Spicy and Sour Szechuan Pork glass noodles

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Chinese, dinner, glass noodles, hot and spicy noodles, lunch, ma la, Noodles, pork, sichuan, sichuan glass noodles, sichuan hot and sour noodles, sichuan peppercorns, sweet and sour, szechuan, szechuan peppercorns, vinegar, zhejiang vinegar

Spicy and Sour Szechuan Pork glass Noodles

Back at Warwick I ate a lot of junk food. By junk food I mean instant noodles and pre-frozen meals. There’s one particular type of instant noodles that I used to love, some sort of Szechuan spicy glass noodles in numbing, vinegary soup and peanuts. I used to add lots of bacon to it, a sinful, spicy bowl on a cold winter day.

I don’t know where I can find this particular brand of instant noodles anymore so I searched online to see if there’s a recipe that comes close to the description of “Szechuan, spicy, numbing and sour” and I was pleased to come across this recipe ;D I adapted it slightly, not much change, and I loved the result! I must say though that there’s quite a bit of seasoning that goes into the noodles.

Ingredients (recipe taken and adapted from http://tofoodwithluv.blogspot.sg)

• 150g sliced pork tenderloin (or minced pork if you prefer it)
• 80g glass noodles
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 1/2 cups chinese cabbage, cut into 1.5″ x 1.5″ squares
• Oil for frying

• 1 tbsp chilli powder (or more)
• 1 tbsp chilli oil (“la yu”)
• 1/2 tsp chilli bean paste (“Douban Jiang”)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
• 1/3 cup water
• 2-3 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp finely ground toasted Szechuan peppercorns/ or about 3-4 kernels crushed whole Szechuan peppercorn (or more if you like that numbing taste)
• 1 spring onion, sliced
• A handful of Chinese coriander/cilantro for topping

• Marinade:
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 1 tbsp water

Method

1. Marinade the pork and set aside for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook noodles in boiling water for 10 minutes or until cooked. Rinse under cold running water for a minute until all the starch is gone. Leave it to sit in a bowl of iced water so the strands don’t stick.
2. Heat up 1 tbsp oil in a wok and brown the meat, if you are using minced meat, break it up as you go along. Push the meat aside and add 1 1/2 tbsp oil. Fry the garlic and ginger, then add the chilli powder, chilli oil and chilli bean paste. Fry for about a minute, then mix through with the pork.
3. Add the soy, wine, sugar, vinegars, chicken stock powder and water. Bring to a boil and simmer 1-2 minutes until the sauce is slightly reduced. Add sesame oil, Szechuan pepper and turn off the heat.
4. Toss the blanched vegetables and cooked noodles in the sauce until it’s thoroughly incorporated and transfer to a serving dish. Top with some chopped spring onions and cilantro.

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Hoedeopbap / hwedeopbap – Korean Spicy Sashimi salad Rice bowl

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chogochujang, dinner, gochujang, healthy, hodeopbap, hoedeopbap, hwe deop bap, hwedeopbap, Korean, korean spicy sashimi salad, lunch, perilla leaves, red pepper paste, rice, salad, sashimi, sesame oil, shiso, spicy, sweet and sour

I’m currently on a Korean craze. I also am hopelessly addicted to Running Man, a korean variety show. But way too often do they show delicious, mouthwatering looking korean dishes and delicacies. Like sizzling Korean bbq, grilled oysters, kimchi, ramyeon, sea urchin, spicy ddukbokki and the list is endless. One of these demonish dishes I just saw on another episode is something called ‘ganjang gejang’, which is raw crab marinated in soy sauce and fermented. It sounds disgusting but it looks so good T______T I googled countless recipes on it but then decided against making it. One because I have no clue how to get the freshest of crabs in Singapore, and secondly, I don’t think I have the courage to successfully pickle/ferment the crab LOL.

So I settled for this dish instead. Technically its supposed to be a spicy sashimi rice bowl, but, like chirashi-don (sashimi on vinegared rice) versus just sashimi and rice in separate bowls, I really prefer to keep them separate. I like my rice hot, and this would wreak havoc onto sashimi if placed onto the rice directly like that. So yeah, I put it in a separate bowl. The sashimi salad is spicy, sour and sweet and has a nice crunch from all the vegetables in there. It could have been spicier, perhaps next time I’ll add some sliced chilli padi into the sauce for for a “BURN TONGUE BURNNNNN” experience =D 

Ingredients (2 pax)
I adapted the recipe from here http://www.food.com/recipe/spicy-sashimi-bowl-hwe-deop-bap-221946

• 2 cups cooked rice (Japanese or Korean, preferably)
• 2 ounces tilapia fillets/other white fish sashimi (I used tai)
• 2 ounces tuna, sashimi quality
• 1 cup salad greens, any combination (I used only butterhead lettuce)
• 1/8 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 carrot, thinly julienned
• 1/4 English cucumber, thinly  julienned
• 2-3 inch daikon radish, thinly julienned
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, minced
• 1 chili pepper, thinly sliced (I’m replacing this with chilli padi next time)
• 4 perilla/shiso leaves, thinly julienned (*edit* Korean perilla leaves)
• 16 Perilla/shiso leaves for wrapping (*edit* Korean perilla leaves, no other substitute unless you don’t mind a lettuce wrap)

Cho Gochujang (sweet and sour chili sauce)

• 3 tablespoons korean red pepper paste (gochujang) or more if you wish
• 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seed
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, taste before adding (optional)

Instructions

1. To be really specific, julienne ALL THE VEGETABLES thinly and around the same thickness and length where possible.
2. Arrange the vegetables in a bowl.
3. Julienne your sashimi too, not as thinly as the vegetables, but try to cut it into long strips. Makes it easier to pick up with the vegetables later on, rather than cutting it into cubes.
4. Mix all the ingredients for the Cho-gochujang in a bowl and taste. Add more spicy or salt if you wish but I think the salt content is fine without the optional salt.

5. Arrange the sashimi on top of the vegetables, top with minced garlic, and cho-gochujang sauce and garnish with shiso leaves.

Tastes a bit like the Chinese Yu Sheng which I really really like. And it is pretty healthy isn’t it 😉

Take a few photos of your slicing efforts

Then you mix the salad. Toss it and mix it and get the sauce into every nook and cranny.

Get your hot rice ready, alongside some shiso leaves for wrapping. If you don’t like the taste of shiso leaves, you can replace them with lettuce or other vegetables.

And so, you take a leaf, plonk some of that hot rice on top, followed by the sashimi salad. Stuff it into your mouth. Charming.

Yummeh~