The Noodle Bowl E-Book

Louise Pickford

• Herausgeber: Ryland Peters & Small
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Seitenzahl: 168

Beschreibung

Discover the vibrant tastes of Asia with over 70 authentic and creative recipes for cooking with noodles.

Das E-Book The Noodle Bowl wird angeboten von Ryland Peters & Small und wurde mit folgenden Begriffen kategorisiert:
pan asian food, asian food to cook at home, one bowl noodles, healthy noodle bowls to cook at home, asian cuisine, noodle cook book

Leseprobe

The

Noodle bowl

The

Noodle bowl

Over 70 recipes for Asian-inspired noodle dishes

Louise Pickford

photography by Ian Wallace

Senior Designer Sonya Nathoo

Commissioning Editor Stephanie Milner

Production Controller Mai-ling Collyer

Art Director Leslie Harrington

Editorial Director Julia Charles

Publisher Cindy Richards

Food Stylist Louise Pickford

Prop Stylist Tony Hutchinson

Indexer Vanessa Bird

First published in 2015

This revised edition published in 2020

by Ryland Peters & Small

20–21 Jockey’s Fields

London WCiR 4BW

and

341 East 116th Street

New York NY 10029

www.rylandpeters.com

Text © Louise Pickford 2015, 2020

Design and photographs © Ryland Peters & Small 2015, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-78879-235-6

E-ISBN: 978-1-78879-307-0

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The author’s moral rights have been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed and bound in China.

CIP data from the Library of Congress has been applied for. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

Notes

• Both British (metric) and American (imperial plus US cups) are included in these recipes for your convenience; however it is important to work with one set of measurements and not alternate between the two within a recipe.

• All spoon measurements are level unless otherwise specified.

• All eggs are medium (UK) or large (US), unless specified as large, in which case US extra large should be used. Uncooked or partially cooked eggs should not be served to the very old, frail, young children, pregnant women or those with compromised immune systems.

• Ovens should be preheated to the specified temperatures. We recommend using an oven thermometer. If using a fan-assisted oven, adjust temperatures according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

• When a recipe calls for the grated zest of citrus fruit, buy unwaxed fruit and wash well before using. If you can only find treated fruit, scrub well in warm soapy water before using.

• To sterilize preserving jars, wash them in hot, soapy water and rinse in boiling water. Place in a large saucepan and cover with hot water. With the saucepan lid on, bring the water to a boil and continue boiling for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the jars in the hot water until just before they are to be filled. Invert the jars onto a clean dish towel to dry. Sterilize the lids for 5 minutes, by boiling or according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Jars should be filled and sealed while they are still hot.

Contents

Asian noodles in all their glorious forms

Noodle basics

Small dishes and bites

Noodle soups

Noodle salads

Stir-fries and curries

Glossary

Index

Acknowledgments

Korean chilled noodles with egg

‘Balachung’ – delicious deep-fried crispy shallots from Myanmar

Delicious fresh egg noodles served hot, straight from the wok

Asian noodles in all their glorious forms

This book celebrates what I feel is best about noodles, noodle dishes and their origins. It doesn’t claim to be a noodle bible, more a close look at the variety and versatility of this wonderful food. I have a passion for everything noodle and I hope I can share my enthusiasm with the following collection of recipes.

Although I had travelled to Asia and the Far East before, it was my move to Sydney in 2000 that introduced me to a far wider range of cuisines from those countries. Australia with its multicultural society is home to a large population of Asian immigrants including Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian, Korean, Indonesian and more besides. You don’t have to travel far in Sydney to find an ethnic restaurant and even in our local suburb we had two Thai restaurants, a Japanese, a Chinese, a Vietnamese café, two Indonesian restaurants and a South-east Asian noodle bar.

Living in that region for 13 years enabled me to experience a whole gambit of new and exciting dishes. Not only did I discover foods with flavours that literally explode in your mouth (not just the chillies/chiles), I found a lighter, healthier and more balanced diet: fresh vibrant salads, pungent aromatic broths packed with crisp raw vegetables and fragrant herbs; stir-fried vegetables and meat dishes, where meat is used sparingly and is only a tiny part of the whole meal.

It was however noodles that really captured my imagination. I was hooked from the first time I went to a small Japanese noodle bar in central Sydney where you could watch the fresh noodles being made daily and then get to eat them moments later in a variety of simple yet divine dishes. The texture was something else – so silky and succulent with a slight chewiness in a delicately flavoured broth. It was the beginning of my love affair with this simple food.

I cook a lot, I cook for work, I share my love of food with my husband, friends and family and I hope I have put together a balanced recipe book with delicious noodle dishes from across Asia.

A LITTLE HISTORY

Noodles are centuries old and there has been much contention over where noodles first originated. If you include Italy, as well as other noodle-producing countries outside Asia, the dispute has been raging almost as long as the noodle itself. However, it is now accepted that noodles were first introduced in the Han Province in China, around 200 AD.

Certainly in both China and Japan, noodles have a huge cultural significance. In China, the noodle symbolizes longevity; it is served at birthday celebrations, and cutting a noodle into lengths is considered to bring bad luck. In Japan it represents the beginning of the New Year and the rising of the moon.

For centuries noodles have been prepared by hand and eaten either fresh or hung out in the sun to dry. Today, most noodles we buy in the West are made by machine and sold pre-cooked to be rehydrated, although you can buy fresh noodles from Asian food stores. Throughout Asia noodles are still mostly prepared and sold fresh. Family-run noodle shops are everywhere and the art of noodle-making is passed on through the generations.

We all have to eat, of course, but whenever I have been to Asian countries I have been blown away by just how important food is to the culture of the people. Food sustains but also it is embedded in people’s religious beliefs, their sense of family and the community. Holy days are numerous and a huge part of these celebrations is focused on food gifts as a form of thanksgiving. These do exist in the West of course, but I don’t think to quite the same extent.

There is little doubt that Asia, from north to south, is a melting pot of cultures, traditions, religions and peoples but most of all it is a rich source of some of our most exciting and interesting food dishes.

THE PRACTICALITIES

I remember early trips to Asian supermarkets and the overwhelming quantity of row after row of different shapes, sizes and colours of noodles. It can be a little daunting, especially if you are new to Asian cooking, so I want this book to help guide you and help you understand what type of noodle is best for each recipe.

I have made every effort to ensure that the ingredients, while as authentic as possible, are obtainable. If I have included an ingredient that is hard to find locally, I offer an alternative. The ingredient identification pages at the beginning of the book will help you to recognize some of the more unusual ingredients, whilst a comprehensive glossary at the back (see pages 156–157) will provide information on the rest.

One question I get asked a lot is should one use fresh or dried noodles? I tend to use fresh noodles (when I can get them) in the more delicate dishes like salads or soups and then dried in stir-fries, but they are pretty interchangeable. I give a specific noodle type in each recipe but you can vary this if you like or are unable to find a certain type.

Of the noodle varieties included in this book, fresh noodles (in the West these are usually wheat noodles) need a short cooking time. They are plunged into a large saucepan of boiling water and once they have returned to the boil are cooked for 2–3 minutes depending on the their width. Dried wheat noodles also need to be cooked, but for longer, at least 4 minutes but no more than 5 minutes. Rice noodles, cellophane noodles and sweet potato noodles only need soaking before they are used in a recipe. Times are given in each recipe, but to expand slightly on this, I have experimented with differing soaking and cooking times when testing the recipes and not all were conclusive. Consequently, I recommend using my cooking and soaking times as a guide and testing different noodle brands as you go.

If a noodle is being rehydrated to be eaten without any secondary form of cooking, in a salad or soup they will perhaps require a little longer than if they are to be cooked twice, in a stir-fry for example.

Noodles in themselves, have very little flavour but it is this that makes them so versatile. Noodles absorb the flavours around them and help to balance and soften some of the more fiery and punchy ingredients in Asian cooking. However, it isn’t just about taste – noodles are all about texture. Think soft, chewy, slurpy, nutty, crunchy, crispy and you’ll have an idea of just how many wonderful textures you will explore with the recipes in this book.

And finally, because the culture of the countries in which these recipe are based celebrate food as part of the sharing process with family and friends, I am hoping that you will be able to share some of my favourite noodles dishes, as I do with mine.

noodle basics

Noodle know-how

Sometimes it’s the little things in life that are most rewarding, and in a funny kind of a way I feel that the recipes in this first chapter are that for me. A good example is the recipe for Chicken stock (see page 25). I doubt that when you first look through the following pages you will stop at this page and go, ‘Wow, I simply MUST cook this now!’ But when you make the stock and use it in one of the recipes further along, you will get it. It is simply not possible for the resulting dish to be a winner if the stock is not good. Yes of course you can go and buy a stock/bouillon cube, or one of the new little stock ‘jellies’, or even a liquid stock, but the stock in this book is designed to work for the recipes in which it is to be used. It packs a big hit of garlic and ginger, has a real depth of flavour imbibed by the cooking time and I believe the fact that the chicken is cut up before being simmered adds a further flavour dimension. And this is what I mean. Get the basics right and the rest will reward you time and time again.

Have a look through this chapter and get a feel for what lies ahead. We have fragrant flavoured Chilli and Garlic oils (see page 22), aromatic pastes and fiery sauces, Deep-fried shallots (see page 29) and other crispy condiments that will transform a simple broth into an unforgettable one. Hot salsa, cool dipping sauces and the funkiest salt and pepper condiment ever in Yin yang lime juice (see page 26).

Food is also served and eaten differently in Asia. I like to think of it more like grazing – smaller dishes served frequently throughout the day. No single main dish, rather lots of little dishes with accompaniments. You have rice and noodles providing the starch content while meat or fish play a small part and the protein is often provided by tofu in its many guises. These dishes are then surrounded by lots of fresh, mainly raw dishes of sliced vegetables, fresh herbs, chillies/chiles, sauces and dips for extra flavour, and crispy titbits for texture. It’s sociable, it’s noisy and it’s delicious.

If you have ever eaten in a Chinese restaurant you will notice instead of salt and pepper on the table there is always dark soy sauce, chilli/chile oil and chilli/chile sauce, all to add a little more depth to a dish. Dumplings come bathed in piquant sauces like the Szechuan chilli dressing (see page 33) or something needing a more delicate touch like the Chinese dipping sauce (see page 26).

Japanese accompaniments are subtler; dipping sauces are less hot, Dashi broth (see page 25) is clear and fat-free with a cleaner taste. Pickles are very popular and are served as palette cleansers or as a garnish, like the Pickled cucumber (see page 30). In summer, soba noodles are traditionally served cold with a bowl of simple Dipping sauce (see page 26), while big bowls of steaming noodle soups are fabulous for chilly winter days.

Sharing a border with China to the north and the islands of Japan to the east, strong influences of the two can be found in Korean cooking. Like their close neighbours the Koreans are lovers of the noodle – mainly wheat and buckwheat. However Korea does produce a different noodle made from sweet potato starch known as ‘japchae’ (see page 15). Translucent and pale brown in colour, japchae have a wonderfully glutinous texture with a slight bite to them. Korean food tends to be fiery hot and their chilli/chile powder gochugaru is an example of this. It is used in making kimchi (see page 30), Korea’s national dish, which is served as a condiment at every meal. Their dips (see page 34) too are traditionally hot so I have moderated the quantity of chilli/chile to those recipes to suit a more temperate palette, but if you like your food with a kick, simply increase the amount.

As you travel further into South-east Asia the landscape and agriculture changes and although northern regions of Vietnam, Laos and Thailand produce wheat noodles we now start to see a predominance of rice noodles the further south you go. These countries, along with Myanmar, also share many significant similarities in their dishes. Many more salads are eaten; fresh vegetables, often served raw, are tossed with hot, sharp, salty and sweet sauces. There are salsa-like sauces such as Vietnamese Nuoc cham and Thai Green nam jim (both page 37), and fish sauce takes over from soy sauce to add saltiness to the dishes.

Even further south we have Malaysia and Singapore, where we see the return of the culinary influences of China with a large Chinese migrant population and the ancient trading routes that developed strong links with these countries. This in turn gives us a wide mixture of flavours and ingredients depending on the regions but both rice and wheat noodles are used. Coconut milk from Thai cooking is used extensively and to the west lies India and with a large Indian population in both countries we see a greater use of spices such as turmeric. The chilli/chile sauces, or Sambal olek (see page 38) as they are known, include fresh turmeric, adding another twist to this well-travelled sauce.

So take a little time and stock up on core ingredients – you will find that the recipes ahead will reward you for your efforts and many of the basics, once made, keep well either in a screw-top jar on the shelf or in a plastic container in the fridge. The stocks can be made ahead and frozen.

Oodles of noodles

Noodles along with rice are at the very heart of Asian cooking, providing the building blocks to what is a varied, healthy and fascinating cuisine. Noodles are mostly served as one-pot dishes in soups, salads and stir-fries. They provide the carbohydrate element alongside fresh vegetables, herbs, meat and fish, balancing the nutritional benefits of each dish. In order to make sense of the staggering variety of noodles in our stores I have divided them according to the type of starch used to make them.

In general terms, all South-east Asian countries use some or all of the noodle varieties featured here but independently favour one type over others, mainly due to what grows well in a particular region. Within each variety we find a huge range of shapes and sizes of noodle, some with very specific uses. Along with this, the preparation changes from one type to another; some dried noodles need to be pre-cooked before being added to a dish, while others simply need to be pre-soaked. Fresh noodles need to be cooked, but only for a minute or two. Details of exact soaking or cooking times can be found in individual recipes rather than by noodle type.

Noodles are more readily available in their dried form in the West, but you will find fresh noodles in Asian food stores. Fresh noodles must be stored in the fridge but should be eaten within 2–3 days of purchase. Dried noodles will keep indefinitely, sealed in a plastic bag in the store cupboard.

Wheat flour noodles

As the name implies, these are made with wheat flour and water (or sometimes flour and oil) and are the oldest variety of noodle. They are flat, thin or medium-fat as well as made into sheets for wrappers. The finer noodles are used in delicate soups while thicker varieties appear in hearty stews and stir-fries. They are off-white or grey-white in colour. Both fresh and dried noodles need to be pre-cooked before use. As a rule, boil fresh noodles for 1–2 minutes and dried noodles for 4–5 minutes, both until al dente. Wheat flour noodles have a chewy texture and a slightly savoury flavour.

SOMEN

Japanese noodles are enriched with oil, resulting in a thin and delicate noodle that comes wrapped in bunches. Used in a similar way to soba noodles, they are more refined and slightly more delicate.

UDON

A fat Japanese noodle with a slippery, chewy texture. Ideally suited to soups, it must be slurped through the teeth, allowing the noodle to cool slightly as it goes down. Dried udon noodles can be round or flat and are a creamy white colour.

SOBA

Made with a combination of wheat and buckwheat flour, soba noodles are light to dark brown in colour with a rich nutty flavour and slight bite. They can be flavoured with other ingredients such as green tea powder and are commonly served cold in dishes throughout Japan.

RAMEN

Ramen is both the name of a Japanese dish as well as a type of noodle and is more commonly associated with instant noodles. Ramen noodles can be white or yellow as some are made with egg and are formed into tight, twisted clusters. They are mainly used in soups.

GYOZA WRAPPERS

Small rounds of wheat flour dough are used to make delicate Japanese dumplings. They are sold fresh or frozen in packs and need no pre-cooking or soaking.

EGG NOODLES

Often referred to as ‘Chinese egg noodles’, these are made with flour and eggs, the dried noodles come either as sticks or in clusters and are pale yellow in colour. Fresh egg noodles are available from Asian food stores and are usually formed into coils. You can also buy vacuum-packed noodles, which should be rinsed under boiling water before use. Egg noodles have a texture most like pasta but tend to be slightly chewier.

EGG THREAD NOODLES

The thinnest of noodles, these are also called ‘yakisoba noodles’ and are mostly packaged as nests or clusters and are always sold dried.

FLAT CHINESE NOODLES

Similar to linguine, these are usually sold fresh in the chilled section of supermarkets.

HOKKEIN NOODLES

Chinese in origin, Hokkein noodles are hugely popular in Malaysia. They are reasonably fat and similar to spaghetti. Fresh Hokkein noodles should be rinsed before pre-cooking and tossed in oil to prevent sticking.

WONTON WRAPPERS

Small squares or rounds of fresh egg noodle dough used to make Chinese dumplings. They are sold either chilled or frozen and come in packs of up to 40 sheets. They need no soaking or pre-cooking before use.

SPRING ROLL WRAPPERS