Hokkien noodles

Chicken and Hokkien noodles

Posted by Gary

Hello readers,

I hope you’ve enjoyed your week. This week’s post is quick and easy because I don’t have much time. 

Recipe

Equipment

  • Water heater circulator
  • Water bath
  • Wok

Ingredients

  • Chicken thigh
  • Red onion
  • Shallot
  • Ginger
  • Shiitake mushrooms [1, 2]
  • Laksa paste [3]
  • Coconut milk
  • Chillies
  • Carrot
  • Fennel
  • Hokkien noodles

Instructions

Chicken thigh

  1. Seal a chicken thigh with the skin attached and seasoned with salt in a plastic bag.
  2. Heat a water bath to 76 °C and then cook the chicken in the water for 2 hours.
  3. Refrigerate the chicken after it has cooked.
  4. Pull the meat from the bones and break up the muscle bundles. Place the pulled chicken thigh aside in a bowl and gnaw the bones to avoid wasting meat.
  5. Place the cooking liquor into a small saucepan.

Mushrooms

  1. Remove the mushrooms from the packaging and place them into a bowl.
  2. Add a cup of water to the small saucepan with the cooking liquor from the chicken.
  3. Boil the contents of the saucepan and then turn off the heat.
  4. Pour the liquid over the mushrooms and let the mushrooms steep for about half an hour.
  5. Remove the mushrooms and set them aside.

Noodles

  1. Remove the noodles from the packaging and place them into a bowl.
  2. Boil the saucepan with the mushroom and chicken juices and pour over the noodles.
  3. With wooden tongs or chopsticks, break up the noodles and drain them when they feel soft.
  4. Keep the cooking liquor aside.

Soup

  1. Finely chop a shallot and red onion.
  2. Mince some ginger.
  3. Slice a chilli.
  4. Slice the fennel.
  5. Julienne the carrot.
  6. Slice the spring onion.
  7. Shake the tin of coconut cream and open it.
  8. Heat the wok and then add some oil.
  9. Sauté the onions, shallot, and ginger.
  10. Add a tablespoon of laksa paste (more or less depending on how you like it).
  11. Add the mushrooms and slowly add the cooking liquor used for the noodles, mushrooms, and chicken.
  12. Allow the liquid to reduce a little to concentrate the flavours.
  13. Toss in the chicken meat and stir it around.
  14. Pour in the coconut cream and turn down the heat.
  15. Bring the cream to a gentle simmer, and then add in the carrot and some of the firmer slices of spring onion.
  16. Add the noodles and mix everything with a pair of chopsticks or wooden tongs.
  17. Turn the heat off and mix through chilli and more spring onions.
  18. Transfer everything to a bowl and garnish with the remaining spring onions.
  19. Give thanks to the Lord.
  20. Eat with chopsticks and a spoon.

Thoughts on the meal

This meal was enough for two people, so I refrigerated half of it, and the next day I heated the remaining soup in a saucepan and served it the same way I had the night before.

I didn’t want to label this meal anything other than chicken and Hokkien noodles. You could make this with any sort of Asian style flavouring you have around. I know many people would add garlic. I didn’t have any, and I’m not fussed about garlic in my food. If I have garlic, I’ll use it, but it’s not a big deal to omit it. 

I know that I use some techniques not readily available to everyone. You can substitute different approaches.

For example, you could cook the chicken any way you like so long as you achieve the correct temperature and duration[4]. Not everyone will get sick with inadequately cooked food. However, I commonly see reports of incapacitated people because of poor attention to food safety. You could use a supermarket rotisserie chicken if time is short and your budget permits. Break down the chicken, store it safely, and use it how you want.

I like the idea of using dried foods like mushrooms. I can use a few from a packet in this soup and the rest in other meals. The steeping liquor is also suitable for flavouring other aspects of the cooking process.

Feel free to make modifications and share them.

On food safety, I now have the pleasure of working with someone on a committee I have admired for decades. When I was in my final year of speciality training, this colleague wrote a magnificent review article on the pathogenic forms of Escherichia coli. I read it and memorised it; it was so good. One of my final exam questions was to compare and contrast the pathogenic forms of Escherichia coli. This colleague is now retired but working in an emeritus capacity. 

Final thoughts

  1. How has your week been?
  2. Do you like using dried foods?

Photographs

Chicken and Hokkien noodles
Chicken and Hokkien noodles
Leftover chicken and Hokkien noodles
Leftover chicken and Hokkien noodles

References

  • 1.         Kim, S.H., et al., Ecofriendly shiitake authentication using bulk and amino acid-specific stable isotope models. Food Chem, 2022. 397: p. 133819.
  • 2.         Berger, R.G., et al., Mycelium vs. Fruiting Bodies of Edible Fungi-A Comparison of Metabolites.Microorganisms, 2022. 10(7).
  • 3.         Peng, Z.F., et al., Antioxidant flavonoids from leaves of Polygonum hydropiper L.Phytochemistry, 2003. 62(2): p. 219-28.
  • 4.         Yang, R., et al., Thermal death kinetics of Salmonella Enteritidis PT30 in peanut butter as influenced by water activity. Food Res Int, 2022. 157: p. 111288.

Sous vide Sichuan kangaroo with Hokkien noodles

Posted by Gary

Dear Reader,

Greetings friends. It’s the beginning of a long weekend here in Australia (and New Zealand). Monday, 25 April 2022, is a public holiday and represents Anzac Day.

Kangaroos in a paddock near Lake Ginninderra

The weather in Canberra started dull and dreary; however, I saw a blue sky as I looked out of my balcony window.

I’ve been reading J. Kenji López-Alt’s new book on the wok, which has inspired me to cook more Asian style meals. To give this meal an Australian flavour, I went with Kangaroo.

Broccoli, Carrot, Chillies, Coriander, Coriander seeds, Daikon radish, Ginger, Red chillies, Shallots, Sichuan peppercorns, Sodium bicarbonate, Soy sauce, Spring onions, White peppercorns

Ingredients

  • Kangaroo steak. I picked up a packet of kangaroo steaks from the supermarket. I don’t know what cut of the kangaroo this meat is.
  • Monosodium glutamate
  • Sodium bicarbonate
  • Hokkien noodles
  • Sichuan peppercorns
  • White peppercorns
  • Black peppercorns
  • Coriander seeds
  • Coriander seeds
  • Chilli powder
  • Chillies
  • Coriander roots
  • Coriander stems
  • Coriander leaves
  • Broccolini
  • Shallots
  • Spring onions
  • Ginger
  • Garlic
  • Daikon radish
  • Carrot
  • Peanut oil
  • Sesame oil
  • Dry sherry
  • Soy sauce
  • Corn flour

Instructions

  1. On arriving home from the supermarket, season the kangaroo steaks with MSG and freshly cracked black pepper.
  2. Vacuum seal the meat in bags and refrigerate for a few hours.
  3. Prepare the Sichuan peppercorns by removing the black seeds and discarding them. Set the husks aside. For any whole peppercorns, crush them with your fingers and peel off the husk for use in the meal. Throw the black seeds away. This step reduces the unpleasant texture some people report when they purchase Sichuan peppercorns and add them from the container into a meal. Taking the time to do this and making an effort pays off.
  4. Cook the meat at 57 °C for 100 minutes.
  5. Once cooked, remove some of the meat and set it aside. Place the rest of the kangaroo into an airtight container and refrigerate or freeze for future use.
  6. Cut the meat into thin strips and dry with absorbent kitchen paper.
  7. With a pestle and mortar pound the peppercorns and coriander seeds. Pound them hard. Pound them until it hurts and you have a fine powder of spice.
  8. Place the meat strips into a bowl and add the ground peppercorns, ground coriander seeds, and sodium bicarbonate.
  9. Vigorously massage the meat with your fingers to coat the meat with the dry ingredients. You want to be quite physical with the meat and not delicate or gentle. The aim is to give the meat a good working over to ensure flavour and tenderness.
  10. Place diced shallots, sliced spring onions (the white bit), minced fresh ginger, and minced fresh garlic into a container.
  11. Slice the green part of the spring onions and put them into some iced water, and set them aside.
  12. Julienne some carrot and daikon radish and place onto a plate.
  13. Slice the stalks and heads of some broccoli and place them on the plate with the carrot and daikon radish.
  14. Make a slurry with water, cornflour, and soy sauce and whisk with chopsticks (like an Asian).
  15. Place the Hokkien noodles into a bowl and add boiling water. Soak the noodles for about 5 minutes. Separate the noodles with tongs and drain them with a colander or sieve.
  16. Heat your wok and add some peanut oil and sesame oil.
  17. Stir through the shallots, spring onion white bits, garlic, and minced ginger.
  18. Cook these aromatic ingredients, so they become fragrant.
  19. Move the aromatic ingredients to a dish.
  20. Add a little more oil and stir fry the carrot, radish, and broccoli until these vegetables soften. Avoid overcooking. The aim is to have some bite in the vegetables; you don’t want them soggy or limp. You want them firm with a bit of stiffness.
  21. Add some MSG and swirl some soy sauce around the sides of the wok and keep tossing the wok.
  22. Place the stir-fried vegetables into a dish.
  23. Add a bit of peanut oil and then stir-fry the meat strips.
  24. Get some colour onto the meat.
  25. Pour in some dry sherry, and add the aromatic ingredients and the vegetables.
  26. Toss in the Sichuan peppercorn husks and give everything in the wok a good stir.
  27. Thicken your juices with the slurry of cornflour and soy sauce.
  28. Place the noodles into a bowl and transfer the contents of then wok atop the noodles.
  29. Thank the Lord.
  30. Eat with chopsticks and a spoon.

How was the meal?

I’ve eaten sous vide kangaroo before. I enjoyed it then and tonight’s meal was good too.

The Sichuan peppercorn husks and the ground pepper gave me a fizz in my mouth. I’m guessing that adding the MSG also helped enhance the flavours.

I made enough for two, so I’ve set aside half for tomorrow’s lunch, which I’ll enjoy after church.

Finals thoughts

  • Have you tried kangaroo meat? What did you think?
  • The last time I shared my kangaroo meat dinner on Twitter, some Tweeps protested and shared with their Tweeps that I was not respecting native Australian fauna. I’m not saying that what I do is correct or the best way to live. It’s how I live, and I respect that not everyone agrees.
  • How do you feel about incorporating non-traditional ingredients into Asian style dishes? Macropods, i.e., kangaroos and wallabies, are not native to East Asia. Still, in my defence, Chinese people have traditionally been adventurous when eating things. Look at some of the interesting meat Chinese like to eat.
  • Have you cooked with Sichuan pepper? Do you like the fizz it creates in your mouth and on your tongue and lips?
Essential Ingredient Sichuan peppercorns White peppercorns
Broccoli, Carrot, Chillies, Coriander, Coriander seeds, Daikon radish, Ginger, Red chillies, Shallots, Sichuan peppercorns, Sodium bicarbonate, Soy sauce, Spring onions, White peppercorns
Broccoli, Carrot, Chillies, Coriander, Coriander seeds, Daikon radish, Ginger, Red chillies, Shallots, Sichuan peppercorns, Sodium bicarbonate, Soy sauce, Spring onions, White peppercorns
Sous vide Kangaroo
Hokkien noodles
Sous vide Sichuan kangaroo with Hokkien noodles
Sous vide Sichuan kangaroo with Hokkien noodles
Sous vide Sichuan kangaroo with Hokkien noodles