Spicy sesame soba noodles

In-keeping with the soba noodles theme, I was keen to try out another Japanese-inspired dish this evening.  I love all things spicy and had a craving for something with a kick of sesame in there... so eventually ended up playing around with some condiments I had kicking about in the cupboard.


As with cha soba noodles, soba noodles are made from buckwheat - hence the dark brown colour as opposed to the lighter colour of udon or ramen noodles.  However what they lack in visual appeal, they make up for in flavour as these are nutty, earthy and full of flavour.


So... what to do.


For the sesame chilli sauce you need:


2 tbsp Toasted sesame dressing
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 red chilli, finely sliced


What to do:


Mix all these ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

For the noodles you will need:

2x 2oz bundles of soba noodles

What to do:

Bring a pan of water to the boil and add the noodles - cook for 4-5 minutes until just tender and then drain.

Rinse thoroughly with cold water.

Next, add the noodles back to the pan with the sauce and cook on a medium heat for 1-2 minutes, until heated through.

And there you go... sesame soba noodles in a jiffy! 

Simple sashimi

Sashimi is simply delightful in summer.  Asian dishes tend to bang on in terms of flavour and texture combinations - and the appearance of sushi and sashimi on Western shores and the speed at which it has gained popularity firmly attests to this.  


Upon first arriving in New Zealand, I'd never given a great deal of thought to differences in the fish available at the market.  Being a different hemisphere, this goes without saying.  Strolling around the market one day with my flatmate we spotted a rather lovely looking piece of Ling Cod.  Loving sashimi, I agreed to have a bash at whipping something tasty up for him later. 


What you need:


8oz Sashimi grade fish - we used Ling Cod, but other white fish would substitute just as well
1 red chilli
1cm piece of ginger, grated
1tbsp soy sauce
1/2 a grapefruit, juiced
1/2 clove garlic


What to do:


Slice the fish thinly, on the bias (at a 45 degree angle).
Next, mix up the chilli, garlic, soy sauce and grapefruit juice in a bowl.
Arrange fish slices on a plate and pour over the sauce mixture.


Eat, and enjoy - embarrassingly simple but exceptionally good!

Cha soba and edamame surprise...

OK so it's not a surprise as such... more of a dead giveaway as you can see exactly what's in the dish.  However, I was surprised at just how tasty cha soba noodles are.  Soba noodles are a recent discovery of mine - they're made from a blend of buckwheat and wheat flour, producing a slightly nutty taste which is heartier than most traditional wheat flour noodles.  Buckwheat is awash with rutin - a strong antioxidant, so you really do get more bang for your buck.  Cha soba noodles have the added bonus of matcha green tea extract, meaning that these noodles really are a nutritional powerhouse - as well as being damn tasty.  Cha soba noodles are less earthy and more fragrant than traditional soba noodles, and are usually eaten by the Japanese on special occasions.  They're also great cold in salad dishes, as are ordinary soba noodles.


Ingredients:


2oz Cha soba noodles
1/2 Cup edamame beans
1 baby bok choy,sliced
1 red chilli, finely sliced
2-3 mushrooms, sliced
1/2 a dozen sugar snap peas
1 tbsp hot sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp water


What to do:


Boil a pan of water and add the noodles and edamame beans.  The noodles will take around 6 minutes too cook, as will the edamame (if using frozen; if using fresh add them half way through cooking the noodles).  I use the same pan because a) it saves on washing up and b) it can't hurt to have the extra nutrients in the noodle water!
In the mean time, mix the sweet chilli sauce, chilli, soy sauce, sesame oil and water in a small dish.
When the noodles are ready, drain into a sieve and rinse thoroughly with cold water and set aside.
Heat a small amount of sesame oil in a pan and add the mushrooms, bok choy and peas and sautee for 1-2 minutes, and then add the noodles and edamame together with the sauce mixture.
Heat through for a further 1-2 minutes and then serve.


Eat, and enjoy!

Udon anyone?

I've been craving Asian food of late, and so recently been indulging in my penchant for herbs, spices and sauces and landed firmly in the arena of soups.  Being winter this side of the world, it only seems right that one should be tucking in to a hearty feed of slurpy, spicy soup.


The 'recipe' for this is embarrasingly simple and incredibly quick to create.  Perfect if you've just got in from a hard day at the office and the last thing you want to think about is what to feed yourself or the troops for dinner.


What you need:


1 Baby bok choy, sliced
Half a dozen or so sugar snap peas
1 Red chilli, finely sliced
1/2 a carrot, peeled and finely sliced (I use the slicing side of a cheese grater)
2 or 3 mushrooms
1 Pack udon noodles
1 Veg/chicken/mushroom stock cube
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil


What to do:


Boil the kettle and add the stock cube to the pan with 1 1/2 cups boiling water, stirring until the stock cube has dissolved. 
Throw in the chilli, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and carrot and cook on high for 2 minutes.
Add the noodles, bok choy, mushrooms and peas and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, or until noodles are tender.


Serve!


There you go, a spicy, healthy winter warmer in around ten minutes from start to finish.  Not bad eh?

Gorgeous Gyoza Soup

Gyoza are Japanese dumplings.  Gyoza originated in China, but have since become a popular Japanese dish. Gyoza can be steamed, boiled in soup or pan fried and traditionally have a filling containing either pork or prawns, and almost always contain cabbage.  Once made, gyoza freeze really well too - so whilst you're busy stuffing dumplings, you may as well make plenty and throw them in the freezer ready for a rainy day.


Rather than making the dough from scratch, you can buy pre-made dumpling wrappers in any decent Asian supermarket.  Then it's just a case of making the filling.


To make around 30 gyoza you'll need:


Dumpling wrappers (30 or so)
250g minced pork
1/4 head of finely chopped cabbage
3 spring onions, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1tbsp soy sauce
1tsp sesame oil
2cm piece of ginger, grated
A handful of chives, chopped
Salt
Pepper


What to do:


Mix the pork with all of the other ingredients in a mixing bowl.  Don't be shy - get your hands in and really work the ingredients together.  This needs to be well mixed so that the flavours are distributed evenly throughout the mixture.


Next, take a dumpling wrapper and grab a teaspoon.  Put one heaped teaspoon of the mixture in the centre of the circular wrapper.  You don't want to put too much in, otherwise the dumpling won't seal and you'll end up with a messy, burst gyoza.  Next, moisten a semi-circle of the dumpling wrapper with water, and fold the gyoza to create a half moon shaped parcel.  With your forefinger and thumb, pinch the centre of the seal and with the other hand make three pleats on each side of the gyoza towards the centre.  Voila! Gyoza made.  Now repeat this process until you run out of mixture.


For the soup:


For this recipe, I cooked the gyoza in the soup, giving them a soft, moist texture whilst adding some 'bite' to a fresh vegetable broth.


Ingredients:


6 gyoza
1 red chilli, finely sliced
1 vegetable/mushroom stock cube
1/2 baby bok choy, chopped
2 mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup edamame
6 sugar snap peas
1/2 carrot thinly sliced (I used the slicing side of a cheese grater)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp nam pla (fish sauce)


What to do:


Boil the kettle and add the stock cube in a pan with 1 1/2 cups boiling water.
Throw in the chilli, soy sauce, sesame oil, nam pla and carrot and allow to boil for 2 minutes.
Next, reduce the heat and add the edamame and gyoza and allow to cook for 4-5 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, sugar snap peas and mushrooms and continue cooking for a further 2-3 minutes.


Then - serve!  


To eat this the authentic Japanese way, use chopsticks to eat the gyoza and veggies and then slurp up the wonderful spicy soup broth.  There we go.... a meal in literally minutes!