Foodarrific» Rice & Noodles

Noodles and duck

Chili Queen — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 12:07:45 +0000

Last night, we were at this little eatery that a friend recommended. They serve several types of fried noodles and one of my favorites is Cantonese fried ying-yang (flat noodles and vermicelli combo). We order about 5 types of fried noodles and half a roast duck.

It was pretty interesting since we hardly ever eat at “coffee shops” and this one was exceptionally busy. I didn’t take any pictures because it was really very crowded and I didn’t want my cell phone landing in the noodles. Well, everything tasted good because of the pork and lard but it was extremely high-sodium and high-fat.

My only thought as I was eating was that I will surely need diet pills that work after this meal .

Four Foods on Friday #137

Chili Queen — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 06:21:06 +0000

Valmg of Fun, Crafts and Recipes has just posted these four questions about ramen noodles for this week’s FFOF.

1. How do you usually make ramen noodles?

I cook them in a pot and then drain them in a strainer. If I’m lazy, I just pop them into the microwave.

2. What’s your favorite flavor of ramen noodles?

Spicy.

3. Do you add anything to your ramen noodles?

If I’m making it as a quick snack, I don’t add anything. If it’s for a main meal, I might add a leafy green veggie or lettuce, fishballs or eat it with a fried egg.

4. Is there a flavor of ramen noodles do you wish was on the market?

I don’t eat this often, so I’m fine with spicy.

Have a great weekend!

Fried rice expert

Chili Queen — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 12:59:12 +0000

Looks like my son who is in college is now a fried rice expert. He fried rice 3 times last week, each time frying enough for two meals so he can save himself some work. He’s even gotten confident enough to try cooking it with different ingredients – broccoli florets, cabbage, tomatoes even – with carrots, sausages and eggs being the staples.

Well, so long as he enjoys his fried rice and it isn’t too heaty that he will need the best acne products, I guess he’s good. This is a teen who never paid attention while I was trying to teach him to cook. So glad he’s picked up speed and won’t go hungry.

Recipe: Mediterranean rice

Chili Queen — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 06:07:30 +0000

If you’re getting bored with eating white rice and would like to spruce it up a little, Mediterranean rice is an ingenious way to add a splash of color to your everyday plain white rice.

Mediterranean rice is so easy to make and not only looks but also tastes very good. Simply soak a couple of handfuls of frozen veggie mix, i.e. carrots, corn and peas, in water till defrosted.

Wash and strain your usual measurement of rice grains. Set aside.

In a wok on medium heat, add 2-3 blobs of butter. Throw in the veggie mix, add the rice grains and stir to mix well.

Scoop/pour into your rice cooker. Add your usual amount of water and turn it on. In 20 minutes, you will have beautiful Mediterranean rice to serve. Goes great with practically anything and because you’ll tend to eat more rice since it’s so pretty, you might just need the best diet supplement afterwards, hehehe!

recipe: kon low loh shee fun, or dry rat’s tail noodle

chili queen — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 23:48:31 +0000

Guess what I had for lunch (and dinner) last weekend? I can’t believe it myself because it’s been ages since I’ve even thought to cook my favorite loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodles.

The name sounds horrifying, I know. I’m not only a Chili Queen, I’m also a Drama Queen ! I translated and spiced up this name for special effects and if all goes well, I might even copyright the name and make a movie about it, heh!

Loh shee fun is not really rat’s tails, of course, they just look like rat’s tails . You can either eat it in a soup, just like any other kind of noodle. But I prefer it dry as in sans soup. Very simple to whip this up at home. You ready?

I cooked 1kg of loh shee fun and 1kg of kuay teow, or flat rice noodles to feed my troops, but you can use any amount depending on the number of people you’re feeding. Place the noodles in a colander and run it through your Grohe faucet to rinse if you like. Then bring a pot of water to boil and use it for blanching the rat’s tail noodle and choy sum, or mustard green.

I’m not going to list actual measurements for the sauce since that depends on how much noodle you’re cooking. Just adjust the sauce ingredients to your own taste. For the sauce, you need:

dark, thick soy sauce
oil
sesame oil
oyster sauce
soy sauce (in place of salt) and white pepper to taste

Have all of these ingredients in a large bowl. I also stir-fried some minced pork with some oil and chopped garlic which I added into the bowl. Lastly, add the blanched loh shee fun, or rat’s tail noodle, to this and mix well.

Garnish with chopped spring onions and cilantro (I didn’t have any handy). Serve piping hot with shredded fresh chillies. I prefer bird’s eye chillies for that added oomph! Simple, ya, just a one-dish meal and so so delish. And less of a choking hazard for younger kids than the regular mile-long noodles.

Shanghai noodles and me

chili queen — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:30:51 +0000

My love for Shanghai noodles goes back a long way. Back in those days I used to frequent Esquire Kitchen because it was conveniently near where I worked, and their Shanghai noodles was a treat I looked forward to… tremendously.

I always order the one with char choy (preserved veggie), pork strips and pork chop, and I still do. I ate this just the other day for lunch and although the noodle is a bit different, at least the soup is not as high sodium as it used to be at one time.

Indeed there was a time when I had to close my eyes and wish the saltiness away. I always joked about them needing to reimburse me for the expensive wrinkle eye cream after all that squinting and twisting to my eye area as I painfully swallowed each mouthful.

Glad though that they’ve realized and decided to tone down the salt. I love the taupan cheong (chilly bean paste) that accompanies the Shanghai noodles. It’s so good and I always request for extra . Me, the Chili Queen, remember?

my fix of Indian curry rice

chili queen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:38:11 +0000

I have a thing for Indian curry rice. This is what I’ve been having for lunch on the weekend once in a while. Last weekend, we were at the The Curve and I ordered this plate of rice with fried fish fillet and cabbage and drowned it in lots of curry sauce. Heaven!

Although it’s a very simple meal with just two dishes and a papadam (cracker), it’s just the fix I need. You know, like those racing fanatics who can’t resist buying every Nascar jacket that’s available out there. Yep, that’s how I feel about Indian curry rice. I always end up overeating but there’s no way I can resist it !

crazy about fish head noodle

chili queen — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:54:49 +0000

I honestly can’t remember where I had this bowl of fish head noodle. Maybe it’s near the place where I get cheap auto insurance. Suffice to say, I’ve been ordering fish head noodle everywhere I can find it.

The noodle is topped with large chunks of fried fish fillet and tomatoes with preserved veggies and the soup is milk-based giving the dish a sweet, sour and saltish flavor.

Kinda different, huh? That’s why I like it. Not many places serve it though so when I find it, I pretty much go nuts ! Wonder if I can homecook it and still have it taste as good.

chicken and abalone porridge

chili queen — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:38:54 +0000

Every other weekend, we’ve been walking past this new food court at The Curve where they’re serving a rather plain-looking porridge with yau char kwai (Chinese crullers). It looks appetizing and I couldn’t wait to cook my own porridge at home. I prefer my porridge a little more fancy and nutritious.

Boiling the porridge is really simple. Just wash the rice and then add about double the amount of water (or chicken stock for a more flavorful result) in a pot over medium heat. When the water comes to a boil, I add in my sliced chicken, carrot chunks and baby abalone we bought from Japan. Keep it on the boil until the rice softens and opens up.

The thing about making porridge is it requires patience and endless peeking into the pot to ensure you achieve your preferred consistency. I prefer a thicker porridge. Some people prefer a more watery porridge in which case you simply add more water. See, no need to go to Porridge School and wait for the graduation announcements to see if you passed the course .

Lastly cut up the yau char kwai, or Chinese crullers, into 1-2″ lengths. I typically serve them on a common plate so each person can take however much they want and top it over their own bowl of porridge. With just a few ingredients, the porridge turns out really flavorful. Try it!

lunch @ Penang Recipe

chili queen — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 03:15:19 +0000

There’s this fairly new place called Penang Recipe at 1 Utama that we’ve visited a couple of times, once or twice, for their weekday lunch time promo.

Whichever restaurant you walk into these day, you can pretty much find the ubiquitous Nasi Lemak. Penang Recipe’s Pandan Nasi Lemak with Chicken Rendang is a pretty good serving that comes with a papadam as well.

I started out really crazy about their Curry Laksa which came packed with ingredients like huge chunks of chicken, meatballs, taupok (tofu pockets), half a hard-boiled egg and even clams. Well, it’s still pretty good but the portion has shrunk very quickly over a short period of time and I’m not happy about that.

It’s sad how sometimes restaurants start out with such promise and then once business picks up, they scale back on quality and quantity to focus on their ecommerce fulfillment or whatever other business ventures they might be involved in.