Asian food obsession: continued

I´ve never liked the Asian bistros and fast food crap that you can find in the streets, basically everywhere you look. Everything I can think of when I smell fumes emanating from the opened windows when I walk by is burned oil. No offense to those who like to pop into such establishments after a long day of work in order to get something quick into the stomach and avoid spending too much time in the kitchen when the only thing you can think about is a hot bath and bed.

Despite of all this, I was always fascinated by the cuisine of Asian cultures. Every time I saw someone preparing their food in TV, I listened carefully and took notes. Too much notes, to be honest. Recently I tried the Ramen soup and was surprised how easy it was to prepare, basically in no time at all. What´s more, I was amazed what fresh and raw vegetables could do with your taste buds. And that´s when it all started. I began to improvise and prepare numerous Asia-inspired meals and last week I stumbled upon Ramen noodles in a nearby supermarket. Immediately I thought about noodles with stir-fried vegetables and their original taste I was never able to replicate. Suddenly, the pack of noodles magically appeared in my shopping cart and I know what my next mission would be. And let me tell you, I figured it all out! The taste! Oh, my mouth is watering just from the thought of it J

What you need:

•         carrot, cut into thin pieces
•          green paprika, cut into thin pieces
•          bean sprouts
•          cabbage or lettuce
•          leek or onion
•          crushed dried chilli or thinly sliced fresh chilli
•          Ramen noodles
•          garlic, thinly sliced
•          soy sauce
•          rice vinegar (or a regular white vinegar)
•          hot sauce (or Sriracha sauce)
•          oil
•          salt (and pepper if preferred) 

All you need to do is start with a pot of boiling water in which the noodles need to be cooked for four or five minutes. After they are nice and soft (but not overcooked), transfer them into a bowl with ice-cold water and leave them there for a while. Then start with a super-hot pan and a splash of oil. First, add the carrots, bean sprouts and cabbage since these three ingredients take longer to cook. When they are half-done, add your leek and crushed chilli. After a while, add the garlic. Stir it on a high heat and when you start to smell the garlic, push the vegetables to one side of the pan and let the egg cook on the other half. Let the egg white cook until it´s ready and then pop the runny yolk and crush the whole egg with your spoon. Mix it with the rest of the ingredients on the pan, drain the noodles and add them to the pan. Also, add a splash of soy sauce, vinegar, hot sauce and salt and mix it all together. And voilà! Your noodles are all done and ready to be consumed J

Now the noodles are a full blown meal on its own, but if you want to spice it up (not really, just metaphorically, you know) you can serve it with my special deep-fried chicken on top. How to prepare it, you ask? Simple. All you need is a boned chicken thigh, preferably with the skin still on, because the skin will make it super crispy.  Dry it with a paper towel, cut it to pieces or leave it be, the choice is yours. Sprinkle it with a mixture of corn starch, sweet or smoked paprika, salt and pepper and deep-fry it. Really, it´s that simple.

I hope you like my second Asian cuisine-inspired blog post. If you want to share your take on the noodles with me, please don´t hesitate and do so in the comment section under the article. I can´t wait to read it J

Until next time,
čauko, Lenka.