Zha Jiang Mian

Zha Jiang Mian (Chinese Fried Sauce Noodles aka "Chinese Spaghetti")

For two servings, you'll need:

8 oz Chinese wheat noodles or Italian thin spaghetti noodles
1/2 lb ground pork or ground turkey
1 small onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
3 tblsp Chao/Doufu Ru (Vietnamese/Chinese Fermented Bean Curd)
3 tblsp Chinese Black Bean Sauce
3 tblsp Chinese Hoisin Sauce
1 tblsp Chinese hsiao xing rice wine or regular white wine

Optional: Add julienned carrots or cucumbers at the end.

Boil noodles. Drain. Set aside.

Finely dice one small onion and finely mince 4 cloves garlic.

In a saute pan on medium-high heat, drizzle a bit of oil and saute the onions and garlic until softened. Add the ground pork or ground turkey, 3 tblsp fermented bean curd, 3 tblsp black bean sauce, 3 tblsp hoisin sauce, and 1 tblsp rice wine. Saute until the meat is cooked.

Taste and adjust portions if necessary. Add water if the mixture is too salty. Simmer for a few minutes if needed until the meat sauce is to your liking.

Pour the sauce over the noodles. Garnish with julienned carrots and cucumbers if you wish.

Read more: http://wanderingchopsticks.blogspot.com/2009/04/zha-jiang-mian-chinese-fried-sauce.html#ixzz1ZxltiEoe

Spicy Miso Ramen

Recipe: Spicy Miso Ramen
Makes two bowls

Ingredients:

Fresh ramen noodles (for two people)
4 cups water
4 tablespoons white miso paste
3-4 teaspoons S&B La Yu or chili oil 
1/2 teaspoon hondashi 
2 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 can corn kernels (15 oz can)
1 narutomaki (Japanese fish cake with a pink swirl)
1 stalk scallion (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds (pound with mortar and pestle until fine)
Light soy sauce to taste (optional)
Some seasoned roasted seaweed (cut into thin strips)

Method:

Bring the water to boil and then add in the hondashi, eggs, and finely ground sesame seeds. Bring the soup base to boil and reduce to 3.5 cups. Add in the miso paste, stir with a ladle of chopsticks until well dissolved. Add in the chili oil and light soy sauce to taste (optional).

Blanch the ramen noodles in a pot of boiling water until they are cooked. Rinse with cold running water, drain, and set aside.

In a serving bowl, add the noodles and then topped with the hard-boiled egg (sliced into half), narutomaki, corn kernels and chopped scallion. Pour the miso soup into the bowl and add the roasted seaweeds. Serve immediately.

Japanese Tofu with Minced Pork

This is my recipe for Japanese Tofu with Minced Pork

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 tubes of Japanese Tofu (see cooking method below)
• 50 – 100 grammes minced pork
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
• Sliced carrots (amount up to you)
• 3 to 5 pieces of chinese dried mushrooms (pre-soaked and cut into small pieces)
• Corn starch (mix 1 tablespoon corn flour with 5 tablespoons water)
• 2 tablespoons of Corn flour
• 100 ml warm water
• Sufficient oil for deep frying (palm oil preferred)

Marinade (for minced pork)

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon fish sauce
• a few dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1/2 tablespoon or more of dark soya sauce
• 1 heaped teaspoon of oyster sauce
• Salt and white pepper powder to taste

Method

To prepare tofu, cut across the tofu tube. Gently push the tofu out of the tube from the closed end. Cut tofu across at not more than 2 cm thick. Dust the tofu lightly with corn flour.

Heat oil in wok. Deep fry the tofu till golden brown, remove and set aside on paper towel to absorb excess oil. Place fried tofu on a serving plate.

Remove oil from wok leaving about 2 tablespoons in it. Add mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute or longer till aromatic. Add minced pork and stir well. When minced pork is half-cooked, add carrots. Continue to stir fry till minced pork cooked / seared on the outside. Add seasoning followed by warm water and allow to boil for 1 minute.

Thicken gravy to your liking using a teaspoon of corn starch at a time. Pour gravy over the tofu and serve hot with steamed white rice.

sweet sour pork

Ingredients:
300g Pork, cubed

Marinade:
1 teaspoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Sesame Seed Oil
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg White
1 tablespoon Cornflour
1/2 tablespoon Rice flour

Sauce:
2 tablespoon Water
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese Cooking Wine
1 teaspoon CornflourHow to do it:

Marinate the pork in the marinade for at least 30 minutes.
Fry in oil till lightly brown.
Dish, drain and set aside.
Bring sauce to a simmer, stirring slowing.
When the sauce starts to thickens, add in the pork.
Stir constantly till the pork cubes are well coated with the sauce.
Dish and serve hot.