Fuchsia Dunlop's cooking class

Frying pork slivers
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Here is Fuchsia Dunlop frying some pork belly slices in a wok at a cooking class in London, for 'twice cooked pork'. Her class, "Sincerely Sichuan" at the Divertimenti cookery school, was completely sold out.

Sitting in the front row (and in the back rows too!) one could smell the lovely fragrance of Sichuan pepper being ground to a fine powder (to be sprinkled on Mapo tofu later on). Fuchsia handed out a small bowl of this Sichuan pepper so everyone could have a taste. They were (or it was, because I had only one!) was the most powerful huajiao I have ever had. Although Fuchsia warned everyone just to bite on it gently for 3 times and then spit it out, most of the participants started coughing and scraping their throats for at least 5 minutes. Even after getting a huge glass of water, my mouth felt this tingling numbing effect for a long time!

Fuchsia did all the Sichuan classics in her cooking class which lasted over more than two hours: spicy cucumber salad - fried in a wok; fish-fragrant aubergines; twice cooked pork, Mapo tofu and Gongbao chicken. She not only did all the cutting and stir-frying, but was talking all the time about Chinese culinary traditions, her travels in China, and her experiences in becoming a Chinese chef.

Seeing an expert at work (and she is!) really makes a lot of difference. Dunlop is great in explaining the different styles of flavors (using Chinese culinary terms as well), and can show it by bringing out a different combination in every dish. It is not just chiles and spices, but a careful mixing of ingredients to get a totally different end result. For those who think Chinese cooking is only about stir frying at the highest fire possible: it is not. Fuchsia Dunlop takes her time and sniffs the wok regularly to see if the flavor is there yet. Her Gongbao chicken was truly great - it had the stickyness of the sauce all around the ingredients- and her twice cooked pork incredibly awesome - I'd order every dish in a restaurant if I had the chance.

And perhaps I will -after today's lunch at the Baozi Inn I'm planning a meal at Bar Shu tomorrow, the restaurant where Fuchsia Dunlop devised the menu and acts as consultant. When I go home, I'll have enough Sichuan flavors to keep me going for a while!

Here are more pictures from Fuchsia Dunlop's Sincerely Sichuan class at Divertimenti, London

Making kimchi

Making kimchi
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Kimchi is Korea's national dish: fermented Chinese cabbage preserved in a spicy chili mixture. It tastes zingy, spicy and fresh at the same time and goes really well with all kinds of dishes, also with fried rice. In Korea, they have it with about every meal and the Koreans believe strongly in its healthy properties. They even took it along on their first space flight as astronaut food.

I made it myself the other day, and it really is not hard. YouTube videos, for example Maangchi's one, make huge amounts with massive cabbages. The cabbages one buys here in the supermarket are about twice as small, and I recommend just one plain Chinese cabbage for starters, to get a feel of the whole kimchi making process and to see if you like it!

For this recipe, you will need :
1 Chinese cabbage
kitchen salt

kimchi-mixture:
1 cup of Korean chili flakes (red pepper powder, 90 grams)
1 cup of rice flour, sugar
1 yellow onion, 6 cloves of garlic, piece of ginger
3 spring onions, some sprigs of Chinese chives (12 or so)
4 centimeters piece of daikon radish (or 15 small European red radishes)
fish sauce

Cut the cabbage in half lengthways. Then make a cut on the stem side, but don't cut through, only halve the stem - the cabbage is still attached at the leaf side. Immerse the two cabbage pieces in cold water for 20 minutes, drain.

Sprinkle the cabbage with salt all over: lift up the leaves and put in salt between all nooks and crannies of the cabbage. Now leave to sit for two hours.
Turn the cabbage after two hours (some liquid will have come out of the cabbage) and leave again for two hours. You can make the kimchi mixture in this time (read further down).

After these four hours rinse the cabbage in plenty of water, getting rid of all the salt. Don't forget this step (I did once, and the kimchi tasted foul later on!). Then wring out all water from the cabbage. It will be very limp. Try to make it as dry as you can.

Make the kimchi mixture sometime in these four hours of waiting:
Add one cup of rice flour and 1.5 cups of water to a pan. Slowly heat the mixture, stirring constantly, until it thickens to a kind of paste. Add 4 tablespoons of sugar when it starts to bubble and cook for 1 minute more. Take off the heat and let cool.

Cut up 3 spring onions into slices, a couple of sprigs of Chinese chives into chunks. Whizz a piece of daikon radish, 6 cloves of garlic, a piece of ginger and a smallish yellow onion in a food processor until all cut up (you can do it with your Chinese cleaver too). When the rice flour mixture has cooled, add your Korean chili flakes, 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and the daikon-garlic mixture and stir to combine. [some recipes call for raw chopped up oysters at this stage, but we leave those out for now]. Add the spring onions and chives. It will become a deep red spicy sticky mixture, like a paste. Put aside until your cabbage is ready.

Making the kimchi:
Use your hands or kitchen gloves to rub the spice paste all over your cabbage. Lift up the leaves to rub the paste everywhere, covering the cabbage all over with the red chili mixture. Fold the cabbage pieces neatly in their original shape and fit them snugly in a plastic container. Cover with lid and put away at room temperature for two (!) days.

During this time, the cabbage will start to ferment and the kimchi will get its unique flavor. After two days, there will be small bubbles in the liquid surrounding the kimchi and the smell will be fresh and sour, reminding perhaps of sauerkraut. Remember the kimchi smells clean and zingy, never foul or off-putting! Move the container to your refrigerator, it will keep for months.

Just today I had it the fusion sauerkraut way (a la zuurkoolstamppot): I mixed some shredded kimchi into potato mash, turning the mash into a beautiful red and great spicy dish. Like so many spicy things, kimchi is highly addictive - you soon might want to make more!

Chinese fried eggplant

Eggplant strips ??
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

You know it by now, I love watching Chinese cooking videos - for example on YouTube- and getting new inspiration. The older Chinese cookbooks are to blame- they hardly have any photos, only boring characters, so you have to be super dedicated to really read it all without a picture to make one hungry.

Watching a video is much easier. There is a series from CCTV or Beijing TV which is quite nice. Every time the Beijing host invites a new cook or a new guest and they do one or two recipes. It is great to listen to the beautiful Beijing accents and see a dish develop.

This dish is inspired by their video of fried eggplant strips.

For this recipe, you will need:
2 or 3 slender Asian ('Japanese') eggplant
50 to 100 grams of minced meat
cornstarch
2 cloves of garlic
knob of ginger
sugar, sweet bean paste, sesame oil
salt, soy sauce, Chinese vinegar, Shaoxing rice wine
(optional for 'prettying up the plate': small bell pepper dice)

Start by cutting the eggplant into chunks about 7 cms long. You might cut the eggplant into 3 to get equal size chunks. Cut the chunks into half and then into strips - don't make them too thin, just a little bit fatter than finger size. Put them in a bowl of salted water.

After 10 or 15 minutes, take out the eggplant strips and squeeze them dry. Then coat all over in cornstarch and put aside. Fry the eggplant strips in a wok with hot oil until they are golden brown and crispy. Drain on kitchen paper.

After frying the eggplant strips, take out the oil (if there is any left) and leave 3 tablespoons. Fry about 100 grams of minced meat. Add soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sugar, salt, chopped up garlic and ginger cut into strips to get a nice mixture. Add a little water to make a sauce, then return the eggplant strips to the pan.

Coat all eggplant strips with the sauce, stirring and turning, and add small chopped dice of red and green bell pepper for color (if desired). The eggplant will be very crispy, but not too oily because of the cornstarch crust. Great dish for the Chinese repertoire!

Summer cooking

Big Green Egg
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Although the summer was not half as long as I hoped it would be - and I could use a lot more of summer heat - I really enjoyed cooking outdoors. After one year of indecisiveness I finally jumped into action and spent my money on a Big Green Egg, the Rolls Royce of barbecues (or, as they would like to say, 'smoker and grill').

This green Egg is like a large ceramic oven in which you put chunks of charcoal. The heat is incredible, it will rise from 0 to 350 Celcius in 20 minutes time. And when you think this takes expertise or careful fanning with newspapers on my part, you are wrong. After lighting you just close the lid and pry all vents open, then it will heat easily without any effort. Anyone can do it!

I realize there is always a lot of fuss about barbecueing, also involving some male / female roleplaying. It seems men want to kindle fires and slap on the big steaks, while women prepare salads and desserts and nibbles. Also, when buying my BBQ, the salesman kept looking at my boyfriend when he talked instead of at me (although this also happens when you go out to buy a computer). Why would that be?

There is something extremely comforting about making your own fire and then cooking on it. It feels so basic and simple. One can hardly call it cooking, just put on some stuff - red peppers, zucchini, eggplants - and they turn yummy and tender and filled with the charcoal flavor, perfect to toss with some olive oil and seasalt. Put on some meat or fish - and again- when they are done they are succulent, smokey and irresistible. In two months' time, I have made salmon, sea bream, red mullet, potatoes, eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, pork tenderloin, pork chops and steaks.

One other really exciting thing is the BGE works as a bread or pizza oven. Although this takes an extra part known as a plate setter, which is basically a very thick ceramic (pizza) stone with 3 feet so the air can circulate, breads and pizzas are supposed to come out great. I have only tried to make pizzas up to know, and the last batch turned out wonderful. A crispy crust and oozing mozzarella with tomato on top. It needs more exploring! The BGE can get so hot some Indian foodies tried to make chicken tandoor in it, using it as a tandoor. And what would happen if I tried to make Chinese style oven duck?

Chinese chive pockets [jiucai hezi]

Chinese chive pockets
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Finally some time to write up a recipe- I've been too busy with nothing, holidaying, shooting pictures, cooking simple and not so simple food, and my new addiction twitter, which is fun enough to post little things on about stuff that interests you, but seriously keeps one from blogging or writing up longer pieces altogether.

After my holiday in Malta where I cooked like 2 meals of pasta each day, because it's perfect in hot weather, I am now back in the 20C zone of the Netherlands and not feeling happy about it. A cold drizzly summer makes me lose interest in cooking, but I know the remedy. I start flipping cookbooks or surfing YouTube to find interesting cooking videos.

Now I stumbled upon a Taiwanese television cooking series where two women, one young and one older lady, cook all kinds of Chinese specialties. The old lady is the knowledgeable cook who shows how to make all kinds of Chinese savory pastries, which has the younger pretty lady (with a fat Taiwanese accent) shrieking with delight and amazement all the time. In the video where they make 'Chinese chive pockets' [jiucai hezi] it takes 3 videos of 9 minutes each to show how to cook them. They go on and on about how when you make a dough with 3 cups of flour and 1 cup of water you really have to use the SAME cup and not 2 cups of different sizes, that writing it down for the blog seems somehow much faster!

Chinese chive pockets (or 'chive boxes') is a typically street food snack from Northern China. You can see Beijingers on the side of the road frying up all kinds of things, and this is one of the snacks everyone loves and queues for.

For this recipe, you will need (makes about 15)
dough: 1.5 cups plain flour
1/2 cup scalding hot water + 1/4 cup cold water

filling: 200 grams pork mince
a handful of glass noodles, soaked in hot water for 20 mins
a large bunch of Chinese chives, finely chopped
salt, soy sauce, white pepper, oil, sesame oil

Add the flour to a mixing bowl and pour over the water you have just boiled. Use chopsticks to mix together. The water will scald the dough, half cooking it - it will produce a much softer dough later on. Now add 1/4 cup of cold water and knead until a supple dough. Let rest for 30 minutes.

Make the filling: wash and chop the chives very finely. Put aside in a bowl and add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Take your pork mince and add 1/2 to 1 teaspoons of salt, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and mix to combine. Add some pepper to your taste. Take your soaked glass noodles en cut them into tiny chunks. Add to the pork. Then add the chives (they should be almost equal in weight to the pork, even more) . Add more oil or sesame oil to make a nice juicy filling.

After 30 minutes, roll out your dough until it forms a long 'snake'. Divide into chunks, roll them out to circles of about 10 cms wide. Put a large tablespoon or 2 tablespoons of filling on the dough and shape them into a half moon shape. Flatten with your hand. Cut off the remaining dough from the edges and crimp in beautiful pattern. This takes some practice but it is fun to do!

Heat a flat pan, non stick if you prefer, and fry your Chinese chive pockets without any oil on a low fire. They will fry gently and will break somewhere, so oil will seep out anyway in which you can continue frying. After about 20 minutes (turn occasionally) your Chinese chive pockets are done. They make a lovely snack with your favorite dipping sauce, or just plain with a little vinegar. Enjoy!

Panko shrimp

Starters of the Korean dinner
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

This is the perfect snack food for long summer evenings in my opinion. Shrimps always taste heavenly, and coating them with Japanese breadcrumbs (panko) is even nicer. They get a great crunch. When you serve these shrimp with a mix of mayonaise and sriracha hot sauce, my recent addiction, the whole plate of shrimp will be gone in no time.

You will need:
1 box of freezer shrimp, heads/tails on;
panko bread crumbs (Asian store);
1 egg, some soy sauce, mashed garlic if you like;
oil for frying
Sauce: a nice mayo and Sriracha hot sauce will do

Thaw the shrimp, peel them - keep the tails on for a nicer look, and save the shells to make a nice stock to keep for later.
Carefully slice the shrimp open from the belly side and devein. This is a little bit of a hassle now, but it will taste great later on.

Marinate for half an hour or more (you can do prep work beforehand) in a mixture of egg, soy sauce, white wine (optional) and mashed garlic if you like. Just before you want to eat the shrimp, coat them in panko breadcrumbs and fry in oil until crispy and done.

Serve with mayo and sriracha and other side dishes. Here I had them on some beautifully draped shiso leaves, and sushi and other bites to go as well. Perfect to go in an Asian meal!

Tiger salad (laohu cai)

tiger salad
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Of course the attractive thing of this salad is, first of all, its name.
Laohu cai, 'tiger vegetable' or 'tiger salad' is an intriguing sounding dish which came into vogue in China in the past five years or so. I actually can't tell you when exactly it came on the scene, since I have no recollection of it appearing. But then, lots of dishes come to the Chinese dining scene without us knowing about it!

There are said to be two versions of the 'tiger salad'. One is a Uyghur version from Xinjiang province, from the far west of China; another version from the salad is from Manchuria, which also happens to be the birthplace of the Manchurian tiger. I studied in Manchuria years ago, but at that time tiger salad was nowhere on the menu. Nor was there anything else much on the menu for that matter, especially in winter time - Chinese cabbage was about all there was to have then. And then- there has been a trend for Chinese to start eating raw foods, salads as well as sashimi-like dishes, when traditionally Chinese keep from raw foods as far as they possibly can.

Both versions consist of uncooked vegetables cut into very fine julienne strips with a fierce chili sauce, making up a lovely crisp salad, served as an appetizer or a side dish. In Xinjiang it is undoubtedly served with kebabs and cold beer. The Manchurian (north east, Dongbei) version is also a dish for summer, which you nibble on when having a beer, waiting for the rest of your meal to arrive. The Xinjiang version is basically yellow onions, red bell pepper, green chilis and tomato; the Chinese version consists of spring onions, green pepper, red chili and coriander, all cut into strips. Both versions are seasoned with a mixture of garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar and salt. I have scanned a lot of sites on the web with recipes and found a lot of variations, for example in adding ingredients like cucumber, red bell pepper, pressed tofu or zuccini. I am afraid my own version kind of started to be not very tigerlike, since I threw in some strips of carrot for color, and even tossed over some crushed peanuts at the end. But it is nice to play with the variations.

I kind of felt like making the Chinese version since tomatoes didn't
really appeal to me in this dish, I guess because they make it more soggy. I like to nibble on thin strips of vegetable, especially when they have a nice chili heat kick!

For a small portion, serving 2 to 3 people, you will need:

1 green bell pepper
2 spring onions
1 large bunch of coriander
1 clove of garlic
1 red chili (or more... it should be hot!)
sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, salt, chili oil

Slice the vegetables as thinly as you can, cut into strips. Cut the spring onions into 4 cm pieces, cut these into strips. Cut the coriander into the same size. Cut up the red chili, as much as you dare. Be a tiger! Toss. Then mix the seasonings, taste for salt and spicyness. Assemble at the last minute or it will go soggy.

Add some cucumber strips (without seeds) for variation. Or some tomato. But then you are almost in Turkey instead of in China....

Gravad lax - home cured salmon

Making gravlax (gravad lax) step 1
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

The last couple of weeks I've made this salmon more than once. The slices of home cured salmon are much nicer than the ones you get from supermarket packages, and really, there is nothing to it, except a little wait. It takes from 48 to 72 hours (yes, 2 to 3 days) before the salmon has cured and is ready to eat. A mixture of salt, sugar, pepper and dill dries out the salmon and you get a dark meat, firm texture and delicious flavor.

For 1 kilo of salmon, you will need:
[from Mr. Ooijer's recipe]

1 kilo of salmon, with skin on
50 grams of sea salt
30 grams of pepper (choose white, black or mixed, what you like)
80 grams of icing sugar
large bunch of fresh dill
cling film or alu foil

Slice the salmon into 2 pieces of equal size. (You will tie them together, sandwich-style, later). Crush the pepper in a mortar or with a rolling pin. Make a rub of the salt, sugar and pepper and rub it into the salmon flesh, make sure to cover everything.
Then chop up your fresh dill and put on one piece, add the other piece on top, sandwich style. Put on a large piece of alufoil or clingfilm and cover tightly.

Now put it in the fridge, with or without a heavy object on top. I've experimented with both: the first time I only put on like two bottles of beer (light weight), and turned every day. That salmon came out beautifully, succulent, delicious. The other time I might have put in too much salt (I thought I knew the recipe by heart) , and weighed with the mortar on top (heavy weight), also turning every day, and that salmon came out dryer, but much saltier. I think I prefer the former.

After 48, or preferably 72 hours, your salmon is ready. Unwrap, scrape off dill mixture and excess pepper and salt, then slice into thin slices. Excellent as starter, or as snack. Have it on toast with the traditional mixture of mustard, dill and sugar, or with your favorite mayo or horseradish. You don't have to buy 1 kilo of salmon to make it, you can do it with smaller portions as well. Adapt the recipe accordingly. Try it, you'll like it! And if not, I know a cat that really really does ;-)

3 minute cake

mug cake

It all started 2 months ago when I, as usual, was strolling though a
Chinese supermarket for fun. I found an intriguing box called 'Easy Cake' in the shape of a mini-size microwave oven, which claimed on the box to produce a lovely chocolate cake in the microwave in just 2,5 minutes. Of course I found it irrestistible and bought it right away. I took it home, much to the delight of my daughter. We made the cake a few weeks back. All it said on the package was to mix the ingredients with some milk, oil and a fresh egg, pop it in the microwave and then to see it rise. It was very exciting to see it go up, almost going over the plastic bowl provided, and then set. Indeed, after 2.5 minutes we had a chocolate-y, puddinglike cake which tasted surprisingly OK. Child's play.

In the back of my head the riddle kept coming bak what the ingredients were. Surely there couldn't be that many secret ingredients, could there? What did they put inside anyway? Then, quite unexpectedly, I found the recipe of a similar cake on the web. It wasn't called 'easy cake' but 'mug cake'. All over YouTube and other places I found movies of people making chocolate cakes in large coffee mugs, sometimes with self raising flour, sometimes with chocolate powder instead of cocoa, sometimes with extra chocolate chips or marshmellows added... They looked pretty much the same as the 'easy cake' from the Chinese store to me. So I tried the mug cake recipe - and it worked beautifully. Anyone can make a chocolate cake in 3 minutes flat!

For the 3 minute cake, you will need:
1 large mug (I used a 'soup mug' for this)
some oil to grease the mug with
3 tablespoons of cake flour or self-rising flour
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of milk
1 egg

Grease the mug. Then put in all dry ingredients and mix together. Add oil, milk and mix again. Finally, break the egg and stir it in until everything is a smooth batter. Put microwave on highest setting (mine was on 800 watt) and put the mug inside. Put it on a plate or something in case something goes wrong. Put the microwave on 3 minutes. After about 1.40 minutes the mixture will rise to the rim of the cup, then it will rise spectacularly above the rim, looking as if it might wobble and spill over any minute. If all goes well, it won't. Although high above the rim of the cup, it will set and cook.

After 3 minutes take out your mug (hot!) and spoon out the cake. Cut up in slices and eat with whipped cream. Of course you can bake a cake the traditional way in the oven and get probably better results. But there is something truly satisfying in knowing it takes as long to make a chocolate cake as it takes to brew a cup of coffee, so you can enjoy both of them at the same time. Or get this together for a last-minute dessert !

Happy Chinese Niu Year!

Chinese dumplings
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Tonight there are celebrations for the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Ox. An ox is called 'niu' in Chinese, so you can wish everyone a happy niu-year! Don't believe it when you read somewhere the Chinese are celebrating the year 4753 or whatever figure you might be reading - traditionally, the Chinese really don't count that way.

Chinese count the years of the reign of the emperor. So your year might be something like "12th year of emperor Kangxi (K'ang-hsi) of the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty". As an emperor dies, the counting starts all over again. And if a new dynasty arrives, the dynasty name changes too. Of course your sense of history has to be in a firm place to figure out what year they are talking about! However, after 1911 this way of keeping calenders was discontinued when they adopted the system of the Western calendar. What remains in China is the most important festival of the year, the Chinese new year, which is also called 'Spring Festival'. Everyone has to travel back to celebrate it with their family.

In China everyone knows which animal of the Chinese zodiac is in turn: the ox. The coming year will be a year of hard-working, sturdy perseverance. What if it is 'your' year, if you were born in the same sign ? Your year will be special, but not always in a good sense, you have to be careful. Some Chinese wear a red ribbon around their waist for a full year. Only if you are 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 (..count up) this year!

Happy Niu Year to everyone, have some Chinese dumplings (in Dutch), and let's make it a good one!

lotus buns

lotus buns before steaming
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

These 'lotus leaf buns' (heye jia or 'lotus buns') have been on my to-make-list forever. At least, since I rediscovered them on my trip to China last May, where we had them several times in both Beijing and Shanghai. These lotus buns are a Chinese steamed bread-variety, made from the same dough as baozi, mantou or other steamed goodies. But their fun lies in the fact that they open up so you can stuff them with things and eat them.. like a bun. I had them with wonderfully crisp pork slices, spring onions and cucumber strips.

Of course there is no way I could surpass the beautifully shaped buns I had in a Shanghai restaurant (click here to see the picture) - really I would love to know how they become so prettily puffed up and with curves in all the right places. I searched the web for some photo instruction, but didn't find any - only for the most basic of shapes. Finally I found the recipe in good old Pei Mei (volume 1, p. 365). Not that she helps out with the shape much...

For the dough, you will need: (makes about 20 small buns)
1.5 cups of flour
0.5 cup of water
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of lard (if you want, otherwise omit or substitute little oil)
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons of baking powder
sesame oil

Mix flour, baking powder, sugar, lard and water until it forms a dough. Knead well, then roll in snake-shape and cut or pinch into 20 pieces. Flatten the pieces out with your hand or small rolling pin until round in shape. Brush the top half of the circle with a little sesame oil and fold over.

Now is the time to be creative and try to shape it in a beautiful form, like a shell or lotus leaf. Use a blunt knife to make a criss-cross pattern on top (of the folded over half-circle), or imitate the pattern of a lotus leaf. Then use the back of the knife to dent the lotus bun from the folded open side to make it more like a leaf. Study the picture above to see what I've tried, but be creative here! I am open to new shapes or to an explanation on how to make the beautiful buns I had in China.

Steam over high heat in a bamboo steamer for 10 minutes. Enjoy with pork strips, charsiu meat, red-cooked pork belly or whatever you like.. you'll love it!

Sniffy nose noodles

HAPPY NEW YEAR
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

To start the beginning of this new year, I am going to share one of my favorite recipes with you: Chinese noodles, also known as "one-spoon noodles" or "sniffy nose noodles" because it takes a spoonful of all kinds of Chinese ingredients to give these noodles their wonderful kick - and a sniffy nose while eating them! The strands of noodles are darkened by a yummy soy, sesame, garlic & chili sauce, covered by a dark sauce with minced meat, have some nice greens on the side, and are beautifully sprinkled with spring onions and crushed peanuts on top. Because you mix the ingredients of the sesame sauce in each bowl, it is very easy to adjust this recipe to everyone's taste: some like chili oil, some don't eat meat sauce, some love extra sesame paste.. whatever.

I thought I blogged about these noodles ages ago, but found I really didn't - I guess it is one of these recipes you have made for years now and thought everyone knew about. These Chinese one-spoon noodles are a huge hit with all friends and family members, who beg for either these noodles or home made dumplings when they come over for dinner at my place.

This dish can be made easily for a large group of people. Just count the number of bowls and buy ingredients accordingly. The recipe includes 1. the uncooked sauce-in-the-bowl, 2. the meat sauce; 3. the noodles; 4. some nice greens; and 5. some chopped peanuts.

Ingredients: for each bowl, you will need:
* Noodles: 50-70 grams of noodles (uncooked weight). I prefer udon noodles now because they really take on the flavors well without losing their bite, but you could use any kind of Chinese noodles or Italian egg noodles or tagliatelle.
* Meat sauce: about 50-70 grams of minced beef (for every person) / or mixture of pork and beef; soy sauce, sugar, ginger, Pixian chili broad bean paste, sweet bean paste.
* Noodle bowl sauce: 1 tablespoon each of: sesame paste, sesame oil, soy sauce, Chinese black vinegar, white sugar, chopped Sichuan preserved vegetables, chopped spring onions, sweet bean paste (I really like this, but you can leave it out if you want), chili oil (look here if you want to make chili oil yourself), and 1/4 to 1/2 of a clove of crushed garlic.
Of course you can add more or less of all of the ingredients, or leave out ingredients if you don't like them. It is really all up to you. I like to add as much chili oil as I can handle, because these noodles need to be eaten with sweat on your brow and a sniffy nose.

How to prepare:
1. start by making the meat sauce. Put a little oil in a wok, add 4 slices of ginger, 4 or 5 Sichuan peppercorns and 2 to 3 dry chilies if you like it spicy. Fry about 400 grams of meat until brown, then add a splash of Shaoxing rice wine, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, a spoon of sugar, 2 spoonfuls of Pixian chili broad bean sauce (substitute for sweet bean paste if you don't like chili heat) and add some water to make a sauce. Simmer for rougly 20 minutes.
2. Fry up a handful of uncooked peanuts in some oil in a wok, careful not to burn them, then take out, drain on some kitchen paper, let cool and chop coarsely with pestle and mortar or just with your knife. Put aside.
3. Then start your preparations for cooking the noodles. Put on a large pot for boiling water and have a colander ready for draining the noodles. In the time you are working on the noodles, take out your Chinese noodle bowls and get out all the ingredients.
4. Put a spoonful of everything described above in the bowl and stir to combine, add a little hot water if it is too stiff (you might use the pasta water for this). Add extra chili oil if you like.
5. Chop a cucumber into thin julienne to serve on top of your noodles later, or blanch some bok choy or spinach. A little green touch is very appealing! I even added some vegetable stir-fry on the picture here, and some green fried Spanish peppers.
6. When your noodles are cooked, drain them and divide into the bowls. Toss the noodles immediately with the sauce, add a little hot water if it is too stiff. You can even let your guests do their own tossing.
7. Add a large spoonful of minced meat sauce and the juice on top.
8. Put some veggies to the side, then sprinkle with chopped spring onions and crushed peanuts! ENJOY!

Have napkins close by - your nose will sniff all the way! But boy, it will be good!