Homemade Noodle in Pork Broth and Chili Oil

中文菜谱：猪骨汤面

As an Asian, I love having noodles.  And I love making them at home from scratch too. 

For pork broth：

4 pounds pork back bones
5 quarts water
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 large piece of ginger root, smashed
2 star anises
2 to 3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
4 to 5 dried chili peppers , cut into small pieces
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 black cardamom pot
2 to 3 cloves
1/4 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corns
2 to 3 pieces of dried rhizome/ dried ginger slices
1 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste

For homemade noodle：

250 g bread flour
a pinch of salt
90 g water

Directions：

Wrap star anises, dried peppers, black peppercorns, dried rhizome/ dried ginger slices, Sichuan peppercorns, black cardamom pot, bay leaves and cloves with a piece of coffee filter paper and tie it up.

Pork back bones are different from neck bones because they are from different parts.  I prefer back bones and leg bones when making pork broth. 

Fill two pots with water.  Heat both of them over high heat.  Add back bones to one pot.  When it comes to boil, transfer the bones to the other pot along with spice bag, rice cooking wine and ginger root.  Discard the water where the bones were previously cooked.

Cover the pot with lid.  Reduce the heat to simmer for 3 to 4 hours.  I use a 5.75 quart Staub cast iron pot which is super great for making stew and broth.

Add ground white pepper, sugar and salt to taste.  Cook for another 15 and 20 minutes.

Add flour and salt to Philips pasta maker

I love thin noodles, so I always use Tagliatelle Pasta Disc

Cover with its lid.  Start the machine and slowly add water on top.

It will automatically knead the dough and squeeze the thin noodles out. 

There is a trick here for better textured noodle/pasta.  You can replace the water with egg + water mixture.  Or you can pause the machine for a few minutes after it kneads the dough so that the flour and water in dough can combine better.

Cook the noodle in boiling water for 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Doesn’t it look good already?

I prepare diced bamboo shoots, soft boiled egg, chili oil, chopped pickled daikon, chopped peanuts and chopped green onion as toppings.

Soft boiled egg is my new favorite as noodle topping

Add pork broth and toppings to the noodle.  A bowl of freshly homemade noodle in pork broth and chili oil coming right up! O(∩_∩)O~

Bon Appétit!

Beef Noodle Soup with Beef Shank and Tendon

I enjoy making all kinds of soup from scratch at home.  They are great right off the stove.  Sometimes I use them as the soup base for Asian hot pot.  Most times I use them to use noodle soup and rice noodle soup.

The picture above is beef rice noodle soup.  And the picture below is beef noodle soup.  Can you tell the difference? O(∩_∩)O~

Ingredients for beef soup:

2 to 3 pounds of beef shank
1 1/2 to 2 pounds of beef tendon
2 to 3 star anises
2 to 3 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1 small piece of ginger root, smashed with knife
4 to 5 dried chili peppers , cut into small pieces
8 to 10 black peppercorns
2 to 3 bay leaves
1 black cardamom pot
2 to 3 cloves
1/4 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
2 to 3 pieces of dried rhizome/ dried ginger slices
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4teaspoon ground white pepper
chopped cilantro
a few drops of sesame oil
chili oil sauce
water for stewing
salt to taste

Ingredients for noodle：

1 cup of bread flour
1/4 cup of water
a pinch of salt

 

Directions：

Soak both beef tendon and shank in cold water for at least an hour.  Change the water twice in between.

Here are the spices for beef soup: star anises, dried peppers, black peppercorns, dried rhizome/ dried ginger slices, Sichuan peppercorns, black cardamom pot, bay leaves and cloves.  Wrap them with a piece of coffee filter paper.

Tie it up

In a 5.75 quart Staub cast iron pot, add water, beef tendon and shank, rice cooking wine, spice bag and ginger root.

Heat the cast iron pot over high heat.  When the soup comes to boil, remove the white gray bubbles on the top with a spoon.

Cover with lid and reduce to simmer for 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Beef tendon might need longer time to cook.

In the last 15 minutes cooking, add salt, sugar and ground white pepper to taste.

Now we have a pot of wonderful beef soup.

When the soup is being stewed, I make the noodle.

In a medium bowl, add bread flour, water and salt.  Whisk with a pair of chopsticks or a wood spoon.  When everything starts to come together, transfer the dough to a dusted wooden board. 

Knead with hands until the dough is smooth.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes.

Flatten the ball of dough with a large rolling pin.  And then feed it through the pasta roller for KitchenAid stand mixer for several times.  At the one last time, set the thickness to 3.

Remove the roller, and put on the spaghetti cutter. 

Run the thin dough sheet through pasta cutter.

I do enjoy this moment.

What to do next is pretty easy and simple because most of the hard work is done by now.

Cook the fresh noodle in a large pot of boiling water for 30 to 45 seconds.  Drain well and add it a medium bowl, along with beef soup, sliced beef shank and tendon, a couple teaspoons of chili oil sauce, chopped cilantro and sesame oil.

The beef tendon and shank are sliced hot so they are kind of impossible to slice thinly.

The next morning, I made another bowl of beef rice noodle soup exactly the same way.  I allow the beef shank and tenon to completely chill in the refrigerator before slicing them.  Now they look much better in the soup. O(∩_∩)O~

Time to enjoy!

Chicken Soup with Ham, Pearl Barley and Lima Beans

I love to make soups and stews in cold winter times.  Although it takes long time than regular dishes, my whole kitchen smells really good! O(∩_∩)O~

Today I make chicken soup with ham, pearl barleys and lima beans.  The leftover ham bone is perfect for making flavorful chicken soup.  The ham bone adds tons of flavors to the soup, so you don’t need too much seasoning for the soup.

Ingredients：

1 organic free range hen (bought from Asian grocery store)
1 large piece of ham bone
1 piece of ginger, crushed
1/4 cup lima beans
1/4 cup pearl barley
1 to 2 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar
water
salt to taste

Directions：

Rinse the hen and dice it into 2 by 2 inches pieces.  Soak them in a large pot of cold water for 30 to 60 minutes.  Change the water twice in between.  Drain well. 

Add diced hen, ham bone, ginger and rice cooking wine to a large Staub cast iron pot.  Add enough water to the pot, about 3 to 4 inches above the chicken.

Heat the pot over high heat.  When the soup comes to a boiling point, allow it to keep boiling over high heat for 5 to 10 minutes.  Use a spoon to get rid of any impurities coming to the top.

Cover with lid; reduce the heat to simmer for 1 hour.

I love my Staub cast iron pots. They are perfect for simmering.

Add lima beans and pearl barleys, and crank up the heat to medium high.  When the soup boils again, reduce to simmer for another hour or so. 

10 minutes prior serving the soup, add sugar, white ground pepper and salt to taste.  Boil the soup over medium high for 10 minutes.

The ham bone itself is quite salty.  Sample the soup before adding salt.  So that you can make sure it wouldn’t be over seasoned.

Serve immediately with cooked rice or steamed buns.

Lamb Soup with Diced Chinese Bread

中文：羊肉泡馍

Lamp soup with diced Chinese bread is a traditional dish in central China where wheat is widely grown instead of rice.   Because there are proteins, starch, veggies all in one bowl, a bowl of soup like this can be served as breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

Served piping hot the second right after it is cooked, a bowl of lamb soup does not just provide you energy to get through the day, but also brings you comfort in cold winter time.

The authentic way is to make lamp soup with both lamb and lamb bones.  I don’t have any lamb bones, so I substitute with a free range chicken.

And the dense hearty pan grilled Chinese bread is a must for the dish. O(∩_∩)O~

They always come with pickled young garlic and chili sauce. 

Ingredients for the lamb soup:

1 large piece of lamb leg (about 2 to 3 pounds)
1 free range chicken
1 large piece of ginger root, sliced into thick pieces
2 to 3 stalks green onion
3 bay leaves
1 black cardamom pot
3 to 4 pieces of dried rhizome/ dried ginger slices
2 star anises (optional)
1/2teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons rice cooking wine
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon  ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
water
salt to taste

For individual serving:

1/2 to 1 head pickled garlic
chopped cilantro
Chinese vermicelli (It is super fine noodles made from green bean starch), soaked in water for at least 1 hour
edible tree black fungus
chili sauce
 

For the dough:

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup water
a pinch of salt

 

Directions：

Rinse the chicken under cold running water.  Pat dry and chop the chicken into 3 by 4 inches pieces.

Soak the lamb in a large pot of cold water for 2 hours.  Change the water two to three times in between.

Wrap the bay leaves, star anises, cardamom, rhizome, Sichuan peppercorns and black peppercorns with a piece of coffee filter.

Tightly tie it up

Blanch both diced chicken and lamb in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes.  Drain well.

In a large Staub Dutch oven pot , add chicken and lamb.  Fill the pot with fresh boiling water.  The water should be 4 to 5 inches above the meat.  

Heat the pot over high heat until it boils.  Add rice cooking wine, spices wrapped in coffee filter paper, green onions and ginger root slices.

Reduce the heat to simmer for about 2 hours.

Discard the green onions.

Add sugar, ground white pepper and salt to taste.

Continue to cook for another 20 minutes.  Now we have a nice pot of lamb soup.  Remove from heat.  Transfer the lamb to a plate.  Allow it to completely cool down.

When the soup is simmering on the stove, I make the Chinese bread.

Add flour, salt and water to s stand mixer  mixing bowl.

Set it to speed 2.  Knead for about 10 minutes.

Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Transfer to a wooden board.  Cover with plastic wrap and allow it rest for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 to 8 equal pieces.

We are on a low carbohydrates diet so that I divide it into 16 pieces.  

Each piece weighs 28 grams.  I use a kitchen scale  to make sure they are all the same size.  The stand size is bigger than this. O(∩_∩)O~ 

With a small rolling pin, roll each piece flat.

Fold it in the middle.

Roll up from one end all the way to the other end.

Repeat the process until all the pieces are finished.

With your palm, press them down and then roll every single one into flat disc shape.

Heat a cast iron skillet  over medium low heat. 

Add the bread dough pieces.  Cover with lid.  Cook each side for 2 to 3 minutes until they are golden brown.  if you are doing larger dough pieces, remember to extend the cooking time accordingly.

All done

The traditional way is to break them apart with finger tips.  I just find it more efficient and easier to dice them up with a sharp knife.

Slice the lamb

The correct way is to fill each individual bowl with dice bread, wood black mushroom, green bean noodles and lamb.

Add 1 to 1 1/2 lamb stock to a small soup pot.  Heat over high heat until it boils.  Add what is in the bowl to the pot.  Cook for about 1 minute. Remove from heat.  Transfer everything back to bowl.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro.  Add pickled garlic and chili sauce on the top.

Serve it hot immediately.  The lamp soup goes really well with cilantro and pickled garlic.  Try not to skip them because it is the most authentic way to enjoy it.  O(∩_∩)O~

I made the pickled garlic from what I harvested from our backyard vegetable garden. 

The recipe was posted before.

They get better when sitting longer in the sugar vinegar brine.

And yes, I made my own chili sauce too.  The recipe is here.