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Post by lagatta on May 10, 2010 17:45:39 GMT
I often use Japanese soba noodles when I find them, simply because they are more nutritious (they contain buckwheat flour) but they don't work in all Asian soups.
I also liked Szechwan restaurant hot and sour soup - but it doesn't contain noodles, just a lot of soft tofu. And it is one recipe in which people who don't usually like tofu do like it (it is not a vegetarian recipe - think it often contains pork or lamb).
bixa, those little nems (Vietnamese eggrolls made of rice paper) are also served with all kinds of garnishes, salad vegetables and herbs to wrap around them.
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Post by fumobici on May 10, 2010 18:37:57 GMT
I saw tagiatelle di grano saraceno (buckwheat) noodles somewhere in Tuscany. With a name like that I wonder where buckwheat was introduced to Italy from.
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Post by Don Cuevas on May 10, 2010 18:42:20 GMT
Wikipedia: "Common buckwheat was domesticated and first cultivated in inland southeast Asia, possibly around 6000 BC, and from there spread to Central Asia and Tibet, and then to the Middle East and Europe. Domestication most likely took place in the western Yunnan region of China.[5] Buckwheat is documented in Europe in the Balkans by at least the Middle Neolithic (circa 4000 BC) and the oldest known remains in China so far date to circa 2600 BC, and buckwheat pollen has been found in Japan from as early as 4000 BC. It is the world's highest elevation domesticate, being cultivated in Yunnan on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau or on the Plateau itself. Buckwheat was one of the earliest crops introduced by Europeans to North America. Dispersal around the globe was complete by 2006, when a variety developed in Canada was widely planted in China.
Buckwheat is a short season crop that does well on low-fertility or acidic soils, but the soil must be well drained. Too much fertilizer, especially nitrogen, will reduce yields. In hot climates, it can only be grown by sowing late in the season, so that it will bloom in cooler weather. The presence of pollinators greatly increases the yield. The nectar from buckwheat flower makes a dark colored honey. Buckwheat is sometimes used as a green manure, as a plant for erosion control, or as wildlife cover and feed."
In other words, from Asia, steppe by steppe. ;D
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Post by Don Cuevas on May 10, 2010 18:48:17 GMT
I just thought of a favorite noodle dish, although it's not a soup: Kasha Varnishkes, boiled egg bowtie noodles (farfalle) tossed with steamed kasha and caramelized onions cooked in chicken schmaltz.
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Post by spindrift on May 10, 2010 18:53:43 GMT
Buckwheat is widely grown as a staple food at high altitude in Nepal and Tibet. I've seen it growing up to 11,000 ft.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 11, 2010 0:56:26 GMT
Well, I succumbed to the temptations of this thread for dinner this evening, and it was so good!
I began by cooking the noodles (large penne) separately in salted water with ground-up dried shrimp added. I also set a kettle of water to boiling.
Meanwhile, I angle-cut some carrots, sliced one cactus pad, and thinly sliced some garlic. Oil in saucepan, toss around carrots & cactus a bit, let them cook a minute or so, then add the garlic & cook a little longer.
Add boiling water & ground dried shrimp & let simmer while making the egg addition: Put sesame seeds to toast in a dry skillet, when they're plump, add a dollop of chile paste. Pour in a little cooking oil. Beat some water, egg, & a little salt and add it to the skillet, tipping it so it will run to the edges and under. As it starts to set, stir it with a wooden spoon and turn off the heat. (this is really good -- nicely stands in for meat & adds a rich spiciness to the soup) Cube a cucumber.
Add the contents of the seasoning packet from shrimp-flavored ramen to the simmering soup, then stir in the cucumber. Let simmer for one minute. Add minced herbs & green chile (or serve that separately). Taste, adjust, then add as much or as little of the cooked noodles to the soup as you see fit.
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Post by hwinpp on May 12, 2010 8:53:14 GMT
Your pho looks delicious, Don. I've been very curious about a noodle 'soup' the locals call 'nui', served in Vietnamese restaurants only. (get the drift all you Francophones?) The broth isn't a broth as such but a much thicker stew, reddish in colour, it always contains beef. The stew is called kor gow, beef stew. You eat it einer with bread, kor gow nompang, with yellow noodles, kor gow mee, or with those small, slightly hooked maccaronis! Only if you order it with the maccaronis do you call for kor gow nui. nui= nouilles= noodles in French I'll order and 'shoot' it soon ;D Re the Asian question with Italian noodles, I always use linguine (flat ones anyway) to make chow mien. So does my mother, she claims they're healthier than the Chinese ones I do it because I like the consistency.
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Post by Don Cuevas on May 12, 2010 9:26:15 GMT
I thank you for those pho photos, Don Cuevas. I haven't had much meal inspiration lately, but those pictures have pointed me in a new direction, by making me believe that the delights in the OP are indeed accessible. Did you use regular spaghetti for the noodles? What strikes me is how serving the soup with side garnishes is so similar to several classic Mexican soups. Imec! Of course we want to see the pictures, but you'll pleeeeze post the recipe, yes? Look ~~ a thread awaits you! anyportinastorm.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=recipes&action=display&thread=3055&page=1Bixa, actually, I used small tubular Vietnamese tapioca noodles. I had carried them from the Kam Man Asian Foods Supermarket in East Hanover, NJ. I could have used some flat ribbon rice noodles, but these appealed. In retrospect, the flat ones would have been better. In lieu of any rice noodles, I'd use bavette or linguine, but that is pushing the envelope, even for me.* (Check Soriana or Wal-Mex in Oaxaca for rice noodles.) The recipe, posted on my blog with my changes, is derived from one that was on the NY Times Online, which in turn came from a cook book, "Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table", by Mai Pham. tinyurl.com/28y87tpMany years ago, when I first became enamored of cooking Chinese food at home, I would make a dish called something like "Cha Chiang Mien". The transliterated spelling will vary in English. It was a wheat noodle dish (but not a soup) with a highly seasoned pork based sauce containing brown bean sauce or even Hoisin Sauce (which, to me is totally different). One could, I think, use dark miso instead. It was surrounded by accompaniments of sliced green onions, radishes, sprouts and finely minced garlic.) There was probably more. I think the noodles were served hot but of course, the garnishes were all cold or at room temperature. It may be cold noodles with hot pork sauce. I need to look it up. I would make it soon, but I have neither brown bean sauce (except the chile variety) and insufficient miso. It will have to wait until we return from next month's trip to New Jersey.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 12, 2010 16:41:05 GMT
Thanks, men!
HW, linguini definitely would be my choice, because I like it anyway and the shape somehow seems more like an Asian noodle to my uneducated eye.
Interesting, Don Cuevas. I couldn't feature you just tossing in spaghetti, since you seem to try for authenticity. There are a few Chinese shops downtown that have a limited group of foodstuffs. I am going to stock up on any noodles I find there.
That said, I felt the penne I used (see #35) worked in terms of size and texture, something to remember in a pinch.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2010 17:10:37 GMT
This evening I bought "pâtes alsaciennes" which are basically French tagliatelli albeit made with a higher egg content -- but not for soup this time, although I did want to mention that flat noodles are definitely the thing to use in pho. But no matter what noodle you serve me, it is highly unlikely that I will spit it out.
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Post by Don Cuevas on May 12, 2010 19:31:43 GMT
"I couldn't feature you just tossing in spaghetti, since you seem to try for authenticity." Not at all. I am totally without scruples regarding authenticity. I do what I can for authenticity, then if I can't find what's required, I substitute. That is, short of using condensed soup from a can.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 12, 2010 20:01:10 GMT
Oh -- my phone rang, & I couldn't finish reading your post.
I believe you just announced that you have no scruples? Interesting.
However, since this is a food board, I'm assuming you meant to write that you have no scrapple.
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Post by Don Cuevas on May 12, 2010 21:18:23 GMT
Oh -- my phone rang, & I couldn't finish reading your post. I believe you just announced that you have no scruples? Interesting. However, since this is a food board, I'm assuming you meant to write that you have no scrapple. I'm speechless. I have no Scrabble™.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2010 21:20:17 GMT
Is somebody serving free Snapple?
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Post by Don Cuevas on May 12, 2010 21:22:51 GMT
No, we're just nudeln around.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 13, 2010 0:11:59 GMT
It's all part of the spätzle/time continuum.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 17, 2010 22:26:58 GMT
Check this out: noodlr.net/It's the most minimalist site you can imagine. Yep, that's the whole thing!
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Post by hwinpp on May 25, 2010 4:18:49 GMT
Ok, here are two dishes I had recently for breakfast at the food court of my local mall. Nothing very special but practical and with a large choice on a Sunday morning when we only go to the supermarket downstairs for weekly shopping. Small flat noodles with innards and small flat noodles with won ton. Notice the won tons are smaller than in the other places.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 27, 2010 20:21:35 GMT
There is a discussion about a particular herb here, #s 48--51, in which laksa is mentioned by HW. That made me come back to this thread to look, and I see a curry laksa shown in the OP. I really want to know more about this soup (or is it a family of soups?). Anyone have a recipe?
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2010 21:19:12 GMT
Hwinpp, I have no complaint at all regarding the size of the wonton or anything else in your soup.
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Post by Don Cuevas on May 28, 2010 7:55:40 GMT
As far as I'm concerned, you see wonton, you've seen them all. ;D
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Post by hwinpp on May 28, 2010 11:07:15 GMT
Laksa is a family of soups. The common ingredient is the laksa leaf. The members of this family are very diverse though, I only like curry laksa. Try to find info on assam laksa (with tamarind and sour, clearish), Penang laksa (insipid) or Singapore laksa (probably just like Singapore, no character ( )... I think there's even a Sarawak laksa but I'm not familiar with that at all. It's a Nonya dish, not purely Malay or Chinese though nowadays it's only sold by Chinese even though it doesn't contain pork and all the chooks for sale in Malaysia are slaughtered in the manner that satisfies the halal laws.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 28, 2010 15:34:35 GMT
I am on the case. Using your photo of curry laksa and your descriptions is very helpful. When I find something that seems right, I'll submit it so you can tell me if it sounds right, okay?
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2010 2:17:26 GMT
Ha, ha, I'm no expert! And rereading my last post, I have to apologize for being a bit too disparaging, to the Singaporeans and the Penangites. Their versions are ok I suppose, just not my favourites... I've finally had breakfast at the Vietnamese place I mentioned above that has nui/ nouilles. It's on the same street as Tuol Sleng but on the Sihanouk Blvd. side, just in case Jack wants to have a go at them on his next visit... Just two hours ago. The restaurant What they have, notice the yellow maccaronis? Where are the nui? Oh, there they are! View towards Sihanouk View towards Tuol Sleng, those are mototaxi drivers
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2010 4:11:37 GMT
Are those stacked up packages of ramen noodles next to the plates? That bowl of food looks really yummy. Are those pickled chiles in the glass container right behind the blunt end of the chopsticks? And iced coffee? Looks like a perfect breakfast.
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2010 5:39:49 GMT
Yes, yes, yes. The ramen are actually those instant noodle packs you can find most everywhere now. People here occasionally snack on them just like that, spread some of the chemicals in the little included 'spice' packages on them before. But Bixa, you need glasses. It's the handle of the spoon. The blunt ends of the chopsticks are pointing towards the left
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2010 5:56:21 GMT
Not in pic #3! I wonder what's in those little flavor packets -- probably MSG & sugar & other stuff I claim to avoid. I use ramen in a stir fry, because it softens so quickly. Usually when I do that, I don't use the spice packet, but save it for use with regular pasta.
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Post by hwinpp on May 31, 2010 7:12:27 GMT
Yes, it's probably MSG with salt and pepper. I don't always use them either, especially if I have a good broth on the boil.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 3, 2010 17:41:50 GMT
I feel so much gratitude toward this thread.
Since I've been trying to break out of the same old stand-bys, many of which are starchy, and to eat more healthfully, these soups have been an inspiration.
Once I noticed that many of them are heavier on the other ingredients than on the noodles, I realized how filling but low-caloric they could be.
My current favorite base is made from ground dried shrimp, which works well with all kinds of additions.
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 4, 2010 8:15:32 GMT
That sounds interesting. Don't you use any bones?
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