NOODLE SOUP FOR THE SOUL

Noodles are the second most-consumed food in the world, and a staple in Chinese cuisine. Whether you slurp them, gulp them down, or twirl them with your chopsticks, everyone seems to love noodles.

The noodle recipes in Chinese cuisine can conveniently be divided into soup noodles, pot noodles, hot-gravy noodles, cold-gravy noodles, steamed noodles and stir-fried noodles.

In my family, my second daughter is the real noodle lover. She loves any kind of noodles but her favorite is the soup noodles. For her, there is no food quite so comforting than a bowl of hot noodle soup.

In Indonesia, the way most Chinese restaurants sell Chinese Noodles Soup is either in the form of dry seasoned noodles plus a separate hot soup or a noodle soup dish where they pour the hot soup into the noodle and then top with the meat and vegetables. I prefer the dry seasoned noodle with a separate soup.

One day I was inspired to try cooking Chinese noodles soup when I watched Chef in Black in Asian Food Channel. I did not follow all the details of the ingredients and method he used, but I have captured enough to figure it out myself how to make it. After finished with my first trial of cooking the Chinese noodle soup, I asked my daughter the noodle lover, to try it out and ….she liked it!

Here is my version of Chinese Noodle Soup.

Main basic ingredient:

• 1 pack of dry Chinese egg-noodles

• 
  
  A bunch of Choy Sum or Bok Choy

Meat Ingredients:

• 100 gram ground chicken meat mixed with 100 gram ground beef
• 50 gram of Shiitake mushroom and 100 gram of buttorn mushroom, cut into small pieces
• 4 cloves of crush garlic, chopped
• 1 cm ginger, grated
• 2-3 of green onion, chopped
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Seasoning Mix for the meat

• 1 tablespoon of sweet noodle sauce
• 1 teaspoon of Chinese rice wine
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
• A little bit of pepper

Cooking the Meat

• Heat oil in a wok and stir fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant
• Add the mixed ground meat and cook until crumbled
• Add the mushroom
• Add the seasoning mix and stir fry briskly
• Add the green onion

Cooking the vegetables

• On a high heat bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
• Immerse the Choy Sum or Bok Choy in the water for 1 around minutes
• Drain the water and cut the vegie in 5 cm length

Cooking the noodles

• On a high heat bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil.
• Immerse the noodle in the boiling water.
• Keep the water at a vigorous boil; the constant motion will prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan and each other.
• Cook the noodle just until al dente and drain the water
• Put the noodle in a large bowl and season with combined mixture of
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil.

Cooking the Soup

• Heat chicken broth in a high heat
• Add meat balls (if desired). Season with salt & pepper

In an individual bowl, put a bundle of noodles then add the meat and vegetables

Serve it together with the hot meatball soup

Stay Young and Juicy

An article in Jakarta Post caught my attention. Here is more or less what it said: “wake up with a cup of strong coffee to get a kick, instant noodle for breakfast, a pack of artificially seasoned chips for later of the day, thick lamb curry for lunch, a pack of cigarette all day long, drink till you drop on weekends and so it goes day after day, week after week”.

Sounds familiar?

Are you aware how much toxins have we accumulated in our body? how can we get rid of it all? Some say ‘try detox’ – from doing a three-day diet of just fruit and veggies to drinking detoxifying herbal milk or lemon juice every morning for a certain period.

Nutrition experts say that fresh fruit and vegetables have a significant role in replacing damaged body cells and cleansing our body of toxins from the residues of food we eat.

Health experts repeat the old rule: eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day. But a single glass of juice could actually do much more to promote your overall wellbeing.

Really?

My ‘love affair’ with fresh juice began about a year ago when I was having breakfast at Harvey Nichols Social House. I ordered one of the fresh juices listed on the drink menu. I forgot the name of the juice written on the list but I remember that it was a mix of fresh papaya, orange, carrot and lime. I have never tried such a mix before. When the drink was served and I tasted it….. wow it tastes so refleshing.

The next day I tried to make the mix myself. Here is my version of the mix.

Ingredients:

• 100 gram of ripe papaya, peeled and cut into small cubes
•   50 gram of carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes
•   10 oranges (I use Jeruk Pontianak – the type of juicy orange ), squeeze to get the juice of around 100 ml
• 100 ml of iced water
• 1 lime, cut into 2 and squeeze to get the juice

Method

• Put the papaya cubes, carrot cubes, the orange juice and the ice water in the blender
• Blend the mixture for around 3 minutes or until mix well.
• Pour the mix into a glass and sqeeze the lime juice into the mix.
• To give a kick, you may add 50 ml of Sprite Zero (optional).

Serve chilled.

Drink this juice each day and you'll  feel Young and Juicy everyday