Learning said:
Hello, I am VERY new to cooking I have lived with my dad my whole life and have barely cooked anything that takes over 10 minutes. My girlfriend is asian annd I've been to her house and eaten some of their homecooked noodles and they are so good, so I would like to learn how to do it too.
Asian is a very general term, used for the people of every country from India to Iran, to China, Japan, Korea, Viet Nam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, the Pilipines, and Indonesia, just to name a few of the major Asian countries. Are you interested in any one particular country's cuisine, or any one type of noodle? There are several different types of noodles, made from rice, wheat, and soy, among the most popular, and rice noodles used in Pilipino cooking differ greatly from the rice noodles used in Thai cuisine.
I'll supply one of my favorite ethnic noodle dishes from the Pilipines, called Pansit Bihon, and an Asian Fusion recipe that I developed myself, based on Cashew Chicken. These are made with rice noodles, but with the Pansit, you can substitute chow mein style wheat noodles, and the dish is then called Pansit Canton. When you're ready for a more advanced noodle dish, let me know and I'll give you my Pansit Palabok recipe, which is a bit more complicated than Bihon or Canton.
One thing you need to know about Pilipino cuisine is that every Pilipino/Pilipina has their own recipe for every popular dish, and they're almost always different.
PANSIT BIHON
Ingredients:
- 1 pkg rice noodles
- 2 Tbs peanut oil
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 pound pork, cut into cubes
- 1/2 pound shrimp, cleaned, peeled
- 1/2 pound chicken livers
- 1/4 cup lite soy sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 2 small carrots, shredded
- 1 cup peas
- 1 small head of cabbage, shredded
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 green onions, sliced on the bias
Procedure:
In a sauté pan or heavy Dutch oven, brown garlic and onions. Add pork, chicken livers, and shrimp. Add soy sauce and chicken stock and simmer for five minutes. Add carrots, peas, and cabbage and stir to combine.
Place rice noodles in strainer inside a large pot and pour boiling water over top until pot is filled. Wait five minutes, then remove strainer from pot and allow rice noodles to drain. Add rice noodles to sauté pan and combine. Place Pansit on serving platter or bowl and garnish with green onions and celery. Sprinkle with ground black pepper. This is a one-dish meal.
CHEF CAINE'S CASHEW CRUSTED CHICKEN
4 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/2 pkg Mee Krob or bihon (rice noodles)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup peanut oil
1/4 cup oyster sauce
2 Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp white pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp minced onion
1 tsp crushed chili peppers
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp salt
1Tbs corn starch dissolved in 2 Tbs water
1 cup flour
2 eggs beaten with 1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 cups finely crushed cashews
1 bunch scallions
1 mango, shredded
1 red bell pepper, julienned
Combine orange juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, peanut oil, oyster sauce, brown sugar, white pepper, garlic, onion, chili peppers, minced ginger, and salt in bowl and marinate pounded chicken breasts for 2 hours. Remove chicken breasts from marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Reserve marinade.
Place rice noodles in strainer inside bowl and fill bowl with boiling water. Pour marinade into pot, add cornstarch mixture, and heat in saucepan until thickened.. Dredge chicken in flour, egg mixture, then crushed cashews. Fry coated chicken in 4 Tbs peanut oil until done, turning once. Remove strainer from bowl to drain noodles, then divide on 4 individual plates. Place one chicken breast on each bed of rice noodles. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with mango, scallion, and bell pepper.