garlic sesame noodles.

Sunday dinner. Garlic sesame noodles. Easy as apple pie.

Heat oil in a wok. Saute minced garlic and diced spring onions. Boil noodles in a pot with a dash of salt.

Add your favorite stir-fry vegetables. I had chopped cabbage, diced jalapenos and sliced mushrooms. Add a scrambled egg. Or two.

Add the boiled noodles to the wok and stir fry for several minutes. I like the brown-burnt parts on noodles.

In a bowl, mix together two tbsp soya sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar and one tbsp of sesame oil. Add a dash of salt.

Mix the sauce with the noodles and let the noodles soak up the sauce. Add a dollop of Sriacha for some heat.

Serve with sprinkled toasted sesame seeds. 

crab and shrimp noodles!

So, it's been a while since I've posted. Not that I have not been eating or cooking (less of the latter) but I've been internally debating between shutting this blog down and/or merging it with my regular everyday blog. However, all that changed when Rimi asked me for a recipe and I hastened to write this post, given that no one EVER asks me for a recipe -- actually that's not true at all, my apple crumble is a huge hit at all school events/ potlucks (thanks Mrs. Strock!) and Suzanne and Marcella did, in fact, ask for that particular recipes several times  -- but as it turns out that Rimi's comment was just the little push that this blog needed.

Any who, on to today's dish. Crab and shrimp noodles. It was inspired by a dish on Iron Chef America which is my favorite thing to watch on Sunday nights. Usually, the stuff they make on it is complicated and a tad too elaborate for my skill level but this one seemed doable in my kitchen and besides, it looked mad good.

So, let's start cooking! You will need boiled noodles, of course -- I had half a packet of glass noodles and half a packet of wide noodles languishing in my pantry so I did the sensible thing and boiled them together. Two eggs. Red and green peppers. I love red peppers but never buy them because they seem like an extravagant purchase but I found them at Talin for less than a dollar the other day and couldn't resist. Shrimp. Crab. Garlic, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, chilli sauce, soy sauce, red onions, spring onions, mushrooms and jalapenos. The last item can be adjusted according to your taste buds.

Okay, now lightly grease wok with a few drops of oil. Break egg and scramble. The chef on television did it wonderfully with a pair of chopsticks but I used the last pair of chopsticks from Taste of Thai to scratch my back while watching The Nanny reruns so I just did it the old fashioned way with a fork.

Throw in some diced onions, red/green peppers, mushrooms, spring onions, jalapenos and let it cook. Season with salt, pepper. Add some garlic paste, sprinkle red pepper flakes.

Last stretch now. Add the shrimp, sautee for a couple of minutes -- you don't wanna overcook the shrimp. I used pre-cooked, frozen shrimp, same thing with the crab. Drop the drained, boiled noodles. To kick up the taste notch a bit, add chilli sauce and soy sauce. I used my favorite Chinese sauce in a bottle -- very unimaginatively named Chinese Hot and Spicy Sauce -- from Talin. Mix everything together, let simmer for a  few minutes while the noodles soak up the sauce. Like everything else, serve hot! 

chilly-garlic beef-noodles.

Another attempt at making Chinese food for Sunday lunch. Very simplese.

Step One: Chop. Onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, spring onions, jalapenos, red chillies. Can I just say how excited I was to find red onions at the market? Red onions > white onions.

Step Two: Cube half pound of stir-fry beef.

Step Three: Boil noodles with salt, pepper and a dash of oil to prevent the noodles from sticking. Drain once tender.

Step Four: Heat oil in a skillet. Cook veggies. Cook beef.

Mr. Sachinky gives it a stir.

Step Five: Mix in some chilly-garlic sauce. I used the Lee Kum Kee variety and it was pretty good.

Step Six:  Mix in the noodles and let it cook together for a couple of minutes.

Om nom nom nom.

(indian) chinese chilly chicken

Even though Mr. Sachinky (who has now renamed himself as Mr. Tubby) and I are on a "diet," I thought that India's victory over Pakistan in the semi-finals deserved a good dinner. So I decided to make Chilly Chicken. The kind we get back home from the roadside locality restaurant. It's not really Chinese, more like, Indian-Chinese. Adjust the level of heat according to your taste-buds.

Gather ingredients: Chicken, flour, soya sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, honey, ketchup, spring onion, onion, green peppers, mushrooms, red chilly powder, jalapenos and vinegar. (Phew!)

Step One: Chop mushrooms, spring onions, onions, green peppers in large chunks.

Step Two: Marinate the cubed chicken in soya sauce, minced garlic, and a pinch of red chilli powder for half an hour.

Step Three: Dip the chicken in flour. Shake off the excess. (This is important. I did not do this thoroughly enough so it got a little soggy). Heat oil in a pan and (preferably, deep) fry the chicken till it browns.

Step Four: In a separate pan, heat oil and sautee the onions, jalapenos, bell pepper. I had mushrooms lying around in the refridgerator so I threw them in as well. But that's optional.

Step Five: Add beef/chicken broth. Add a spoon of soya sauce, vinegar, tomato ketchup, honey (or a dash of sugar). Salt and pepper for taste. Then add fried pieces of chicken of chicken to it.

Step Six: Let the chicken cook till the gravy thickens. Add spring onions as garnish.

I could've made some noodles as an accompaniment but I was way too hungry by then and it smelled so good. So legit, even. So we polished them off with tortillas.