Fried Magu Rice Vermicelli

With soup and chicken already on the menu, Joanna completes the meal with a carbohydrate dish. She made a Fried Magu Rice Vermicelli.

Joanna used a lot of chilis for this Fried Magu Rice Vermicelli. It was a little too spicy for some of the members but I love it.

Ingredients

• 1 pack Magu rice vermicelli
• 1/2 pound of beef
• 2 red and green chilies, julienned
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2-inch ginger, cut into slivers
• salt and soy sauce to taste

You can substitute the Magu Rice Vermicelli with any vermicelli, preferably from Jiang Xi.

Joanna is from the province of Jiang Xi. According to Joanna, the above vermicelli is produced in the Nancheng County, under Mountain Magu, the famous taoist mountain.

On the package:

It is said that after Fairy Maiden Ma became a fairy, she used the rice to make radiant silver thread rice flour noodles. Then Fairy Maiden Ma presented it to the mother of the King in the heaven, on her birthday. Ever since then, it has be contributed to the courts of different dynasty.

Magu rice flour noodles, are all made of Magu silver pearl rice, based on traditional craftsmanship. It is a green food. The product is pure white, tasty, soft but flexible, durably cooked and fit for being fried and coldly dressed with sauce.

Source: Joanna; Serves 4 to 6

Filipino Cuisine: Stir Fried Rice Stick Noodle (Pancit Bihon)

When comes to Filipino food, we often hear a noodle dish called Pancit. Pancit is Stir Fried Rice Stick Noodle.

Linda’s Pancit gets the yellowish/orangey colour from Annatto which is the seeds from achiote tree from her backyard in the Philippines. She brought the seeds all the way from Philippines. Annatto is a natural food coloring. It has a mild peppery scent with a hint of nutmeg.

Ingredients

• 2 packs of 400 grams rice stick noodle
• 3 tablespoons Annatto seeds
• 1 pound chicken breast
• 1 pound bean sprout
• 1 cup dried wood ear slices, reconstituted in hot water and drained
• 4 cups water
• mushroom seasoning to taste

Marinate for chicken

• 2 tablespoons cooking wine
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• few drops of oil
• salt and pepper to taste

P/S: some of the ingredients above are for another dish, i.e. Stir Fried Mix Vegetables which is in the next post

Source: Linda

Prep time: 30 minutes;  Cook time: 30 minutes;  Serves 8 to 10

Fermented Bean Curd Seafood Udon

Tanni worked hand in hand with Lorna to demonstrate an Asian Style Seafood Udon, flavoured with fermented bean curd. This is like killing two birds with one stone as the ingredients are almost the same except the main flavouring ingredient for the sauce.

Ingredients

• 200g Udon
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup broccoli flowerets
• fermented bean curd to taste
• 2 cups seafood (scallops, squids, mussels, shrimps)
• 5 sticks imitation crab meat
• 4 fish balls (halves)
• 2 tomatoes (sliced for garnishing)
• 1 green onion (chopped for garnishing)

Fermented bean curd also known as fermented tofu, tofu cheese, or preserved tofu is a form of processed, preserved tofu used in East Asian cuisine as a condiment made from soybeans. The ingredients typically are soybeans, salt, rice wine and sesame oil or vinegar, and are sold in blocks 2- to 4-cm square by 1 to 2 cm thick soaked in brine with select flavorings. They comes in beige or red colour. I had used the red one in a vegetarian dish recipe. I remembered when I was young, my grandmother used to serve plain porridge with the beige colour fermented bean curd sweetened with some sugar and flavour with sesame oil.

Source: Tanni

Prep time: 20 minutes; Cook time: 20 minutes; Serve 4

Creamy Seafood Udon

Lorna demonstrated this Creamy Seafood Udon recipe in the Gilmore Park Community Kitchen the same day Minoo made the Walnut Balls.

This Creamy Seafood Udon is loaded with scallops, squids, mussels, shrimps, imitation crab meat, fish balls and vegetables.

Ingredients

• 200g Udon
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup broccoli flowerets
• 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 2 cups seafood (scallops, squids, mussels, shrimps)
• 5 sticks imitation crab meat
• 4 fish balls (halves)
• 2 tomatoes (sliced for garnishing)
• 1 green onion (chopped for garnishing)

Source: adapted from Carnation

Prep time: 20 minutes; Cook time: 20 minutes;  Serve 4

Hamburger Stroganoff

Charlene prepared this recipe with extra-lean ground beef instead of sirloin strips which makes this comforting dish a bit more affordable and a bit lower in fat. When choosing recipes for the Seniors Cooking Club, Charlene always look out for low fat, low sodium, low sugar and low budget recipes. In fact, we should all adopt such healthy factors.

Stroganoff is usually served over noodles but it is also delicious served over rice, or on toast for a simple dinner.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pound extra-lean ground beef
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sherry, optional
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken or beef broth
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (we substituted with soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream (or full fat plain yogurt)

Frances and Helmut paired up to make this comforting Hamburger Stroganoff.

Prep time: 20 mins; Cook time: 35 to 40 minutes; Serves 4 to 6.

Hokkien Mee

During the Chinese New Year gathering as featured in the Yee Sang blog, I learned how to make Hokkien Mee from Jessica, the host of the gathering. Hokkien Mee is a very much missed noodle dish from Malaysia. Jessica made some very nice Hokkien Mee and she always gets requests from this group of Malaysian/Singaporean friends to make this dish during our gatherings.

Hokkien Mee is a noodle dish made from thick yellow noodles and fried in pork fat and dark soy sauce. The fried pork fat gives the crunch to this dish and you simple cant find any restaurants in Vancouver which will cook this dish the authentic way. I guess the reason is Vancouverites are very health conscious.

Ingredients

• thick yellow noodle, soaked in hot water to soften and remove access oil
• pork belly
• pork liver
• prawns
• Choy Sum, a kind of Chinese greens
• few cloves of garlic, chopped
• thick dark soy sauce or cooking caramel
• soy sauce
• oyster sauce

Click on the link below for the instructions.

Hand Made Noodle

Ming shared with us how to make noodle from scratch. She shared with us on how to make dumpling skin earlier. Hand made noodle is fresh and chewy. It does not any ‘gan sui’ taste in it compare with those store bought ones.

A bowl of hand made noodle is comfort food.

Ingredients

• all purpose flour
• cold water

Click on the link below for the instructions.

Go Cha Dried Thin Noodle

I picked up this pack of Go Cha Dried Thin Noodle from Smart and Save in Lansdowne Mall. The noodle, Min Sin (in Cantonese) reminds me of my childhood days. Whenever I’m sick, my late grandma or my late mom will make me “Min Sin”. It is a very soft noodle and I believe its gentle to your digestive system. That’s why it’s given to sick people.

I cant recall exactly how much this pack of noodle cost but its around $3. This pack of noodle is enough to serve my family of four.

Inside the package, you’ll find a pack of dried thin noodle, a pack of tapioca starch, a spice pack and a hot chili pack.

Taro Noodle Soup

Julie’s second dish is a Taiwanese Taro Noodle Soup. I have never had a noodle soup with Taro. It is something new that I learnt here. The taro gives the noodle soup added textures, soft and creamy.

This is an easy meal to prepare at home. Julie added some fish balls in her noodle soup. You may substitute the fish balls with other meatballs like beef, chicken, squid, pork, etc.

Ingredients

• 1 large piece of Taro, peeled and cut to bite-size
• 1 packet of vermicelli noodle
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• fish balls
• lettuce, thinly sliced
• a can chicken stock

Chow Mien

Yvonne made a Chinese Fried Noodles (Chow Mien) in the Caring Place Community Kitchen due to the popularity of this dish in another community kitchen which I did not attend.

It looked like a daunting task to make this noodle because Yvonne used a lot of ingredients. But, when making it at home, you can simplify the recipe by using your favourite meat or seafood and vegetables.

Yvonne served the Chow Mien in the wok itself because we could’nt find a platter big enough to hold the noodles.

Ingredients

• 2 packets of Chinese instant noodles
• 2 sweet peppers, sliced
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 inches of ginger, sliced
• 3 to 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 to 4 shallots, sliced
• 10 large button mushrooms, cleaned with paper towel and sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced into match sticks
• a bunch of green onions, cut into 1 inch length
• a bunch of cilantro, chopped, save some for garnishing
• some bean sprouts
• 1 packet of large prawns, with shell removed
• fried shallots for garnishing
• toasted sesame seeds for garnishing
• chicken stock

Marinates and Sauces

• Soy sauce
• Oyster sauce
• Mirin or rice wine
• Fish sauce
• Corn starch
• Salt and Pepper

Click on the link below for the instructions.