Yaki udon (fried udon)

I love, love, love noodles. The Asian pasta, I call them. Aren`t they? And in Japan, although many people I know choose soba noodles as their favorites, udon  noodles are what I love the most. First time I had a bowl of tenpura udon in a canteen, I was surprised to see how thick the noodles were. But I was even more surprised at how smooth and lovely the texture was. And the chewiness, oh! I fell in love instantly that day.
As a noodle lover, fried noodles are what I often make in the kitchen, especially when I need some quick and easy meal. And this fried udon, is simply a winner with its simplicity.

Although udon noodles are usually thick, I use the thin ones for the fried noodles as I think  the sauce will seep better into the noodles.
Also, I always season the boiled noodles using my hands before I cook them - the noodles, not my hands - on the stove. I found this method makes my life easier since the noodles get evenly coated quicker and easier. You can try using chopsticks or tongs for this, but I think using hands is simply the best.
And this is where my udon noodles were already coated with soy sauce, kecap manis,  sesame oil, fish sauce, cayenne pepper, ginger (powder), coriander, salt, and pepper.

Heat a pan without oil in it and saute thinly sliced beef until they look done.

Mushrooms. I just can`t imagine what I`d do without them. Slice`em up.

And toss in.

Now comes in the seasoned noodles. Stir well.
You can add some more sauce and adjust the taste if you think you need to.

And to give extra less-guilt effect - don`t forget the mushrooms -, toss in sliced cabbage. That`s it? Well, it depends, the more guilty you feel about it, the more veggies you need to throw in. Oh, I`m kidding. More veggies will be GREAT! Cabbage was the only vegetable I had, but I usually add some bean sprouts and carrot too. They sure add a wonderful crunch to the dish.
Stir a while and then put a lid on the pan to help steam the cabbage (or other veggies you add in). Be careful not to leave it unstirred too long, though, because the noodles with the sauce coating easily get scorched. That`s why at this step I usually cook it on low heat.

As you can see, it`s sinfully greasy (and delish!). I won`t deny it.  But when I can`t stand with my cravings anymore, this is what I indulge in.
Happy eating!

Ingredients:

Beef

Udon

Soy sauce

Kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
Sesame oil

Fish sauce

Cayenne pepper
Coriander

Pepper

Salt

Curry laksa

I guess I haven`t told you that I had a one-year living experience in Kuala Lumpur. It (aka. the food) was awesome! Although Malaysian and Indonesian food basically share similar hints of taste, I kept enjoying new sensation in my mouth when I had my meals from the restaurants and food hawkers. Nasi lemak was my DAILY breakfast for a year. Chicken rice was my lunch. Roti chanay was my afternoon snacks. And curry laksa. And grilled stingray fish with sambal. And SUGARCANE drinks! I happily and undoubtedly gained weight very quick that time.

So, in part of my attempts in rebuilding the Malaysian food fiesta in my life, I made curry laksa. I was lucky to come across a laksa recipe from Almost Bourdaine. I fell in love with her gorgeous laksa photo and decided to give it a try. The thing is, I don`t have some of the ingredients, so I just omitted them. If you never have any laksa before and are curious with the taste, I recommend you to use her recipe for a real reference. But if you don`t mind following what I did, have a look and feel free to make your own version of laksa.

Start with blending garlic, onion (shallot if you have), chili, dried shrimp (mine was Japanese dried shrimp) and ginger into paste.

Saute the paste and add a tsp of shrimp paste (or more, or not at all).

Stir in chili powder, curry powder, coriander, and lemon grass. Smells good already?

Now, throw in boiled and shredded chicken into the paste. Tell you what, whenever I need shredded chicken, my pressure cooker comes to rescue. Just cook the chicken for 20 mins and another 15 mins to release the pressure and break the meat apart effortlessly with a wooden spatula. It`s perfectly shredded. Don`t forget to reserve the stock. It`s precious.

Now pour in the stock through a strainer to filter out the nasties. Yes, I put ginger when I cook the chicken as I always find it gives a wonderful smell.

After the chicken stock, pour in coconut milk. Stir up. Oh, I added some mushrooms here. I have a mushroom addiction too. It`s cute, delicious, healthy, and CHEAP. No reason for not liking it.

Now meet YUBA. Yuba is a dried byproduct from tofu making process, other than okara. From what I read, yuba is formed like a thin film on the surface when the bean is being boiled. It contains the bean fat that floats on top of the water and thus you can feel the oily part of yuba when you touch it.
The real curry laksa recipe calls for tofu cubes, but I happened to have this yuba in my fridge. Why not??

Throw in some yuba to the soup and they will instantly soften like curdled egg white.

Season the soup with salt and pepper and adjust the spiciness. When you`re done with it, turn off the heat and set the soup aside. Now continue with preparing the mee, or mie, or noodle. I used ramen noodles and bean sprouts just like the original recipe.



But  I substituted the vermicelli with this. White konnyaku noodle. Hopefully this will lessen off the calories. Can it??

Arrange egg noodle, bean sprouts, and white konnyaku in a bowl.

Laddle the hot soup, garnish with scallion, and here is the curry laksa. All goodness in one bowl.

Ingredients:

For spice paste:
Garlic
Onion/shallot
Chili
Dried shrimp
Ginger

Curry powder
Coriander
Shrimp paste
Coconut milk
Salt and pepper

Chicken, boiled and shredded
Chicken stock
Shimeji mushrooms
Tofu or yuba
Ramen noodles
Vermicelli or konnyaku
Bean sprouts
Scallion for garnishing