Spicy Braised Lamb Noodle Soup

Spicy Braised Lamb Noodle Soup, originally uploaded by jaceman4.

Yay! Alright we got pictures for this now. Anyways, here is the scoop. I have a general recipe, from my dad, for a beef version of this. I modified it a little. Generally, the braise stock uses daikon and carrots, I decided that was a little much of a hassle for me personally, so I went with napa cabbage and dried tofu. Additionally, I saw that they made a lamb version, so I went with that.

Ingredients:
Lamb/Beef (I used shank)
Napa cabbage
Dried Tofu
Soy Sauce
Beef Stock (I used Better Than Boullion)
Water
Star Anise
Noodles
Spicy sauce (topan sauce works)

1.) Sear the meat so that the blood doesn't come out in the braising (on the side boil the noodles)

2.) Add soy sauce, water (about 1:1 ratio), cabbage, tofu, meat, spicy topan sauce (though I have a Schezuan paste that works), and star anise then braise for about an hour (or two)

3.) Make stock

4.) To serve mix beef stock and braise stock with noodles

There you have it, that's the general gist. If you are using spicy topan sauce, it's general practice to quickly stir-fry the sauce first. Yay.

Braised Ground Pork over Rice a.k.a 滷肉飯

I apologize for neglecting this blog lately, as I haven't really cooked all that much.  Anyways, I was thinking about how exactly I was going to post this, because I have no idea exactly what to call it in English, and I don't know that I would be able to write something comprehensible and beyond a 2nd grade reading level if I did it in Chinese, as I only know this dish's Chinese name.  That being said, as you can see in the title, I did my best, maybe that's just not good enough, but it'll have to do for now, it HAS to, because I say so.  I've been eating this since I was like 4, so I grew up with this, and I love it.  It's sort of a staple of Taiwanese food, I remember it was like one of the cheapest lunch menu item because it's simple and it's good.  Now you can make it yourself, I think.

Ingredients:
Ground pork
Fried shallots
Hard-boiled eggs
Soy sauce
Water
Five-spice powder
Rock candy
Dried tofu (optional)

Cooking Directions:

1) Heat a pan with oil and quickly refry the fried shallots

2) Reduce heat and add ground pork, brown ground pork

3) After pork is browned move to a large pot

4) At a medium heat; add eggs, soy sauce, water, five-spice powder, and rock candy (and dried tofu if you have it)

5) As soon as it reaches a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and let simmer for 2 hours

6) Serve over white rice

As you may have gathered, I'm not really good about measuring stuff out, so it's more of add to flavor, you don't want too much soy sauce or it gets too salty, and you don't want it to be too liquid either, so don't add too much water.  It should have kind of a runny chili sort of consistency.  Additionally, make sure you've shelled the eggs prior to adding it, having to shell eggs while you're eating the dish just kind of takes away from the experience.  I actually added some rice wine to flavor the pork a little bit while browning but that's not really necessary.  The amount of rock candy should be something akin to a small pebble, but it really depends on how much you're really making.  In terms of pork, I generally recommend at least a pound, but again it's pretty discretionary.  It's pretty straight-forward, and is really good.  Generally the service method is you get a bowl of rice, and ladle it over, and get an egg to go with it.  I like it, and I think you will too.  Though... ground pork is a lot harder to find than you might think.  BTW, for fried shallots, five-spice powder, and rock candy, generally Asian (namely Chinese) supermarkets will have them.