So if you want to join the celebration at the table, here are some Asian noodle dishes. The preferable noodle is the longest: the cellophane mung bean noodle, equivalent of vermicelli, but I'm including recipes from all across Asia for differing noodles in case that's what you have handy.
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Tibetan Ping Sha (meat with cellophane noodles)
You can use Chinese mung bean noodles or the green bean noodle known as Sai Fun or Italian vermicelli in this clever dish where the noodles soak up all the stew juices so that it’s served on a plate as though it had been a braised dish.
Serves 4 as a main dish
2 oz. bean thread noodles
1 lb. stewing or grilling beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 lg. onion, peeled
2 tbsp. ginger/garlic paste
1 tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. crushed Szechuan pepper
1 lg. tomato
½ cup peas
4 boiling potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp. cooking oil (corn, canola, mustard, safflower)
Heat the oil in a medium casserole. Over medium heat sauté the ginger/garlic paste and the onion until the onion is translucent. Add the chili powder, Szechuan pepper and the beef and blend. Stir fry two-three minutes to brown the meat on all sides.
Chop the tomato and add along with two cups of water or enough to cover everything. Once it begins to boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes.
Put the Asian noodles in a large bowl and totally cover them with boiling water. Let stand 20 minutes. They will expand. Cook vermicelli according to package directions. Drain. Cut with a scissors two or three times to make them easier to handle.
Slice the potatoes into thin disks or cut them into bite-sized chunks. Add to the stew and continue to cook another 5 minutes.
Add the peas and salt, stirring to blend. Add another cup of water if necessary to have everything just covered. Simmer five minutes.
Stir in the noodles. Heat through. They will soak up the sauce. Serve.
This recipe is in Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking
serves 8
3/4 lb soba noodles (soba means buckwheat)
2 tbsp corn oil
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 lg garlic cloves, smashed and peeled into thin strips
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 lb Chinese long green beans or long Blue Lake or Kentucky Wonder green beans, uniformly cut into 1/2" pieces
1/4 c vegetable broth or water
1 bunch scallions, cleaned, split lengthwise and cut into 2" strips
10 oz med/lg shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced into thin strips
3 1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine or Japanese Mirin
1/4 c Tamari or soy sauce
Freshly chopped cilantro leaves for garnish
Cook the soba noodles according to package instructions, drain well and coat with 1 tbsp sesame oil.
In wok or sauté pan, heat the other tbsp and corn oil over medium heat. Lower heat, add pepper flakes and garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Don't burn the garlic! Add green beans, 1/4 c broth or water and stir fry over medium heat 1-2 minutes until liquid has evaporated. Add mushrooms, scallions and rice wine. Cover and cook 3 minutes until mushrooms are soft and shiny.Remove cover. Add soba and soy sauce and blend everything. Cook over low heat 90 seconds or until noodles are hot. Garnish with cilantro and serve immediately.
Vietnamese Garlic Noodles
serves 4-6
½ lb spaghetti
4 cups coarsely chopped fresh kale or Asian mustard green leaves (no stems)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
juice of ½ large lemon
1 tbsp butter
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.
While the spaghetti cooks, in a large sauté pan, heat butter and 3 tbsp olive oil. Add garlic and sauté for 60 seconds over medium low heat so the garlic doesn’t brown. Add black pepper and cheese and reduce heat to lowest setting.
Drain the cooked spaghetti well. Toss into the sauté pan and raise heat to medium low. Add the salt and lemon juice and toss the spaghetti to coat with the garlic and oil. Heat 30-60 seconds. Remove from heat and add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, blending it in to serve.
½ lb spaghetti
4 cups coarsely chopped fresh kale or Asian mustard green leaves (no stems)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp salt
juice of ½ large lemon
1 tbsp butter
6 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese
Cook spaghetti according to package instructions.
While the spaghetti cooks, in a large sauté pan, heat butter and 3 tbsp olive oil. Add garlic and sauté for 60 seconds over medium low heat so the garlic doesn’t brown. Add black pepper and cheese and reduce heat to lowest setting.
Drain the cooked spaghetti well. Toss into the sauté pan and raise heat to medium low. Add the salt and lemon juice and toss the spaghetti to coat with the garlic and oil. Heat 30-60 seconds. Remove from heat and add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil, blending it in to serve.
Burmese Ohno Khao Swé (spicy chicken and coconut noodle soup)
Serves 6 people as a main course.6 boneless breasts of chicken, cut into large bite sized pieces
2 tbsp corn, Canola or sunflower oil
1½ tbsp. red curry paste
3 cups coconut milk
1 tbsp. Garam Masala
½ tbsp turmeric
1 star anise or ½ tsp powder
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
1tsp ground cardamom or 3 crushed pods
2 cups chicken stock
½ tsp brown or raw sugar
¼ c fish sauce
About 6-7 (loosely packed) cups of boiled flat Chinese Bah-mi egg noodle or 20 oz flat rice stick noodles
1 tsp lime juice
Thinly sliced shallots (garnish), fried.
To garnish: 6 slivers of fresh lime, chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Optional: 1 cup pickled Chinese cabbage
Soak noodles to remove excess starch and drain. Cook noodles as per directions on package and set aside. Fry the garlic in a little extra oil until transparent.
In a heavy casserole or soup pot, heat oil and add the red curry paste, curry powder and turmeric. Cook stirring vigorously until the curry paste is fragrant—1-2 minutes. Be careful not to burn the paste.
Add 1 cup of coconut milk. Over med/high heat, let it come to a boil and bubble for a few minutes, stirring well, until the red oil separates from the coconut milk. Add another cup of coconut milk and wait until the oil separates.
Add garlic, chicken pieces, star anise, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom with chicken stock and the rest of the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, add fish sauce and simmer.
Cover the pot and simmer until the chicken is done, 4- 5 minutes. Check seasonings; you might need to add more fish sauce. The flavor should be a bit salty and spicy with a sweet aftertaste. It should be a bit saltier than what you would like the final dish to taste. Stir in lime juice and remove from heat.
Divide noodles between deep soup bowls. Pour the coconut chicken over the noodles. Garnish with fried shallots, cilantro leaves and a lime wedge. Optionally pickled cabbage.
Bhutanese Bumtang Putta (soba noodles with scrambled eggs and tomato)
serves 4
½ lb. buckwheat
noodles (soba)
1 lg. onion,
peeled
8 scallions,
roots off
2 tomatoes
1 poblano chili
pepper or 2 lg. jalapenos
fresh ground
black pepper
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. cooking
oil (corn, canola, safflower, mustard)
3 extra large
eggs
OPTIONAL: 1 tbsp.
unsalted butter
Boil the
buckwheat noodles in salted water until tender—usually 6 to 8 minutes. Drain.
Whisk eggs with ¼
tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper.
Coat the bottom of a 10” skillet with 1 tsp. oil and heat on
medium. Pour in the eggs and form a
pancake, tilting the skillet so uncooked egg runs to the side or underneath the
cooked egg. Once you have a solid pancake, turn it out onto a cutting board.
Slice it into thin strips.
Chop the onion
coarsely. Chop the tomatoes. Seed the
pepper(s) and slice into thin strips. Slice the scallions into thin strips.
Put another 2
tsp. of oil in the skillet and heat on medium. Add the onion and pepper and
stir fry until soft and lightly browned—about 3-4 minutes. Add the scallions and tomato, stirring to
blend. Cook until the tomato has softened,
another 3 minutes.
Lower heat. Add
the egg strips, noodles and ¾ tsp. salt and toss all ingredients in the skillet
while heating thoroughly. Remove from heat. Garnish with fresh ground black
pepper and, optionally, shave on the yak cheese or stir in the butter.
and finally, the original ultra symbolic noodle dishChinese Buddha's Delight
recipe and explanation of symbolic meaning of every ingredient in
Veggiyana The Dharma of Cooking
1 1/2 tbsp corn oil
1 cube fermented red bean
curd (Fu Shung) or 1 tsp miso paste
as an easier to find alternative
2 oz tofu (extra firm is
best, pressed is better, sticks are most authentic), cut into thin strips
1 oz wood ear or shitake
mushrooms (whichever you can find; soak any that are dried)
3/4 cup soaked golden needles
(lily buds), soaked overnight
½ dozen peeled gingko nuts or
raw, shelled peanuts
10 snow peas, cleaned
10 water chestnuts, drained
from the can and halved
1/3-1/2 cup bamboo shoots
any one of the following
(depending on what you can find):
1/4 cup jujubes (red Chinese dates), soaked
overnight and pitted
1/3 cup black Chinese moss (fat choi), soaked overnight
1 sm lotus root, peeled and sliced into
thin disks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin disks
6.5-7 oz cellophane noodles
(depending on how they are packaged), soaked in boiling water for two minutes
and drained just before you start
2 tbsp soy sauce, or more to
your taste
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice cooking wine or
vinegar
Do not throw away any of the
soaking waters. Combine them.
Have all ingredients ready to
throw into the wok or skillet. Arrange them on a large platter.
Heat oil in a wok or large
skillet over a hot flame. Add fermented bean curd or hoisin sauce and stir to
blend. Fry tofu strips for one minute to crisp them.
Add mushrooms, lily buds,
nuts, snow peas, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots and whichever of the three
final ingredients you chose. Stir-fry for one minute.
Add noodles and ½ cup of the
soaking water. Try to separate the noodles and blend into the other
ingredients. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes, adding soaking water in ¼ cup increments as
needed to nothing sticks or burns. The
steam from the water is also necessary for fast cooking.
Add soy sauce, sesame oil and
vinegar, stirring to blend. Continue to stir-fry 1-2 minutes, making sure there
is always some liquid in the bottom of the pan.
Remove from heat and serve.
Nontraditionally, you can
garnish with chopped fresh cilantro leaves and or grated ginger.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
GONG HAY FAT CHOI
LOSAR TASHI DELEK
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