Chicken Curry Noodle

To Honor my friend

Our father always took care of our family as every father should. But one thing I want to brag about him is that he always love to have good food and let us try many different foods since we were young.

From these varieties, one noodle dish consisting of Indian, Chinese and Burmese influences is one I remember particularly well. As our country has a rich, diverse culture with Churches, Chinese Temples, and Mosques in downtown despite the majority of people being Buddhist and having pagodas across the country. In my memory, this noodle dish was available in a neighborhood near the downtown Mosque.

The Indian influences are brought out by the use of curry, while soy and oyster sauces that are used in this dish fulfill the Chinese component. Finally, fish sauce, roasted chili, and besan powder bring the Burmese influence to the meal. It is fair to say that this is a Burmese fusion noodle dish with the use of these ingredients.

During one of our Myanmar family gatherings, one sweet family invites us over for dinner and I got this delicious recipe from my friend whom I consider family. In honor of remembering her recipe, I would like to share this recipe with you for another option of a noodle dish. This dish has been easy to make and has remained one of our family favorites.

Chicken Curry Noodle (5 Serving)

12 oz     Pasta pack (normal spaghetti or angel hair pasta)
16 oz     Chicken (boneless skinless chicken thigh)
8 oz       Coconut milk
1 cup     Fine chopped Onion
1 Tbsp   Garlic
2 Tbsp   Fine chopped ginger
2 tsp     Turmeric Powder
1 Tbsp   Chilli powder
1 Tbsp   Oyster Sauce
2 counts Bay leaves
1 Tbsp   Dark Soy sauce
1 tsp      Light soy sauce
1 cup     Thin sliced onion
1 cup     Thin sliced Cabbage (shredded cabbage)
1 count   Lime
1/2 cup   Chiffonade mint leaves
5 tsp      Roasted Bean powder (Roasted Besan)
5 tsp      Roasted crushed red pepper
5 tsp      Fish sauce
1/4 cup  Canola Oil
3 tsp      Salt

Instructions

1. Put 1 cup finely chopped onion, 1 tbsp garlic, and 2 tbsp ginger into the chopper or blender to make a fine paste.

2. Cut the chicken pieces into bite-size cubes and marinade with 2 tsp salt, turmeric powder, and light soy sauce.

3. On the stove top, into the 4 qt pan,  add the oil and heat the pan then add the ginger, garlic and onion paste with chilly powder then stir with wooden spoon.

4. Add chicken and cook for 5-10 minute to make sure all the water cooked out of chicken.

5. When all the water is gone, add the coconut milk and bay leaves together in the pan and let it simmer for 15 -20 minutes. We may also add 1/2 cup water just to make more curry sauce for the noodle.

6. Preparing Noodle:  Boil the pasta according to the direction from the packet. Strain the noodle with a strainer and wait for 15 minutes. In the mixing bowl, Add 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce to the noodle and mix it thoroughly.

7. One Serving Plate: In the pasta plate or bowl, add shredded cabbage, sliced onion, mint
   ( 2 tbsp: 2tbs : 1 tsp), add seasoned pasta (1 cup).

8. On top of that noodle, add 1 tsp roasted besan powder, 1 tsp roasted crushed red chili, 1tsp fish sauce, 1/2 tsp lime juice ( may add more for sour taste).

9. Then pour warm chicken curry sauce on top of the noodle about 5 Tbsp together with meat.

10. We have to mix the noodle, sauce, and vegetable thoroughly together to enjoy the spicy curry noodle. We may use more roasted crushed chili powder for spicier taste.

Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!

As we moved overseas, we had no prior knowledge of the celebration of Valentine's Day in our home country. But when we arrived in Singapore, we took notice of young couples celebrating Valentine's Day since the country was well developed.

Instead of celebrating over 20 years of marriage as an aging mother on Valentine's Day, my plans for the holiday are different than most: in which I take the liberty of making a nice meal for my immediate and extended family would enjoy.

A fond memory I have is of my father persuading my sisters and me to eat out often. In several instances we preferred to go eat Bee Hon Soup (a Rice Vermicelli Soup dish with pork meatballs, called Kyay Oh), but our mother overruled our choice and naturally, our father would agree to make her happy, so we usually ended up at a generic Chinese restaurant.

On this long weekend in which Valentine's Day comes together with Presidents' Day, I plan to make this soup in honor of the loving memories we cherished during our teenage years.

Vermicelli Soup with Pork Meat Ball (3 serving)

Ingredients

Prep 1. For soup stock

2 lb      Pork Neckbone (or spare rib)
2 slices ginger
2 tsp    light soy sauce
1 tbsp  Sugar
Salt to your own taste
(Optional: carrot, celery, parsnip to make pure vegetable sweetness)
0.5 tsp White pepper

1. In the 6 qt pan, add above all ingredients with 4 qt of water then boil it with high heat.

2. When it starts boiling, turn down the heat to medium and let it simmer for 2 hours.
( Every soup stock taste better next day if we save in fridge)

Prep 2. For meatball

1 lb     Ground Pork
1 tsp   White pepper
0.5 tsp Black pepper
1 tbsp  Sugar
1 tsp    Salt
2 tbsp   Corn Starch (Binding ingredient for meat)
0.5 tsp  (MSG optional)

1.  In a clean dry bowl, add above ingredients and seasoning together.

2.  Mix it thoroughly with your hand or use mixer to blend in all together.

Prep 3. For other toppings

6 cooked frozen fish ball (thawed)
6 cooked frozen pork ball (thawed)
6 pieces  firm tofu (1 cubic inch)
6 pieces  cooked quail egg (peeled)
3 cups    rough cut Gai Choy (Chinese vegetable)
1.5 cups  1 inch cut Chinese Chives
3 counts Egg (optional)
( boiled pork stomach, pork Kidney, pork liver such as pork organs are optional)
( Pig organ soup is famous delicacy authentic food in Asia)

Instructions

1. In the 2 qt size soup pot, pour 1 qt of soup stock into the pot and boil with high heat.

2. When it starts boiling, add 1 cup pre-seasoned minced pork ( ground pork) into the soup pot with the spoon one at a time. Then cover the pot and let it boil for 5-10 minutes.
( It also depends on how you want to cook the meat.)

3. Then add 2pics of fish ball, 2 pieces of hard-boiled quail eggs, 2 pics of tofu let it boil again for 3 more minutes.

4. Season the soup with salt, and sugar to your own taste before step 5.

5. Finally,  add the greens ( 1 cup Cut Gai Choy and 0.5 cups cut Chinese chives). After adding green, on top of the vegetable add 1 cup presoaked vermicelli.
then let it boil again for 5 minutes.

6. If we choose to add egg,  we may add the fresh egg together with vermicelli.

7. When the vermicelli is tender enough to chew,  pour everything into the serving bowl.

Every individual serving soup bowl, we need to make it individually in each soup pot.

(Note: If we use pig organ, the time of cooking may be different.)
( Sri Racha Chili Sauce is the best paring dipping sauce. )