When leftovers tasted so good....(Kabocha Noodles)

I know you've had those moments. You know...when you go to a party or gathering or over to someone's house. At the end of the night, you're most likely going to end up bring a little doggy bag home or in my case a little tupperware of food.

I was given a serving of this kabocha noodles to take home. I forget what it was called in taglog. Of course, when it's freshly cooked there's more soup to it. Over the course of a few hours the liquid tends to dry out. It's still really taste. I reminds me of pancit. I think it probably is. I could be wrong.  Except that this had kabocha. Remember late last year when I was in kabocha kick? So I was happy when this had the delicious pumpkin added to it.  I asked my mom how it was made and below you'll find a rough recipe. Not too many ingredient. Dry noodles found in Asian markets, onions, cubed pork, broth, garlic and pepper. Simple right? I'll just have to try making this for myself once things calm down. Maybe add a few more veggies here and there.

I would have taken a picture of it in the tupperware, But it looked like a blobby mess. I thought these pics would look better.

Kabocha Noodles 
(rough recipe)

Dried noodles (found in asian markets)
cube pork
garlic
onion
pepper
vegetable or chicken stock


Saute the cubed pork. When browned, add garlic onions and pepper. Add Kabocha and saute all together. Add vegetable or chicken stock. Let it boil until kabocha is tender and add the noodles and cook until al dente.

Stir-Fry Veggies on Ramen

With the heavy downpour that was here, I wasn't in the mood to spend a long time in the kitchen. For some odd reason, rain equals "lazy mode," doesn't it? I remember I had a few ramen packs in the pantry. A variety of different flavors. I pull out the shrimp kind. Now I usually just use the noodles. But this time around I decided to save one of the seasoning packets and use them with the veggies I wanted to pair it with. Noodles are pretty self-explanatory. Just like making pasta. I had gotten one of those steamfresh veggie packs from the market. You know, where you can microwave the bag and it steams the veggies right away. Those things are so cool. It cuts the time in half in terms of steaming veggies.

Anyway, Sometimes steamed or boiled veggies can get a bit bland. I sauteed the them in a little paprika, worchestershire sauce (I could never pronounce that correctly, let alone spell it) and the shrimp seasoning from the ramen packet. It brought the veggies a nice flavor. Voila -- easy 30-minute, five dollar meal for two.

Serves 2

Stir-Fry Veggies on Ramen

1 package mixed vegetable - defrosted
2 packet ramen  - including seasoning
2 shrimp shrimp seasoning from ramen
1 Tsp paprika
1 tsp worchestershire sauce
extra virgin olive oil
pepper

Boil some water and add one of the shrimp seasonings to the water. Once boil add the noodles and cook the ramen noodles for about 8 minutes until tender. Drain and drizzle a little olive oil to keep the noodles from sticking. Give them a little toss.

In a small pot, pour a tiny drizzle of olive oil. Add the vegetable. Saute for a couple of minutes until tender. Add the paprika, shrimp seasoning and worchestershire sauce. Sauce to roughly 5 minutes.

Mix together with the noodles and serve warm.

Pancit

It's New Year's Eve. Say goodbye to 2009 and say hello to 2010. In many places right now it's already the Jan 1st. Everyone please stay safe tonight.

Another famous Filipino dish. Pronounced like pansit. Most people who've tasted Philippine cuisine would be very familiar with this as well as the lumpia. This is a rice noodle dish with some celery, carrots, cabbage, chicken and Chinese sausage. You'd also find this in many gatherings and parties. It's almost like a must have as part of the menu.

One of the neat things I like to do is to stuff this into a pan de sal or dinner roll and eat it like a sandwich. It may sound weird to some, but totally fun to eat. 

Pancit

2 garlic cloves
8 oz rice noodles
onion
1 c cooked chicken - shredded
1 small head of cabbage - chopped
1/2 large carrot - julienned
1 celery stick chopped
1 1/2 to 2 c water or stock
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp salt
pepper

Wash the rice noodles briefly in cold water and drain. Set aside.

In a large pan on medium to high heat, saute the garlic in the oil, The saute the onions and add chicken season with a little pepper. Add the soy sauce. Then the carrots and saute until slightly tender. Season with salt. Add the cabbage and broth. and mix together. Cover the pan and bring the light boil to cook the cabbage. When the broth is boiling, lower the heat and add the rice noodles. Mix thorughly until the noodles ave absorbed the broth and are darker in color.

Note: Do not cover completely after cooking or it will spoil.

Pan-Fried Ramen

One of my favorite Chinese dishes ever is the ever delicious pan-fried noodles. I don't care what is mixed into it, just as long as it has the crispy noodles, I'll be happy. That's my favorite part. Just the crunch when I bite into it. So good. Sure you've got your "mix ins" but really...who eats pan-fried noodles for the "mix-ins"? I'm one of those who likes to bite crunchy stuff, just like I prefer to eat the bottoms of a muffins and cupcakes first before the top. Save the good stuff for last. More on that later.

This is a pretty cheap filling meal, too. You can use thin egg noodles or angel hair pasta, too. I used 2 ramen packs. Those 50 cent noodles really do some in handy, don't they? I guess this can be considered boy choy noodle take 2. But cooked and simmered the bok choy in a teriyaki sauce. A simple blend of oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and tomato ketchup. You can omit the oyster sauce if you don't have any or don't like the taste of it.

It's pretty easy to pan-fry the noodles. For years, I wondered...how did they do that? It's basically boiled noodles cooked in a pan until nice and crisp. Simple. I suggest boiling them until they are al dente then cooling with cold water before putting them in a hot pan. The noodles may stick to the pan at first, but just put a good drizzle of oil and a quick scrap and stir until is it looks like it's one big moveable piece then leave it alone for a minute or two until the noodles gets a bit brown on the surface. Do the same for the other side. Place it on the plate and scoop whatever filling you decide right at the center. Be sure to leave the edges untouched. Those are the prized parts. To me, at least.

Serves 2-3



Pan-Fried Ramen

2 ramen packets (minus seasoning)
4 medium bok choy
1/2 head Cabbage (optional)
1 chicken breast - cut into cubes (optional)
salt
pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

teriyaki sauce:
1 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)
3-4 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 garlic clove (minced)
1 Tbsp tomato ketchup

Combine the ingredients on the teriyaki sauce together and set aside in a bowl.

Season the chicken cubes with some salt and pepper. Cut the bok choy (and cabbage) to appropriate sizes.

Boil some water and cook the ramen noodles until al dente. Roughly 2-3 min. Be sure to season the water with a little salt and stir to keep them from sticking together. Then drain and cool them off with some running cold water. Mix in a drizzle of olive oil.

In a large skillet or wok, heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add in the noodles. Cook on both side for roughly 3-5 min or until the noodles start to brown and crisp up. Do a scrap and stir to avoid from sicking to the pan. Remove from the wok and onto a plate.

In the same skillet or wok, add around another 3 Tbsp of olive oil and cook the chicken for about 3-5 min. The chicken will release some of their juices then add in the teriyaki sauce mixture. Stir occasionally. Then add the bok choy (and cabbage). Again stir occasionally so that the sauce coast the vegetables as well. When the bok choy wilts it is ready.

Pour the stir-fry over the noodles serve immediately to preserve the crunchiness of the noodles.