Delicious Super Fast Noodles

Instant noodles are sold in all supermarkets nowadays. I think most people have got their favourite brands and flavour. When I first started learning how to cook, I was taught by mum to cook instant noodles without using the packet of ingredients that come with it. No MSG.

Boil the instant noodles

If you do not wish to be wasteful, you can actually buy a larger packet of instant noodles which does not come with any flavour. These noodles can be cooked in a variety of ways - in soup, stir-fried and even dried style, which I shall show you shortly.

This recipe is a very basic recipe and there are no accompanying ingredients. You can add them on your own eg. fried egg, sausages, blanched vegetables, etc. It’s all up to you. Use your creativity, ya? Tell me if you like this recipe or not. My 3 year old daughter loves it!

This is my recipe for Super Fast Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 piece dried instant noodles
• Water to boil

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil

Method

Place seasoning on a plate.

Boil instant noodles in water for 3 minutes till cooked. Remove and drain and mix well with the seasoning. Serve immediately.

Ingredients

• 100 grammes sugar snap peas (about 20 pieces, remove tip and fibre which runs across the pod)
• 8 pieces of baby corn (sliced lengthwise to quarters)
• Carrots (sliced - amount to your desire)
• 5 pieces chinese dried mushrooms (pre-soaked till soft)
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon cooking oil (palm oil preferred)
• 30 ml of water or more
• Corn starch (prepared using 1 tablespoon of corn flour mixed with 5 tablespoons of water)
  

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• salt to taste
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine

Method

Heat oil in wok and stir fry the garlic together with the mushrooms till garlic begins to brown. Add baby corn and carrots and continue to stir fry for another 30 seconds while adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

Add seasoning and semi-cover vegetables with warm water and close lid to allow vegetables to cook. Periodically check for drying out. After about 1 1/2 minutes or when gravy almost dried out, add sugar snap peas and another 3 tablespoons of water, stir well and close lid again. Sugar snap peas are done when the pod is breaking and has turned darker green in colour. Add a little bit of corn starch is gravy is too runny for your liking.

Serve hot with white rice.

Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus

I like eating beancurd / tofu very much and this is one of the dishes I usually choose when I have economy rice at the food stalls. Tofu comes in many forms - firm, soft, with egg, etc. Japanese tofu is usually very smooth in texture and rather soft to the touch. One of the most common Japanese tofu available is the ones sold in tubes.

Japanese Tofu

These tofus usually has eggs as one of the ingredients and it is slightly salty to taste rather than neutral. Bearing in mind that it is already “tasty” on its own, the gravy should not be overpowering in taste. Otherwise, you would have missed out on the tofu’s original taste.

Pre-fried Japanese Tofu lined on the plate before the gravy is poured over it

In this recipe, I have cooked a gravy based on finely cut mushrooms (dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms to be exact) and wood-ear fungus. I also throw in some julienned carrots for a contrast in colour as well as to provide natural sweetness to the gravy. The crunchiness of the wood-ear fungus and the smooth smoky taste of the mushrooms provide an interesting biting experience. I ran out of spring onions when I was cooking this dish but you may wish to throw in some for added colour as well.

This is my recipe for Japanese Tofu with Braised Mushrooms and Wood-Ear Fungus

Ingredients

• 2 tubes of Japanese Tofu (slice across the tube in the middle using a very sharp knife, gently push the tofu out onto a plate. Cut the tofu into 1.5 - 2 cm thickness)
• 2 - 3 pieces wood-ear fungus (pre-soak in water to soften it and thereafter, cut into thin strips)
• 4 - 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (pre-soaked and thereafter cut into thin strips)
• 50 grammes of carrot (julienned)
• 50 - 100 grammes minced meat (pork or chicken) - optional
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• Oil for deep frying
• 1 cup water / stock
• Corn starch (prepared using 2 tablespoons corn flour mixed with 4 tablespoons water)

Marinade (for minced meat)

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoons chinese cooking wine

Method

Marinade the minced meat for 30 minutes.

Deep fry the tofu on high heat till golden brown. (Tip: Place cut tofu on plate and dust / sprinkle 3 teaspoons of corn flour to lightly coat the tofu before frying. The tofu will turn out crispy on outside). Remove and line on plate.

Use 1 1/2 tablespoons of the oil previously used for deep-frying and heat it up in a wok. Fry the garlic with minced meat till minced meat is cooked. If no minced meat is used, fry the garlic with wood-ear fungus and mushrooms on medium heat till garlic browns. Add carrots and stir-well. Add oyster sauce, water and close lid to bring to boil. Once boiled, reduce to medium low heat to simmer for 5 minutes and add salt to taste. (The longer your simmer, the better tasting the gravy will be). Add cornstarch gradually to thicken gravy to your desire.

Pour gravy over the pre-fried tofu and serve hot with rice.

Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin with Enoki Mushroom

I like to eat enoki mushrooms. They are also known as “kim cham” mushrooms (meaning golden needles in hokkien) as they are longish with a small cap. These mushrooms are sometimes added to soups like Bak Kut Teh and commonly used in Japanese cooking. The stems have a crunchy bite despite it being rather thin and needle-like in appearance. It has a mild and delightful flavour and compliments well with meat dishes.

Enoki Mushroom

I usually cook enoki mushrooms with meat, pork tenderloins to be exact. You can substitute the meat with chicken breasts. The enoki mushrooms are added in towards the end of the cooking time as too much cooking will render the stems tough and stringy.

This is my recipe for Stir-Fried Pork Tenderloin with Enoki Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 200 grammes of pork tenderloins (sliced thinly)
• 1 packet of enoki mushrooms (cut off and discard the bottom of the cluster of mushrooms and gently rinse them to remove any dirt)
• 1/2 piece of carrot (julienned) - for added colour to the dish
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons of cooking oil (preferably palm oil)
• 50 ml of warm water
• Corn starch (prepared using 1 tablespoon of corn flour mixed with 5 tablespoons of water)

Marinade

• 1 tablespoon of light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour

Seasoning

• 3/4 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon of chinese cooking wine
• Salt

Method

Marinade pork tenderloin for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok on high heat and stir-fry the garlic till beginning to brown. Add pork tenderloin and carrots and stir-fry till meat is almost cooked. Add oyster sauce and salt to taste followed by water and bring gravy to boil. Then add the enoki mushrooms and chinese cooking wine and stir well for 30 seconds.

If it is too dry to your liking, add a little bit more warm water. If the gravy is too runny, add a tablespoon of corn starch at a time.

Serve hot with steaming white rice.