Happy Birthday with Crock Pot Chicken Pho

Happy Birthday S!  It's my younger sister's birthday today, another year to add to her late twenties.  Ever since I can remember, my family holds a strong tradition for birthdays and eating noodles.  For a long, long life of the birthday family member, we must congregate and eat noodles the day (or a few) before a birthday.  It's a big "no no" if the noodles are eaten the day of or after a birthday!.  As an avid noodle-lover such as myself, I have no complaints about this particular family tradition.

There are also other rules to the tradition, such as while eating the noodles, one must not chew off and break the noodle strand in order to ensure a long and wonderful life.  Or if a family member is elsewhere and cannot join the noodles dinner, then that member must try their very best to eat noodles on the same day.  Over the years, the tradition of birthday noodles also turned into a strict set of menu.  The birthday member typically has a choice of 3 different types of noodles: Za Zang Mien, Lian Mien aka Cold Noodles (if you have a birthday in the summertime), and Beef Noodle Soup, as explained here.

However for this birthday, I volunteered (or was I commanded by S?!) to make birthday noodles for the entire family.  I wanted to change things up and Chicken Pho instantly came to mind.  To be honest, this is really just another excuse to use my handy-dandy crock pot.  I put all the ingredients together and turned on the crock pot to high on an early Sunday afternoon, and by that evening, my kitchen was filled with the distinct smell of pho, which was all worth the wait.

Slow-Cooked Chicken Pho with BBQ Chicken
Chicken Pho from Jaden Hair of SteamyKitchen for Bon Appetit

Optional Ingredients:
- 2 stalks green onions, finely chopped
- Hoisin sauce
- Sriracha hot sauce

A few tips...
...I used parts from a whole chicken - chicken wings, gizzards (except for liver), and the entire chicken body after separating the breasts, legs, and excess skin.  Since you are just cooking the broth, save the good parts for something else and use as much as the miscellaneous parts as you can.  I used the chicken breasts for the BBQ Chicken portion of this recipe.
...I did not use whole coriander seeds because after I had put all the ingredients in the crock pot, I realized I did not have this ingredient.  I made beef pho before so I thought I had all the spices, but apparently, chicken pho is a little different.  Even without the coriander seeds, it still turned out tasty.
...for my crock pot size and amount of water, it took 5 1/2 hours to cook the broth.  The longer, the better.
...remember to salt your broth when it's close to done.  The recipe doesn't include any salt but to have a tasty bowl of pho, use salt!

BBQ Chicken adapted from Vietnamese BBQ Pork Salad, Savory Sweet Life

Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 Tbsp of olive oil
- 2/3 cup sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 onion, roughly chopped

Steps
1. Combine ingredients except for chicken and onions in a bowl.  Put bowl in microwave and ensure all the sugar melts.

2. Place chicken and onions bowl and marinate for at least 1 hour.

3. Grill chicken breasts over medium heat and cook until done.  Let chicken sit for about 5 minutes and cut into slices.

When the broth and BBQ chicken are done, assemble pho with soup, noodles, BBQ chicken slices, bean sprouts, sliced onions, green onions, and cilantro.  Pair with hoisin sauce and Sriracha hot sauce.

Serves 4-6.

Fishy Noodles

I feel adventurous lately, and it's paying off!  Fish roe has become a new favorite item for me, and I really enjoy eating Japanese-style pasta every now and then.  I usually only get Japanese pasta at the restaurants, but when I saw easy sauce packs at the local Japanese supermarket, I had to give it a try.  Adding a couple of little twists, I use udon noodles instead and added some green peas.  The end result?  The hubby approves.

Spicy Mentaiko Udon

Ingredients
- 1 pack S&B Spicy Cod Roe Spaghetti Sauce and 1 pack of seaweed strips (package contains 2 packs of sauce and seaweed strips)

- 2 packs of udon noodles, frozen
- 1/4 cup frozen green peas
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp olive oil (per egg)

Steps
1. Bring a pot of water to boil and drop in frozen udon noodles and frozen peas for 2 minutes (and no longer! Don't worry if the water doesn't boil again).  Drain water and place udon and peas in a big bowl.

2. Add the pack of spicy cod roe sauce to the noodles and toss.  Separate noodles into 2 bowls or plates.

3. Heat a pan with 2 tsp olive oil and fry the egg, about 1-2 minutes on each side (you want a runny yolk for this dish).  Repeat for the second egg.

4. Place fried egg on top of noodles and add seaweed strips.

Serves 2.

I paired the noodles with homegrown cherry tomatoes salad.  So sweet. 

Vietnamese BBQ Pork Vermicelli (The Cheating Way)

I am calling this recipe "the cheating way" is because of two reasons... one, I already had Chinese barbequed pork courtesy of my parents as part of their take-home items from our Sunday dinners, and two, not all of the items for a typical Vietnamese vermicelli dish were used because I did not have them in my fridge.  This hodgepodge of food ended up to be equally delicious!

Vietnamese Barbecued Pork Vermicelli
Adapted from Barbecued Lemongrass Beef, Steamy Kitchen

Ingredients
- 10 oz narrow flat rice sticks (same as the ones I used for pho)
- 2 large Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
- 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
- 4 iceberg lettuce leaves, thinly sliced
- ready-to-go Chinese barbequed pork, sliced

Fish Sauce:
- 2 chilies, sliced and deseeded for desired spiciness (I was excited to use my own-grown Fresno chilies!)

- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 3 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- sliced carrots (optional)
- chili-garlic sauce (optional)

Tools
- mortar or food processor

Steps
1. Soak the rick sticks in water for about an hour prior to cooking.

2. In the meantime, make the fish sauce by mashing chilies and garlic together with a mortar or food processor. Then add all of the other ingredients (except carrots and chili-garlic sauce) until sugar is dissolved.  Add sliced carrots for decoration, and if the sauce is not spicy enough, add chili-garlic sauce until desired spiciness is reached.

3. Slice all the vegetables (cucumbers, carrots, and lettuce) and the barbequed pork.

4. Cook the soaked rice sticks in hot boiling water for about 1-2 minutes (and not any longer!).  Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse with cold water.

5. Place all the ingredients together - noodles at the bottom, then vegetables and pork, then pour about 1 to 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce over the noodles.  Mix and enjoy!

Serves 4.

A few tips...
...if you don't have parents that can supply you with BBQ pork, run out to the nearest Chinese supermarket and look for the hot foods counter to purchase pork!
...after the rick sticks are rinsed with cold water and is resting, it can quickly clump into big balls of noodles.  Don't worry (as I did...) because as soon as you pour the magical fish sauce on it, the noodles will once again loosen up.

Battle of the Brrrr... Cold Noodles (Lian Mien)

Disclamer: this is solely my own opinion, and may differ from yours. Really, I recommend to try it out for yourself!

Liang's Village Cruisine // Cupertino, CA

mixture sauce that makes you go "OMG!", perfect noodles, coldness to the right temperature

noodles in sesame paste sauce and special soy sauce mixture, with sliced cucumbers and crushed peanuts

Mama Chen // Santa Clara, CA

refreshing, huge portion, cool addition of ham

noodles in special sauce mixture, with sliced cucumbers, ham, carrots, topped with cilantro

Winner: Liang's Village Cuisine

Wontons, I Want A Ton!

On a rainy and cold day like this, I crave anything soup!  The past few days I have been consuming a lot of warm liquidy type of food, starting the past weekend with cheese fondue, to Mongolian hot pot, and then Japanese ramen.  This wonton recipe is a perfect "gloomy weather" comfort food when you just want to stay in on a lazy Sunday.  It's easy to make and quick to cook.  The only part you have to be patient with is the wonton-wrapping process.  If you can trick someone into helping you along during the wrapping process, if it's a loved one, friends, or capable kids, it can be turn into a fun activity!

Wontons (餛飩)

Ingredients
Wonton:
- 1 pound ground pork (or ground turkey for a healthier option, or a mix of both)
- ~10 medium sized shrimp, peel and ground
- 2 stalks scallion, finely minced
- 3 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 pound wonton wrappers, medium thickness (1 packet from Asian supermaket)
- 1/2 cup cold water

Soup:
- 3 cups of meat broth (pork, chicken, or beef - it's up to you!)
- 2 stalks of celery, sliced (Chinese celery is the best for this soup, so if you can get them, use about 2-3 stalks)
- salt to taste
- dash of white pepper (optional)

Tools
- food processor
- large pot for boiling
- large plates/trays for holding wrapped wontons

Steps
1. In a big bowl, mix together ground pork, ground shrimp (best to use a food processor), scalion, soy sauce, rice vinegar, cornstarch, sugar, and sesame oil.

2. Bring the bowl of mixed wonton filling, wonton wrappers, and 1/2 cup of cold water, large plates, and a couple of small spoons to a large area (eg. dining table or large counter) for the wrapping process.  Follow the pictures and instructions below on how to wrap a wonton:

(a) Using the small spoon, scoop filling on the wonton wrapper.  Note - don't scoop too much, or else it will be difficult to close the wonton and it may break open during the cooking process.




(b) Using your finger, dip in the cold water and line all 4 sides of the wonton wrapper with water.  Fold the wonton in half to form a triangle.





(c) Roate the triangle so that the top corner is facing down.  Dab water on both corners of the wonton (left corner and right corner only).






(d) Push down the middle of the wonton with your finger and form a small crease.






(e) Stick the two corners together (that's why we dabbed water on those corners) to form a wonton!  Make sure to press hard to ensure the corners are sticking to each other.

3. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Once the water is boiling, drop in desired number of wontons to cook (per person, ranges around 6-8 wontons).  When the water comes to a boil again, add 1/2 cup of water to the pot.  Once the water comes to a boil again and the wontons are plump and floating on top of the boiling water, it is ready.

4. Bring the broth to a boil in another pot.  Once boiling, add in celery and cook for about 3-4 minutes.  Add salt to taste.

5. Place broth in a bowl and add the cooked wontons.  Add white pepper (optional).

Serves many.

A few tips...
...this recipe will make lots of wontons and it may not be possible to eat them all in one sitting, so you can freeze these for next time.  To freeze fresh wontons, stick them in the freezer individually (meaning that each wonton should have their own space and no wontons are touching each other).  I typically stick the plate I placed the wontons on in the freezer.  After the wontons are frozen, you can move them into a ziplock bag or container.
...when cooking frozen wontons, make sure you place wontons in boiling water.  When the water comes to a boil again, add 1/2 cup of water to the pot.  Do this for 2 more times to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked.  When the wontons are plump and float to the top of boiling water, this means they are ready!

Chicken Stock

Making chicken stock is like knowing how to tie your shoes or drive a car - it is a necessity to (well, for carnivores) cooking.  I use chicken stock in most of my cooking as it adds that extra flavor than plain water would, and I just love it for any Asian noodle soups.  It's easy to make because you can just leave it for hours to simmer while you go off to do something else!

Chicken Stock

Ingredients
- 2 large chicken leg quarters
- 3 quarts of water
- 1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 3 stalks of celery, cut into 4 pieces
- 1 carrot, rough chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- salt to taste

Tools
- stockpot
- colander

Steps
1. Chop up chicken quarters into 3 inch chunks (this makes it easier to cook the meat).  Place chicken pieces in a large stockpot with enough water to cover. Bring to boil over high heat and cook for 5 minutes to get rid of blood particles. Drain, reserve the meaty bones, and rinse the pot well.

2. Return chicken pieces to the same stockpot, add 3 quarts of water, onions, celery, carrots, bay leaf, and black peppercorns.  Bring to boil over high heat, and then reduce heat to low.  Let simmer for 3 hours until around 2 quarts.  Ocassionally skim off any foam from the surface.  Salt broth to taste.  Strain and discard solids, reserving the meaty bones to pick on if desired.

Yields about 2 quarts
 
A few tips...
...cool the stock first before draining.  From experience (sadly), you don't want hot steam hitting your face if you are pouring when the stock is still boiling hot!
...if you are using this chicken stock for soup or noodle soup, reserve the chicken meat.  Peel meat off the bones and place back into the stock.  This way you can get extra protein!
...you may not be able to use all the chicken stock in one sitting, so save some in a container and put it in the freezer.  To be safe, the stock can be good up to about 2-3 weeks.  Take it out to defrost when needed.

Teriyaki Chicken and Udon (Victory Noodles?)

This past weekend was a free weekend for us in quite awhile.  No obligations, no going to SF to visit the in-laws, no going to Sunday dinner with my side of the family, and the rain was more of a reason to stay in and do nothing.  Not having done grocery shopping for more than a week, it was pretty slim pickings in the kitchen.  Did I wanted to brave the wind and rain and go out to gather more fresh ingredients?  Nahhh... I decided to scrounge up what I can, which resulted in this udon dish.

Thank goodness, the end result was surprisingly good.  I may even dare to dub these "Victory Noodles" because we enjoyed scarfing this down while watching the SF Giants win to go on to the World Series!  For the hubby: Go Giants!!!

Teriyaki Chicken and Udon

Ingredients
Teriyaki Chicken:
- 2 pieces of chicken breast, cut into cubes
- 1/4 yellow onion, sliced
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce (I used Soyaki from "Trader Joesan", I highly recommend this sauce!)
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper

Udon:
- 2 packs of udon noodles, frozen (make sure the noodles are frozen when placed into the water to cook, this way the noodles are firm (or "Q Q the") when done!)
- 1/2 tsp Hon Dashi Bonito Fish Soup Base

Tools
- pan or wok

Steps
1. Place chicken, onion, garlic, and Teriyaki sauce in a bowl and mix well.  Put aside to let it marinate for about 20 minutes.  Chop scallions in the meantime.

2. Heat a pan or wok on high heat with 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Saute the marinated chicken for about 10-15 minutes until done.  Salt and pepper to taste.

3. Fill a pot with water and place on high heat.  Once boiling, place the frozen udon noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes.  The water may not be boiling after two minutes, but the noodles are cooking, don't worry!  Take out the noodles and place into a bowl.  Add bonito fish soup base and mix well.  Place udon first on a plate and then teriyaki chicken on top.

Serves 2

Phở (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

I love noodles.  Soup noodles, stir fried noodles, or pasta... yum yum yum!  A few months ago while "toy shopping" at Sur La Table, I found the cookbook Noodles Every Day by Corinne Trang.  It was even on sale, so I had to get it!

This cookbook contains noodle recipes from almost every region of Asia, from Chinese to Korean, Japanese to Vietnamese.  After quickly scanning the book, I knew the first recipe I wanted to try was Phở.

Phở (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
from Noodles Every Day, by Corinne Trang

Beef Stock
Ingredients
- 2 lbs raw meaty beef bones, such as oxtail or short ribs
- 3 quarts of water
- 1/2 large yellow onion
- 4 whole cloves
- 4 whole star anise
- 1 four-inch cinnamon stick
- 3 slices of ginger
- 4 scallions, trimmed and crushed
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp white or black peppercorns
- salt to taste

Tools
- stockpot
- colander

Steps
1. Put beef bones in a large stockpot with enough water to cover.  Bring to boil over high heat and cook for 10 minutes to get rid of bone and blood particles.  Drain, reserve the meaty bones, and rinse the pot well.

2. Return the beef bones to the same stockpot, add 3 quarts of water, and bring to boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low and add onions, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, scallions, fish sauce, sugar, and peppercorns.

3. Simmer, partially covered, for 4-5 hours, until reduced to about 1.5 to 2 quarts.  Ocassionally skim off any foam from the surface.  Salt broth to taste.  Strain and discard solids, reserving the meaty bones to pick on if desired.

Yields 1.5 to 2 quarts

Phở 
Ingredients
- 8 oz dried narrow flat rice sticks, soaked in water until pliable (I used the Three Ladies Brand, Rice Stick (S) - small)

- about 1 lb eye of round steak, thinly sliced (in my opinion Japanese supermarkets has a higher quality of meat, so I used shabu shabu meat in this case.  It was the best decision!  The quality of the meat and the spices of the soup was a wonderful combo.)
- 1.5 to 2 quarts of Beef Stock
- fish sauce or salt to taste
- 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts
- 1 lime, quartered
- 1 bunch fresh Thai basil or cilantro
- Hoisin sauce for serving (optional)
- chili-garlic sauce (eg. Sriracha) for serving (optional)

Steps
1. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the noodles until tender yet firm, about 10 seconds.  Drain and divide among bowls.  Layer a few beef slices over the noodles.

2. Meanwhile, in another large pot, bring the beef stock to a gentle boil over medium heat.  About 5 minutes before serving, add the onions and adjust seasoning with fish sauce or salt, if necessary.  Right before serving, raise the heat to high and bring the broth to a full boil.

3. Place mung bean sprouts, lime, and Thai basil or cilantro in a plate.  Bring to table so that each person can add vegetables to their noodle soup as desired.

4. Ladle the boiling hot broth along with onion slices over the beef and noodles, making sure to cover beef and noodles.  Serve with hoisin sauce and chili-garlic sauce if desired.

Serves 4

By Request: Za Zang Mien (炸醬麵)

A friend requested the recipe of the Za Zang Mien I make (which I really stole from my mom), so thought I'd make a post out of it with pictures.  For you HL.

Za Zang Mien (炸醬麵), IKE Style

Za Zang Mien contains three different "sauces" all mixed together in noodles - a meat sauce, a tomato sauce, and refreshing sliced cucumbers (I know, not really a sauce but something that stands on its own).  This mix of meat, hot veggies, and cold veggies in hot boiling Chinese noodles is great any time of the day, and any season!  The hubby can kill a big bowl of Za Zang Mien in minutes.

Ingredients
Meat sauce -
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 3/4 lb. ground pork (can use turkey too)
- 1/2 can Bean Sauce, comes in plain or spicy (豆瓣酱, I get the Szechuan brand, blue can in picture below)
- 1/3 jar Sweet Flour Sauce (甜麵醬, I get the Lian How brand, the white cap jar in picture below)
- Water, if needed
Tomato sauce -
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 4 roma tomatoes (or 2 large heirlooms), roughly diced
- 1 stalk scallion, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- Water, if needed
- 2 Cucumbers, thinly sliced (Japanese cucumbers are highly recommended, or Persian cucumbers.  Not recommended are regular big American cucumbers as it gets too watery when thinly sliced)
- 1 pack of fresh Shanghai noodles (I like this noodle especially for Za Zang Mien because it's thick and hearty, which is a good type of noodle to mix the thick sauces with)

Steps
1. Boil a pot of water for the noodles.  Once the water is boiling, put in the noodles and cook until ready, about 10-15 minutes.

2. Slice the Japanese cucumbers with the slicer.  Put in a bowl for serving.

3. Cook the meat sauce first - heat 1 TBSP of olive oil.

4. Fry the Bean Sauce and Sweet Flour Sauce (fry sauces?  I know... sounds strange, but this is what my mom told me by mixing the two sauces together with hot frying oil) for about 2 minutes.

5. Once the two sauces are mixed well together, put in the ground meat of your choice and cook for 5 minutes, or until the ground meat is cooked.  It may be hard to see if the meat is cooked due to the dark sauces, so I would recommend cooking this for 5+ minutes to make sure.  If the sauce is becoming dry, add a bit of water.

6. Once cooked, remove meat sauce to a bowl for serving.

The two sauces mixing together... noodles cooking in the background.

7. Cook the tomato sauce next - heat 1 TBSP of olive oil.

8. Put in the diced tomatoes, chopped scallions, and salt until the tomatoes have been cooked throughly. The tomatoes should be smushed (liking my technical cooking term?), soft, and juicy. Again, if the sauce seems dry, add a bit of water.

9. Remove the tomato sauce to a bowl for serving.

10. Put the cooked noodles into a noodle bowl for serving.  Add about 2 spoonfuls of the meat and tomato sauce to the noodles.  Add as much cucumber slices as you desire.

11. Now mix mix mix! Enjoy!

Long-Promised Chinese Cold Noodles

In my first entry I had stated that one of these days I will attempt to make Lian-Mien aka Cold Noodles with my mom's simple recipe. Although I did this many many weeks ago, today is the day I will post the recipe (::crowd cheering::).

Lian Mien (Cold Noodles)

Ingredients (not all pictured)
- 1/4 cup of soy sauce
- 1-2 large cloves of garlic
- 1-2 TBSP of rice vinegar (adjust to taste)
- 1/4 cup of water + 1 TBSP of sugar
- 4 TBSP sesame sauce + water + pinch of salt (amount of water adjusted to thickness of sauce)
- 1 shredded chicken breast
- 2-3 shredded japanese cucumbers
- chili oil (adjust to taste)
- 1 TBSP of sesame oil
- Noodles (enough for 2 servings) - I use Quon Yick (very common) but use any medium-sized noodles for this dish. Thin noodles, such as egg noodles, would not taste very well.

Serves two.

Steps

1. Noodles - boil the noodles to "al dente" and immediately dump the noodles into a colander to let cool. Rinse the noodles with cold water for ~ 30 seconds. After most of the water have been shaken off, move the noodles to a bowl and add 1 TBSP of sesame oil. Mix well. Let it sit to cool off some more.























2. Chicken - cook the chicken breast in hot boiling water for ~20 minutes. Check to make sure the chicken is cooked through before taking it off the stove. Let the chicken breast sit for a few minutes and start the shredding by hand. Yes, one by one is the way to go! I usually will assign this task to someone else (my husband is the lucky one in this case!).

3. Japanese cucumbers - I highly recommond using Japanese cucumbers because they're so crisp and delicious. You can find this in Japanese or Chinese supermarkets. Shred them using your food slicer/shredder.

4. Soy sauce + garlic - place the specified amount of soy sauce and diced garlic into a small bowl. Depending on if you're a garlic lover or not, you can add more garlic and make the portion 1 to 1. You will just have really garlicky breath after the meal.

5. Sugar water - Melt the sugar in semi-hot water in a small bowl (I do the microwave way - it's so much easier!) The sugar water should not be syrup-y or too sweet. The sugar water will help balance out the vinegar and soy sauce.

6. Vinegar - there is no preperation for this ingredient. Just bring the tablespoon to the table and add about 1 - 2 tablespoons to your noodles... adjust to taste!

7. Sesame sauce - last but not least, the most important ingredient of this meal is the sesame sauce. This is pure sesame paste that can be found at the Chinese supermarket. Place the sesame sauce in a small bowl and add about 1 TBSP of water to the sauce, stir, and add more water until the paste turns into a thick sauce-like consistency. Don't worry - if you add too much water, you can always add a bit more paste to get the thick consistency back. Add a pinch of salt for flavor.













To eat:
You prepare the cold noodles for eating by mixing EVERYTHING together! First scoop the amount of noodles you want to eat. Start off with adding 2 TBSP of sesame sauce, 1 TBSP of sugar water, 1 TBSP vinegar, 1 TBSP of soy sauce/garlic combo, some chicken and japanese cucumbers. Add a few drops of chili oil if you like your noodles with a kick. The noodles should have a light coat of sesame sauce to every inch, it should be salty enough for you, and overall have a flavorful and garlicky taste! Add more of any of the ingredients to accomodate your taste buds. I hope this turns out good for you - enjoy!