Ebiko Noodles With Haricot Verts, Prawns and Shiitake Mushrooms

Today, I'm going to blog about wheat noodles because someone in the family asked me why Asians ate so much rice! Breakfast was Nasi Lemak (Coconut Rice with Eggs/Anchovies Sambal, etc), Fried Rice, Porridge/Congee. Lunch was rice... Claypot Rice, Fried Rice (again!), Char Koay Teow (that flat white noodles is made from rice too!). Dinner is Hainanese Chicken Rice, Claypot Rice, Banana Leaf Rice (no, no, no... we don't eat the banana leaves but Indian food serve on the leaves like plates-no need to clean up later on!), Crab Porridge, Duck Koay Chiap... ok, the lots! Now, come to think of it... indeed I ate lots of rice (gasp! horror!) Fine... just want to point out that Rice is so versatile that it can be made into many eatable items. I'm not going to forgo my Paella, Nasi Lemak, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Briyani Rice, Sushi, Risotto, Mochi or Kheer, ok! :-P Click the link if you want to know more info about Rice. Now, back to the topic...

I was at the local Asian Supermarket one day to discover hidden among the variety of dried noodles displayed on the shelves, there was a stack of dark red colored plastic packages printed in bold black letters 'Prawn Egg Noodle' on it. We bought and ate noodles either fresh or dried, made with rice (yes, rice again) and the usual cereals or grains like wheat, durum wheat semolina, buckwheat, eggs, puréed vegetables or seafood like handcrafted specialties using Prawns, Nero di Seppia (Squid Ink), Carrot, Spinach and even chocolate! My mind made up that this pack was just like any other dried Prawn Egg Noodles in market... but there's something about that package that caught my eyes (or is it instinct?). So, what is so special with this noodle? Look at the photos below and tell me what you see...

See those little reddish bits? It's Prawn Eggs or Ebiko! I wonder how this company made that... but I DID tasted the ebiko bits after the noodle was cooked :-) What I could think of was the ebiko was dried first (or the Ebiko would burst during mixing!) and added later to the dough. Made into thin strands of noodle, bundled/moulded and dried again before packaging.

I did tried to find more information about this dried noodle but I'm lost in translation with what's the ingredients printed on the back of package in solid red and black! I tried to look for more info about this noodle but found nothing close to the description... so, I called it Ebiko Noodle for this dish instead of Prawn Eggs Noodle to avoid confusion :-D

Update:

A helpful foodie Food-4Tots, pointed out that the Ebiko is known as Shrimp Roe which I finally found some info about this Shrimp Egg Noodle-not much but some explanation of its origin.

Ebiko Noodle With Haricot Verts, Prawns and Shiitake Mushrooms

Serves 4

4 bundles/pcs of Dried Ebiko Noodles

300 g Prawns ~ heads removed and deveined (reserved the heads/shells for making stock later on*)

150 g Haricot Vert (French bean) ~ washed and tough vein removed

150 g Shiitake Mushrooms (fresh) ~ cleaned and sliced

3 cloves Garlic - minced

Generous amount of Shaoxing Wine

Some Spring Onion (scallion) for garnish

1 litre Prawn Stock*

Seasoning:

2 Tbl Premium Oyster Sauce

1 Tbl Soy Sauce

½ tsp Sugar

Salt & Pepper to taste

Thickening:

2 Tbl Cornflour

80 ml Water

Method:

1. Slice the Haricot Vert (French Bean) into bite size. You can use other seasonal vegetables available locally. Sliced the cleaned Shiitake mushrooms.

If using Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, soak them with warm water to soften before using. Set aside.

Prepare a large pot of water, enough to boil the dried noodles. Bring it to boil (or at least half boil) before you start the stir-frying as this dish is fast cooking!

2. In a hot deep pan or wok, add in some cooking oil. Add in the garlic and give it a quick stir to avoid burning.

3. Add in Haricot Vert (French Beans), Shiitake Mushrooms follow by the Prawns.

4. Next, in the Seasoning and give them an even quick stir. Add generous amount of Shaoxing Wine!

5. Pour the Prawn Stock into the pan and let it simmer for few minutes.

6. While the gravy is simmering, boil the dried noodles until cooks. Strain the water off and put them into serving bowls or deep plates.

7. Before serving, heat up the gravy and pour in the Thickening ingredients (stir the cornflour mixture before adding in). Stir the gravy until it thickens.

8. Pour the thickened gravy on the boiled noodles. Garnish with spring onions and serve hot.

Note:

You can do this recipe with 2 ways. First method as in this recipe if you want to serve fast to hungry mouths or unexpected guests. The other method will be cooking the stock with the thickener separately from the seafood and vegetables.

Boil the dried noodles or pasta first. Arrange the seafood and vegetables on noodle and pour the hot thickened gravy on it.This way, you can prepare in advance if you have more than 4 diners :-D

~ Extra ~ Extra ~ Extra ~

Making Prawn Stock*

Making prawn stock is a good way to use ingredients that would otherwise discard. If you are using prawns in other dishes such as noodles, the heads and shells are normally removed and thrown away. However, they could be used again to make prawn stock which is an excellent sauce to use in various dishes. Once made, prawn stock can be stored in the fridge for about 2-3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.

1 Portion of reserved Prawn heads/shells (from 500 g medium-sized prawns)

1 Tbl Cooking Oil

2 slices Ginger

1 clove Garlic ~ minced

1 stalk Spring onion ~ cut into 4 portions

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

1. Heat a pot or wok. When it's hot, add in the cooking oil.

2. Add the minced Garlic and Ginger. Stir until it's fragrant.

3. Add in prawn heads/shells and give a good stir. After few minutes, add in Spring onion, water, sugar and salt.

4. Bring the mixture to a boil for about few minutes. Then turn the heat down to a simmer for another 20 min-30 min.

5. Let the stock cools down. Strain the mixture ~ separate solids from the juice. Use as needed.

Enjoy!

Baked Pork With 3 Mushrooms

It's been quite hectic days lately for me. I tried to cook some quick meals for the family and made sure that there's at least once a week, we eat home cooked meals. It's fun not to wash pots and plates but in the long run, I felt bored with the eateries' menus... :-P Talk about being fussy LOL! Don't you ever said to yourself that what you ate at the restaurants, you can cook it at home too? In current economy situation, it's time for us to make efforts being frugal. So, let's make use those 3 ingredients or 4 ingredients cooking books hidden away gathering dust in the cabinet :-P I had one book like that and recently I added a new one to my collection.

This recipe is one of the ideas of using what's left in your pantry and fridge. I nearly forgot that I froze a pack of pork shoulder meat (among others in the freezer) and some mushrooms left from previous cooking hence the 3 types of mushrooms I used in this recipe. At first, I thought it's weird and not sure how the dish will taste like especially the strong flavoured Shiitake mushrooms. Will it over powered the other mild mushrooms? My family liked it very much but let me know your feedback ;-)

Baked Pork With 3 Mushrooms

Serves 2-3

100 g Enoki Mushrooms (Golden Mushrooms)

2-4 White Button Mushrooms

2 Shiitake Mushrooms

½ Red Onion

2 cloves Garlic

200 g Pork Shoulder (or any tender chicken meat)

Seasonings:

1 tbsp Rice Wine

1 tbsp Dark Soya Sauce

1 tbsp Oyster Sauce

1 tbsp Cornstarch

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Sugar

¼ tsp Black Pepper

Method:

1. Rinse or wipe fresh mushrooms from grits. Remove any discolored parts or hard stems and cut into shreds. Rinse the Enoki mushrooms and cut off tail-ends. Peel and slice garlic and red onion.

2. Preheat oven at 200 ºC. (For those who have oven with higher set of temperature than stated, preheat oven to 250ºC.)

3. Rinse meat thoroughly ad cut into bite size pieces. Marinate with seasonings for 20-30 minutes. Transfer into a ovenproof casserole and top with all the sliced ingredients.

3. Cover with aluminum foil and transfer to preheated oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender to your preference. (If your oven's at 250ºC, bake the dish for 20 minutes.)

4. Remove aluminum foil and serve.

Note: If you don't have an oven, this recipe can be cook in a heavy pot on stove as well. Besides pork, you can also use chicken like fillets, thighs and breast meats. Serve this recipe with rice or noodles of your choice. I tried it 'dry' and as soup on cooked yellow noodles (with extra water added to the gravy)- it turned out surprisingly tasty too. I also add extra sliced spring onions, julienned carrot and red chillies as garnishing as you can see in the picture. Actually, I separated the recipe into halves because I have a guest who's not a fan of chillies (it made him upset stomach.) With the other half I added extra chopped chillies, julienned carrot and lots of sliced spring onions. Mixed it all up nicely, just before serving. It's yummy that way for me! Tell me what you think...

Enjoy!

~ Tagged: 7 Facts About Myself ~

I was tagged by CK Lam recently which is the 1st time for me since I started blogging. Frankly, I'm quite confused about this meme and tag thingies. It's like a kind of confession about yourself and since it's nearly end of the year, perhaps this tag may help me for my new resolutions! I also received few requests from those I tagged before though. It's no obligation and feel free to pass my tag(s) :-)

1. My 1st lesson in cookery was frying an omelette at age of 9.

2. I never owned Barbie Doll... I don't know why I don't have interest like some of my neighbourhood girls about Barbie. Maybe the price or I'm not blonde and skinny... :-D

3. I love books... My favourite... science, thriller, children's stories of magical world, Art & History, Famous Five, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Sherlock Holmes, 3 Investigators, languages ... the lots! Plus board games like Mastermind, Othello/Reversi, Congkak ( a version of Mancala) and many more...

4. I have phobias of swimming (no, no, no, not because of JAWS!) and driving. I need to troubleshoot the later though...

5. I love travelling... the most memorable event was flying in the Swiss Alps. I felt so timid, speechless and at awed the wonders of Mother Nature created. At the same time, my soul was peaceful thousands of feet above sea level looking down at the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc.

6. My best working life was seeing my design on TV worn by Silver Medalist in Men's Single Table Tennis in XXV Olympic Games in Barcelona. I followed the player and created the sportswear collection until I retired in 1998... LOL

7. I need to do 'fridge cleaning' (a term given by Food4tots) more often then I'm doing now :-P

Simple Fresh Mushroom Soup

I'd been busy these few days, arranging some trips with my family for this June. Due to this, I'd been neglecting a bit my fridge... I discovered yesterday that I still have some mushrooms tucked nicely in brown bags! I had to think of solution not to waste this precious fungi collection. Further discovery, I still have 1 small carton of crème fraîche and packet of parsley unopened. It was raining really heavily since early morning and temperature dropped to 24ºC which is cosy for a tropical climate ( yeah, I'm back in my hometown for awhile... :-P ) I love to watch rain pours at the sea from my balcony and the only thing I could think of in such weather is 'soup'.... mushroom soup it shall be! Is a simple soup (not as elaborate as restaurants) and for me it's a hearty meal with fresh bread plus hot coffee in the morning... errrr... in this case I think I should said 'brunch' :-D 

I like making soup in large quantity so that I can freeze them for other days. If my elderly neighbour's around I pack the soup in several servings for her so she could have it whenever she wants. She lost one of her legs to diabetes last year and have difficulties to go to market without someone chauffeured her... :-( When my family have the time, we will take her out for dinner or lunch and to the fresh market. She's a very good cook and I learnt quite a lot from her as well.

Simple Fresh Mushroom Soup

(serves 2-4 portions)

A Selection of Mushrooms of your choice:

Cut off the hard portion of mushrooms and wipe off any grits on them. Slice mushrooms to small pieces. This is what leftovers I had but you can use any amount you fancy...

100 g Grey Oyster (Abalone) Mushrooms

50   g Bunapi Shimeiji Mushrooms

60   g Shiitake Mushrooms

100 g Enoki Mushrooms

1 large Red Onion - finely chopped

2 Tbl Italian Flat Parsley - finely chopped  for garnish

300 ml Chicken stock or more

Some Fresh Thyme-remove leaves from the stalk as required

1 Bay Leaf

Salt & Black Pepper to taste

Some Flour - for thickening the soup

Some Butter - In this recipe I used 30 g of butter

Crème Fraîche

Tools: A handheld blander

Method:

1. Combine 200 ml of chicken stock with 1 Tbl of flour until well mix. You can add more flour if you like thicker soup. Set aside. You will use the rest of the chicken stock according to the thickness you preferred later on.

2. Sauté onion in butter in a pot (or saucepan) until clear and slightly browned. Add thyme, bay leaf and sliced fresh mushroom mix. Covered & Simmered for 10 - 15 minutes or until mushrooms slightly wilted. Remove the bay leaf. Reserve 1-2 cups of the cooked mushrooms.

3. Stir the stock and flour mixture. Pour into pot, stirring until it thickened. Using a handheld blender (or any blender you own) - blend to the consistency you like. I like mine smoother in this recipe.

4. Stir in the fresh cream to your taste. Add in the extra stock until it reached your required thickness & creaminess. Simmer for 1 minute. Do not boil.

5. Dish into serving bowls and add some of the reserved cooked mushroom. Sprinkle some chopped parsley and a dash of fresh cream (if you like... :-D).

Note: If you don't like that creamy (or weight conscious), you can use fresh/low-fat milk instead of fresh cream but adjust the stock you add in as well.

You can add in about some dry white wine or dry sherry and croutons to give that extra ooomph! 

Shiitake No Nimono (Shiitake Simmered in Soya Sauce)

Ok... I know I'm a bit mushroom crazy this week but I can't help to share those lovely fungi with foodie friends! When you got the chance to buy them at half-price and with extra added to the box, the temptation's to great to be missed... :-D

One of my favourite mushrooms is definitely Shiitake, either fresh or dried. It's a must-have ingredients in Asian cooking mainly in Chines

e and Japanese kitchens. You can cook them just like fresh ones and still maintained its shapes. Another good reason to have dried Shiitake at hand is to make stock with the liquid after soaking the dried mushrooms. I like to add some of it and the strained liquid as well in mushroom soup - just a bit will do to give that pungent mushroomy flavour.

A interesting remark from my Japanese friend is that they preferred dried shiitake better than fresh ones. In Japan it's very expensive compared to fresh Shiitake. Dried Shiitake has more concentrated and superior flavour. I totally agreed with them!

Have a try on dehydrated mushrooms snacks that comes in plain/natural flavour or with wasabi added. It's sooooo yummy!

Shiitake No Nimono

6-8 Large Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

375 ml Dashi II or Konbu Dashi II (recipes below)

2 Tbl Mirin

2 Tbl Sake

2 Tbl Japanese Soya Sauce

1 Tbl Dark Brown Sugar

1. Soak shiitake mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain well. Discard the stems.

2. Combine the dashi, mirin, sake, soya sauce and sugar in a small pan over high heat. Stir the mixture until sugar has dissolved. Bring to boil.

3. Add the shiitake. Bring it to boil again and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 1 hour or until the liquid almost evaporated.

4. Serve warm or at room temperature as side dish, part of multicourse, snack or over rice. You can use it in cawan mushi or with noodles - slice thinly or quartered.

Serves 4-6 portions.

Note: I usually reserved the liquid after soaking shiitake. You can use it for this dish to get that rich concentrated flavour which I did or add into your favourite mushroom soup recipes. Just remember to filter/sieve the liquid.

Itadikimasu!

: Making of Dashi Stocks :

For Dashi II

10 cm (4 in) square of konbu

20 g (1 cup) katsuoboshi (bonito flakes)

1. Wipe konbu with a damp cloth but don't rub off the white powdery substance that will become obvious as it dries. Cut the konbu into strips.

2. Place konbu & 1.5 L (6 cups) cold water into a saucepan and slowly bring it to boil. Quickly add 60 ml (1/4 cup) cold water to stop the boiling process. Add the bonito flakes. Allow it to boil again and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

3. Allow the bonito flakes to sink to the bottom of pan. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve. This stock is ready for stews and thick soups. 

Makes 1 L (about 4 cups)

For Konbu Dashi

15 cm (6 in) square piece of konbu

1. For Konbu Dashi I, cut konbu into strips and place them in a saucepan with 1.5 L cold water. Bring to boil, then remove the konbu.

2. For Konbu Dashi II, leave the konbu in the pan, reduce to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes longer.

Makes about 1.5 L (5 cups)