Quick and Easy Spicy Fresh Ramin Noodle Soup With Tofu and Snow Peas

I love noodle, my husband loves noodle, and my son seems pretty addicted to noodle too. We eat noodle a lot, we love it in a soup, we love it stir fry, we even love it for salad. Today, I am going to share a very simple, yet satisfying meatless noodle soup that very nourishing and give such a comfort to those who has such a long hectic day at work. This recipe is very quick and simple to make, and also easily double the recipe to feed a large family. There is no exact ingredients needed for the recipe, use any amount to your liking, and use my recipe just as guidance. Hope you like it.

Quick and Easy Spicy Fresh Ramin Noodle Soup With Tofu and Snow Peas

serves 2 - 4

11 oz fresh Ramin noodle (can be bough at the Japanese store)

enough water to boil the Ramin

1 - 2 tsp sesame oil 

For Spicy Soup:

1 tbs canola oil

1cup roughly chopped  green scallions

2 cups snow peas

2 cups chopped cabbage

1 red jalapeno pepper (I think it is called Fresno pepper), sliced

4 cups (or more) water or chicken stock

1 - 2 tbs goujang (Korean red pepper paste)

1 tbs sambal oelek (Indonesian red peper sauce)

1/4 cup reduced sodium shoya sauce

1 package ( 14 oz) fresh firm tofu, cubed

1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro

salt as needed

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add fresh Ramin, and cook according to package direction (mine only took 2 minutes). Drain in a colander, immediately rinse under cold running water. Drain completely, then drizzle  about 1 to 2 teaspoons sesame oil,  mix it to coat. Coating the noodle with sesame oil not only prevent ramin stick together, but also will add some nutty flavor to it. Place cooked ramin into 2 bowls. Set aside while you are making the soup.

Heat a  large soup pot over medium heat, add canola oil. Wait for a few second until the oil is hot, add chopped scallions, fry for a few seconds. Add snow peas, cabbage, and jalapeno pepper, stir fry for 30 seconds. Pour in water or chicken stock, add goujang, sambal oelek, and shoya sauce, bring to a boil. Add tofu, lower the heat and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add cilantro, and freshly ground black pepper, stir, taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Ladle the soup into noodle  bowls, and serve immediately. 

Khoresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi. Iranian Beef Stew With Aromatic Herbs

I love this Iranian stew, it is so aromatic and delicious, and pretty versatile as well.  It can be made with almost any choice of meat your are fond of, lamb, veal, or even poultry. Although I haven't tried to make this with poultry, I heard that it is equally delicious as well, and of course it is healthier too. My brother in law's mother told me once, that she start to  turn it into a vegetarian meal by omitting the meat or poultry, and increasing the amount of bean.

Khoresh-e Ghormeh Sabzi

Recipe adapted from Najmieh Batmanglij's book: New Food Of Life

Serve 6

2 pounds beef shoulder, or boneless beef shank 

1 large  onion, chopped

2 tsp turmeric

1/3 cup Azuki bean

2 whole dried Limu Omani (Persian limes)

3 to 4 cups chicken stock, or beef stock

3 tbs olive oil

4 cups chopped fresh parsley

1 cup chopped fresh fenugreek leaves (if using dried fenugreek, use 1/2 cup)

1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 cups chopped fresh scallion

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

In a heavy casserole pan, add 1 tbs olive oil. Leave a few second to heat the oil, then add the chopped onion. Fry onion until soft and translucent. Add turmeric, beef shoulder, or shank, Azuki bean, and limu omani - stir to mix. Add water, and bring to a boil. Once it start to boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer.

In another shallow pan set over medium low heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add parsley, fenugreek cilantro, and scallion. Stirring continuously for about 20 minutes until the aroma of the herbs fill the air (-_-). It is important to keep stirring during the process, the least you want is having the herb burned, resulting a bitter taste of the stew. Remove from the heat, add it on to casserole pan. season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix. Now turn the heat to the lowest setting, cover the pan, and let it simmer for 2 hours until the meat is fork tender. 

Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve with delicious Persian Rice. Which, I make very often using either lavash (as in the NYTimes recipe), or using potato (see the photo in the middle) which I like better. Delicious!

Ayam Goreng. Indonesian Fried Chicken With Coconut Water, Turmeric, and Coriander

This, I must say is my favorite fried chicken! It has the sweetness from the fresh coconut juice, and fragrant lemongrass, turmeric,  and coriander. This ayam goreng is quite popular in Indonesia. My mother would make this for us very often and we never seem bored eating it. The technique of cooking this ayam goreng is rather unusual as well. First you braised the hens with coconut water and fragrant spices until it is cooked, then frying it in oil to get that nicely brown and slightly crispy skin.

*To make this ayam goreng, you will need the water from fresh  coconut, do not confuse coconut water or juice with coconut milk, which come from the process of milking the flesh. When you buy fresh coconut,  look for the one that feel heavy for its size, then try to gently shake it to make sure  it still has water in it. The more water it contains the freshest the coconut. If there is no water in it, don't buy it! It is probably moldy even worse, rotten inside.

Ayam Goreng. Indonesian Fried Chicken With Coconut Water, Turmeric, and Coriander
Serve 4

2 (weigh less then 3 lbs total) cornish hens, cut in half
5 cloves garlic
1 - 2 tsp kosher salt
2 tbs coriander seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
4 cups coconut water or juice from 2 fresh coconuts *
1 lemongrass, cut into pieces then smashed
1 sliced fresh galangal
2 -3 Indonesian bay leaf
canola oil for frying

Pound together garlic, coriander, and kosher salt into a smooth paste. Rub the hen pieces all over with this paste.

In a  shallow pan large enough to accomodate all hens add coconut water, turmeric lemongrass, galangal, and bay leaves, then arrange hen pieces in a single layer. Cook on medium heat about 35 to 45 minutes. Stir from time to time to ensure even cooking. Remove from the heat, transfer the hens onto a plate to cool completely.

When ready to serve, heat a skillet (iron skillet works best for me) over medium heat. Add about 3 to 4 tbs canola oil. When the oil is hot enough, carefully add the hen pieces. Since the hens are quite small, all four pieces will fit in a 12 inch skillet. Fry on both side until golden brown, about a minute or so depending on heat. Remove from the heat, place them on a cooling rack to drain all excess oil. Serve with steam rice, and simple saute vegetable. The addition of sambal (Indonesian chili sauce) is always delicious too.