential wok cookbook)
Serves 4

1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 cup (60 mL/2 fl oz) soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
250 g (8 oz) pork loin fillet, cut into julienne strips
2 tbsp dried shrimp
8 dried shiitake mushrooms
1 tsp sugar
1 cup (250 mL/8 fl oz) chicken stock
300 g (10 oz) fresh Shanghai noodles
2 tbsp peanut oil
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 celery stick, julienned
1 leek, white part only, julienned
150 g (5 oz) wom bok (napa), shredded
50 g (1 3/4 oz) bamboo shoots, julienned
8 spring onions, thinly sliced

1. Combine the sesame oil and 1 tbsp each of the soy sauce and oyster sauce in a large non-metallic bowl. Add the pork and toss in the marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, place the dried shrimp in a bowl, cover with boiling water and soak for 20 minutes. Drain and finely chop. At the same time, soak the shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 20 minutes. Drain, discard the stalks, and thinly slice the caps.
3. To make the stir-fry sauce, combine the sugar, chicken stock, remaining soy sauce and oyster sauces and 1 tsp salt in a small non-metallic jug. Set aside until needed.
4. Cook the noodles in a large saucepan of boiling water for 4-5 minutes, or until tender. Drain and refresh under cold water. Toss with 1 tsp peanut oil.
5. Heat a wok over high heat, add 1 tbsp of the peanut oil and swirl to coat. Add the pork and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, or until the pork is no longer pink. Transfer to a plate. Heat the remaining peanut oil, add the garlic, ginger, celery, leek, and wom bok and stir-fry for 1 minute, or until softened. Add the bamboo shoots, spring onion, mushrooms and shrimp and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the noodles and stir-fry sauce and toss together for 3-5 minutes, or until the noodles absorb the sauce. Return the pork to the wok, with any juices and tos through for 1-2 minutes, or until combined and heated through. Serve immediately.

comments: I didn’t have all the ingredients since I just used what I had on hand, and I roughly doubled the amount of ingredients I used. I used about a pound of pork, 24 oz of noodles, and a lot of napa. I didn’t include the shrimp, mushrooms, celery, leek, spring onions, and ginger. I did get really fresh bamboo though. That was kind of exciting since I’ve never cooked with the kind where the outside part is still on the shoot. It was super crunchy and good. Anyway, the original version of this recipe is usually pretty oily and sometimes made with spinach. This version was not as oily but still quite tasty. I think I added too much soy sauce, but that’s because I just poured in a bunch without measuring. The noodles do absorb the sauce quite well so they end up with some nice flavoring (picture shows extra sauce, but most of it was absorbed after a couple minutes). Overall, a pretty simple recipe and pretty tasty.

tuna noodle casserole

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For as long as I can remember, I have loved tuna noodle casserole. I don’t even know where I first tried it because my mom has never made it. I actually only remember this one time when I made it and ate it when I was like 15. It’s kind of strange, but maybe we are just destined for one another. Anyway, the casserole I made that time didn’t turn out very good so I haven’t tried making it again since then. Then the other day, I had a craving for it again and found this really tasty looking recipe at the epicurious website so I tried it out.

tuna noodle casserole

tuna noodle casserole
(from epicurious.com)

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

Serves 4 to 6

1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 oz mushrooms, trimmed and sliced 1/4 inch thick (4 cups)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 cup Sherry
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (6-oz) can tuna in olive oil, drained
6 oz dried curly egg noodles (preferably Pennsylvania Dutch style; about 3 1/4 cups)
1 1/2 cups coarse fresh bread crumbs (from 3 slices firm white sandwich bread)
4 oz coarsely grated Cheddar (1 cup)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Butter a shallow 2-quart baking dish.

Cook onion in 1 1/2 tablespoons butter with a pinch of salt in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to moderately high and add mushrooms, then sauté, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms begin to give off liquid, about 2 minutes. Add soy sauce and continue to sauté mushrooms, stirring, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Add Sherry and boil, stirring occasionally, until evaporated. Remove from heat.

Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat and whisk in flour, then cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add broth in a stream, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Whisk in milk and simmer sauce, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes. Stir in mushroom mixture, lemon juice, and salt. Flake tuna into sauce and stir gently. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Cook noodles in a 5- to 6-quart pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain noodles in a colander and return to pot. Add sauce and stir gently to combine. Transfer mixture to baking dish, spreading evenly.

Toss together bread crumbs and cheese in a bowl. Drizzle with oil and toss again, then sprinkle evenly over casserole. Bake until topping is crisp and sauce is bubbling, 20 to 30 minutes.

tuna noodle casserole

comments: This was everything I dream of in a tuna noodle casserole. :) I changed a few things though. Since I am not a mushroom fan, I cut up a couple heads of broccoli (as suggested in some reviews) and just cooked them as the mushrooms would have been cooked (with onions, then sherry), and I added some frozen peas before baking the casserole. A lot of reviewers also used panko instead of bread crumbs, so I tried that too. I put in some extra egg noodles (6 oz sounds like really little) because I was feeling hungry. Next time I might also put in more tuna. But anyway, the sauce was really creamy and had some nice flavors from the lemon juice and sherry, the crust was nice and crispy, and overall it was rich but not at all nasty. I really liked the peas and broccoli too. In my mind, my dream tuna noodle casserole always has some peas.

I’m not sure if this really serves 4-6 people because I was really hungry and ate about half the casserole. I mean, I already added more noodles too! But this might just be because I love tuna noodle casserole so much.

pork and bok choy

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I had pork and bok choy so I searched “pork and bok choy” on google.

bok choy with pork recipe
(from cooksrecipes.com)

pork and bok choy

1/2 pound pork loin
1 pound bok choy*
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon grated gingerroot
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon sherry
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Prep: Slice pork into thin strips; about 2-inches long by 1/2-inch wide; set aside. Rinse bok choy and slice into 3-inch pieces; set aside. Stir water and cornstarch together until combined; set aside.

2. Cook: Heat oil in a wok or deep skillet over high heat, until hot but not smoking; add pork and stir-fry until seared, about 1 minute. Add bok choy, garlic and ginger. Stir fry until the leaves of the bok choy are dark green and just wilted, about 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, sherry, sugar and salt. When the liquid begins to boil, cover, and steam for 1 minute, or until the stalks are tender-crisp. Push the ingredients up the sides and reserved cornstarch and water mixture and stir to make a light sauce. Stir well to coat pork and bok choy. Serve immediately

Makes 4 servings.

comments: Despite its simplicity, this was not half bad. I didn’t have sherry or ginger, but it was still pretty tasty. The only thing about cooksrecipes.com is that I don’t think there are user reviews. Those are always so useful.

hot dog pasta

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hot dog pasta

For some reason, I thought hot dog pasta would be a good idea. I asked Cameron, and he thought it was a GREAT idea. I put in some green peppers and those small zucchini things too. When I first ate it, I was thinking, “Yuck. These hot dogs are nasty. I’m only going to eat the veggies.”

Me: “This is not so good.”
Cameron: “Actually, it’s not bad. I like it.”
Me: “Well, it’s not so bad if you don’t eat the hot dogs. I’d like it with just the vegetables.”
Cameron: “I’d like it with just the hot dogs.”

shrimp and baked sushi

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For a while, I was really busy and didn’t feel up to cooking much, but last week I had this strong urge to get back in the kitchen. Today at the Chinese grocery store, I went a little overboard in buying vegetables and things. I am always afraid that I will run out of food and have a sad empty fridge.

Last week I made some shrimp and baked sushi for dinner.

shrimp with snow peas

I just cooked the shrimp the way my mom usually makes it. She boils or stir fries the snow peas first and sets them aside. Then she just pan-fries the shrimp (peeled, de-veined) with some garlic and salt/pepper. Really hard for this not to be tasty.

This “baked” sushi business is something that people at Cameron’s church make. Apparently their version includes mushrooms and is much more intense since they pile in the sour cream and mayonnaise (because they are crazy Hawaiians). I am not the biggest fan of mushrooms, so I left those out, and I used just enough sour cream and mayo to make a creamy texture.

baked sushi

baked sushi
(adapted from the people at Cameron’s church)

This recipe can have any ratio of ingredients that you want. I think these are the approximate amounts I used:

1 pack of imitation crab (about 10 sticks?)
4 cups of rice
furikake (Japanese seaweed seasoning)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Korean nori (seasoned and roasted seaweed)

Turn on the broiler in your oven. Shred the imitation crab, then mix well with sour cream and mayo. Add as much or as little mayo/sour cream as you like. I think mayo is kind of nasty in general, so I usually add extra sour cream. In a casserole dish, spread the rice out. You can add as much rice as you like too. Just depends what ratio of imitation crab to rice you want. Sprinkle generous amounts of furikake all over the rice. Then spread the imitation crab mixture over the rice and furikake. Stick the casserole dish into the oven. Mrs. Taketa said putting it in with the broiler on makes is brown on top, but I didn’t know that when I made this. I just set my oven at 400F and baked for about 15 minutes. Serve with Korean nori. You can use the nori to pick up some of the casserole and eat it, or, if it is too hot, I just mix it all together in a bowl:

baked sushi with korean nori

Okay, you might not believe me, but this is surprisingly tasty. It’s also really easy to adjust the recipe to your own tastes (mushrooms, etc.). I took most of the baked sushi to RSG, and it was all gone! Everyone at RSG always seems really hungry… (including me).