Never deal with unidentified chillies!
I love spicy food, always have, always will. I love to go to an Indian restaurant and when asked how spicy I like it, to request "Indian hot!" I always get a spiel from the dubious waiter that Western folks tend to prefer just hot, but I stick to my guns. What usually happens is the waiter brings the food and then retires somewhere that he can see my face, sometimes even bringing kitchen staff out to watch the reaction. There never is one. I hate to be such a disappointment to these guys who so much want to see steam come out of my ears, but alas I can't help it! There was only one time it was too much for me and that was when I was in London with some Indian friends and they were eating these raw chillies I had never seen before. Of course I decided to try one too - bad idea, very bad idea. The restaurant didn't have enough Cobra in house to try and cool me down. Two days later my tongue was still burning. You'd think I'd have learnt my lesson.
Yesterday I set out to make Singapore Noodles. This is a wonderful rice vermicelli dish that really has nothing to do with Singapore. There are many theories about where they come from, the main one being that they were invented in the late seventies by Chinese restaurants in Europe. They combine Malaysian, Indian and Chinese aspects, making them a bomb to the palate and an overall fiery exotic dish. We really enjoy them and I have had good success with this modified version of The Joy of Cooking's (my kitchen bible) recipe. I had to modify it last night on two accounts. First of all I couldn't find my rice vermicelli, so I had to go with the thicker kind of noodle and second of all I didn't have jalapeños. What I did have I had gotten as a gift, a little bag of fresh red chillies that were maybe an inch in length. I chopped maybe four or five of them up. I didn't de-vein them as they were so small and naively left most of the seeds in. What followed was perhaps one of the spiciest of dishes I have ever made. It was still delicious, but the husband couldn't handle it and to be honest I found it too hot as well. It overpowered the flavour. The lesson here... no more unidentified chillies! ;-) But go ahead and give the recipe a try, you won't be disappointed. It looks like a lot of work, but once you get the wok going dinner will be on the table in minutes.
This is my Presto Pasta submission for this week. Make sure you head over to Ruth at Once Upon a Feast tomorrow to see all the great recipes on offer.
Ingredients
(serves 4-6)
- 8 oz thin rice vermicelli*
- 4 oz pork loin**
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 large white onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red jalapeno, thinly sliced into rounds
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1/3 cup unsweetened coconut milk
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/3 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp dried shrimp, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 cup bean sprouts (fresh if you can, but canned is fine too)
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 8 oz cooked deveined prawns
- juice 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp peanut / stir-fry oil
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions, sliced diagonally
Slice the pork into very thin strips and marinade in the soy sauce while you prepare the ingredients
Slice the onions and chili and place on one side of a plate. Place the chopped peanuts, red pepper flakes and dried shrimp, if using, on the other side.
Warm the coconut milk in a small saucepan and add the curry powder, sugar and 1 tsp salt. Cook for about a minute and remove from heat.
In a small bowl stir together the oyster sauce, chicken stock and another teaspoon of salt.
In another small bowl combine the beansprouts, basil and lemon juice.
In a small frying pan heat a little oil and cook the eggs until set on the bottom. Flip them over and cook until set. Slice into strips.
Now let's get ready to wok! :-) Make sure the table is set, as this will go very quickly!
Heat your seasoned*** wok and add in 1/4 cup of the peanut oil. Constantly stirring, fry the pork until no longer pink. Remove to a plate.
Add another tbsp of oil and stir-fry the onions and chillies until soft. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on top of the pork.
Add the curry mixture to the wok and cook very briefly. Add in the oyster sauce mixture and heat through stirring constantly.
Add the noodles, pork and onion mixture and the cooked prawns, stirring constantly until heated through.
Add the peanuts, pepper flakes and dried shrimp, if using and stir thoroughly. Add the beansprout mixture and egg strips and stir fry for about 30 seconds. Toss in the scallions, give it a quick stir and serve immediately.
* If you can't find rice vermicelli, any wok noodle will do, but the thinner the better. You can buy pre-seasoned Singapore "straight to wok" noodles, but if you do cut down on the curry powder and salt.
** If you prefer chicken works well here too. I usually use one breast thinly sliced. For the best option though find some Char Siu (Chinese barbecued pork), as it really makes a world of difference.
*** To season your wok, heat about a tablespoon of peanut oil in it and add a heaping teaspoon of salt. Rub the salt and oil all around the wok and then wipe off.
|