Monday, August 2, 2010

Adventures in Chinese Cooking: Homemade Noodle Edition - 成功!

After our delicious adventure in jiaozi (dumpling) making, we decided that what we needed to work on most was the dough. You make noodles using the same dough that you use to make jiaozi, so we decided to try making our own noodles, which is overall less time consuming than making jiaozi. I made the dough using my teachers' tips, and when it came time to make the noodles, the dough was perfect!

Because we didn't really have a recipe to go off of, every time we ate out we decided to look and see what veggies kept popping up in noodles. There are no rules really - you can put pretty much any veggie you want in a noodle dish, it all depends on your own tastes. We kept seeing green onion, green peppers, thin carrot slices, and cabbage popping up, so we decided to use those veggies - as well as some red pepper, garlic, and ginger.

The noodles were a success! The food was delicious! The only thing we need to alter next time is the usage of those red Chinese peppers.... those suckers are deceivingly hot.

The veggies all nice & cut up, yum, plus the infamous sauce that completely makes the dish (I use some Chinese vinegar, Chinese soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and red pepper slices - same sauce I love to dip my dumplings in)


The noodles all nice and cut up


Look at that!! Perfect noodles!


Boiling the noodles first until they feel right, then you stir fry


The noodles, pork strips, and veggies all being stir fried



These deceivingly hot peppers! They are so small, at first we only cut up one... then decided maybe we would use one more.... wow... that made a huge difference, this dish was spicy! Next time, we'll stick with one.


They sell them in a huge bag full, like this - but I only need one.... haha. Too bad you can't just go in and buy one pepper ;) I am pretty sure they would look at me as if I had five heads.


I think we are getting the hang of it!

Steph

13 comments:

  1. wow you cut your own noodles :D i'm so impressed! haha even my dad is too lazy and bought store-made ones. you did an amazing job hope it was yummy!!

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  2. It was good!! But if you (and anyone else) have any suggestions for what veggies you like in it, I'd love to know! I feel like we aren't really sure which ones to use, even though it is according to personal taste. Angie - whenever I see your comments I can't wait until I have some good Panda pics to post for you! LOL. When we go to Sichuan I will make sure to get good ones for ya!

    Steph

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  3. That looks so good! I've had those peppers before and yes, they are unbearably hot even in small doses!

    -Amanda
    (The Pretty Pauper)
    Feel free to check out my blog:) prettypauperstyle.blogspot.com

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  4. Mmm, those look good!
    I wish I could hand cute noodles, our family is too lazy so we always buy the packaged ones! T_T

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  5. Looks great! Are you having fun over there?!!

    xx
    Jessie
    http://87life.blogspot.com

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  6. Oh wow, amazing and YUM!!!!:D

    http://allthingsmarie.blogspot.com/
    Beauty. Fashion. Interior Design.
    & Life According to Marie.

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  7. All I can say is yum! I need to go find a snack now, though I doubt anything I come up with will be as satisfying as those noodles look. :)

    xo Marissa
    (The Well-Appointed Catwalk)

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  8. Homemade noodles sound SO good to me right now. Can you please share your recipe & rolling/cutting process? I just LOVE noodles and am drooling at your completed dish photo. I'm so intrigued and wonder if it's something I can make at home too. Or, if you know of a good online source, please share that instead!

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  9. You could definitely make this at home yourself! The noodles themselves are easy to make. The problem is, I don't know measurements! Next time I make them I will take note of measurements, and I will take pics as I do it maybe. Its fun! you can totally do it.

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  10. Oh so basically - AFTER I do it next time, I'll make a how-to post for you! I am sure your family knows better than me though!

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  11. This looks so tasty! Gosh I wished I had the ability to cook more complex Chinese & Vietnamese dishes at home for the BF and I! This might just be my inspiration! Thanks!! :)

    -Libby

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