Cold Sesame Soba Noodles

For weeks I had been eyeing this new cold noodle dish with sesame sauce from my favorite hand-pulled noodle restaurant. Because I don't go to this restaurant very often, I typically order my favorite dish since I don't know when I'll be able to have it again. But last night, I couldn't get the dish out of my mind.

Not knowing what it tasted like or even what all of the ingredients were, I improvised. In the end I made something that wasn't like the dish I envisioned at all. But what I realized is that some of my most favorite meals are usually created on a whim using ingredients that I have on hand and this is especially true for this dish.

I love the chewiness of the soba noodles, the tanginess of the vinegar and soy sauce, the warmth that the sesame oil adds, and the spiciness that the green onions add. This is great alone but even better with the various toppings you can add. I used celery, eggs, enoki mushrooms, and kamaboko. All of the different textures of the ingredients made for a party in my mouth!

I didn't make a big batch of this because I wasn't sure how it would turn out but now that I've finished it, I wish I had more. Let me know what you think of it when you try it!

Cold Sesame Soba Noodles
Adapted from this recipe
Serves 2 dinner portions or 4 appetizer portions

2 wrapped portions of soba (soba noodles are usually packaged with a thin ribbon of wax paper around each portion.)
2 TBSP of sesame seeds, toasted
2 TSP rice vinegar
4 TSP sesame oil
6 TSP soy sauce
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 lime

Toppings:
Celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
Enoki mushrooms, blanched
1 Egg, whisked then cooked on low heat like a crepe
1/4 Kamaboko (steamed fish cake), thinly sliced into matchsticks
Seaweed, to garnish

Boil water in a pot, drop the soba noodles in and cook for 3 minutes. Drop the noodles into an ice bath and drain in a strainer. Set aside while you prep the rest of the ingredients.

In a bowl big enough for the noodles, whisk the vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce together. Put the soba into the bowl and lightly toss. Add the sesame seeds and green onions then squeeze the lime over the noodles. Lightly toss until all of the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Chill for at least an hour before serving.

While the soba noodles are chilling, you can prep your toppings. One tip to get the eggs to be thinly sliced is to cook the egg into a thin crepe. Let it cool then roll the egg up like a fruit roll-up. Then slice the egg along the length of the "roll-up." You can either keep the eggs in the pinwheel shape or shake them out so that they're more like strips. You can leave the eggs and kamaboko out if it's a meatless monday kind of day.

To serve, put the noodles into a bowl, top with the toppings and garnish with a bit of seaweed.

Loco Moco

Loco Moco: rice, hamburger, fried egg, and gravy

Now that Lily's wedding is over and I no longer have to fit into my bridesmaid's dress, I indulged in some full-fat comfort food - Loco Moco!

This is traditionally a Hawaiian dish but all of the ingredients can be found locally and it's so easy to make, I don't know why it isn't more popular here on the mainland.

The hamburger patty can be substituted for anything! I used a boca burger (not pictured) but I've also seen mahi mahi loco moco and chicken katsu loco moco. i imagine you could even put some spam in there.

Now go make some loco moco and let me know if it's ono!

Loco Moco

Recipe courtesy of Big Island Grinds

Serves 2-3

Hamburger Patties

• 1lb Hamburger (not lean)
• 1/4 cup grated onions (optional)
• Garlic powder/salt/pepper to taste

Gravy

• 1 can good beef broth
• flour for thickening
• 1 tb butter
• couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce

4 eggs

hot cooked white rice

Burgers:

Gently mix the hamburger, grated onions garlic powder, and salt/pepper. Form either 2 big patties or 4 smaller size patties.

Heat frying pan until very hot. Place hamburger patties on the pan/grill and let sear just until juices start appearing on the top. Flip over and cook for a couple more minutes. You will want the burger slightly charred but still tender on the inside.

Place burgers on the side.

Gravy:

Pour a little broth into the same pan and incorporate the yumyums, then pour in the rest of the broth.

Bring to a boil and let reduce for about 3-5 minutes or so, depending on taste, for a more potent gravy.

Turn down heat to a simmer. Add couple dashes of worcestershire sauce.

In a seperate bowl, mix flour with some water. Using a whisk, slowly whisk in the flour/water mixture until gravy is nicely thick & smooth. Turn off heat and mix in the butter until well blended.

Eggs:

Traditionally, the eggs should be sunny-side up. The secret to a good fried egg is to fry the egg slowly on low heat until it’s cooked… just don’t overcook it! It also helps to have the eggs thawed to room temperature before cooking them.

Rice:

Use regular medium grain white rice… like 3 scoops worth per plate.

Assembly (bottom -> top):

Rice > Burger > Egg > Gravy all over

Optional condiments:

Shoyu, ketchup, tabasco

Stir-fried Udon with Egg Gravy

I've been in the strangest food rut lately. Completely uninspired to cook so I've been eating a lot of quinoa and sauteed greens lately. But I'm back!

One day, it just hit me, "stir-fried udon noodles would be so yummy!"

But I didn't have a recipe. All I had was memories of shrimp and egg gravy chow fun that my family gets at chinese restaurants. For those of you unfamiliar with egg gravy, it's pretty much what it sounds like, gravy with a beaten egg mixed in to give the sauce a silkier, and richer texture. Udon noodles are similar to chow fun noodles except for the shape. Udon is a long, round Japanese noodle and chow fun is long, flat and typically associated with Chinese cuisine. So in my mind, it had to work.

I did something I rarely do, winged it, no recipe, just went with what felt right. The first time turned out tasty but I needed to try it again to get the portions down so that I could share with my readers.

And the second time? Absolute perfection! Enjoy!

Stir-fried Udon with Egg Gravy
2 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cups of greens, chopped into bite sized pieces (you can use anything green that has a bit of a bite after it's cooked - chinese broccoli, asparagus, bok choy, etc... I had leftover collards so used them in this recipe)
1/2 lb of peeled and deveined shrimp (or any protein)
3 packages of udon

For the gravy
1 TBSP cornstarch + 2 TBSP water, mixed
1/6 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
2 TBSP oyster sauce
2 eggs, beaten

Heat a tablespoon of evoo over med-high heat in a wok, add the garlic and onions and stir until onions are translucent. Add the greens and cook until wilted.

Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil and add the udon noodles. These cook very quickly, 3 minutes tops. You'll know that the noodles are ready when they separate from each other. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. (See Fig. 1)

By now the green should be wilted. Add the shrimp and cook for another 2 minutes until the shrimp curls into the shape of a "C". Remove everything from the wok and set aside. (See Fig. 2)

In the same wok, heat another tablespoon of evoo and add the soy sauce, water and oyster sauce. Let the mixture come to a boil. Turn the heat down to med-low and add the cornstarch mixture slowly until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the drained udon to the wok and mix until the sauce coats the noodles. Add the vegetable and shrimp mixture back to the wok and mix everything up. This will be your last opportunity to get the ingredients mixed. Turn the heat to low and add the egg over the noodles and vegetables. Do not stir! (See Fig. 3)

Let the low heat gently cook the egg. You can gently move the noodles over the eggs so that it coats evenly but it should not resemble scrambled eggs. In fact, you shouldn't even be able to tell by looking at the noodles that there are eggs in the dish. Garnish with green onions and a drizzle of sesame oil. (See Fig. 4)

Fig. 1 - Udon noodles taking a cold bath.

Fig. 2 - Shrimp is ready.

Fig. 3 - Be gentle, you don't want scrambled eggs.

Fig. 4 - Egg gravy giving the udon and shrimp a gentle hug.