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The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Wednesday 6 June 2007

Baked Glass Noodles with Chicken

I use the words 'glass noodles' as the title of this recipe because I was at a loss whether to use the word tanghoon, which is the term I'm most familiar with when referring to these transparent mung bean noodles, or to use harusame, which is the Japanese name for the same type of noodles since I'd bought it and made this dish in Japan. So plain old 'glass noodles' will do, and you will find that I've used the terms tanghoon and harusame interchangeably in this recipe.

These noodles are popular in most Asian cuisines, including Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, and it certainly is well-known amongst the Chinese population of Malaysia and Singapore. I love tanghoon because it will readily absorb all the yummy flavours of the ingredients cooked with it. I hadn't used tanghoon in my cooking before, but since I had some in my pantry, I decided to try and make a baked dish of it with chicken. I think that this dish could benefit with some shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine) and dark soy sauce, but I had to make do with the limited ingredients that I have in this countryside area. Mirin (sweet cooking sake) is a nice, light and sweeter substitute for the shaoxing. I would also use a claypot if I had one big enough - I love claypot dishes!

As I've often said before, don't be afraid to experiment with the ingredients in your pantry. Go with your instincts and tastebuds! Baking will allow the ingredients to meld and the flavours to develop better, but it is not an essential step - it can be skipped if you don't have an ovenproof dish or an oven.

Ingredients

500g chicken breast fillet, sliced
1 tablespoons each of oyster sauce, vinegar and soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil,
1 tablespoon cornflour
Some oil
1 medium onion, sliced
40g harusame/tanghoon/mungbean/glass noodles (dried)
2 cups good stock (fish or chicken. I used stock made from the ikan bilis my parents brought over on their visit)
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 teaspoon ginger chopped
4 pimans (Japanese green capsicum) or 1 green capsicum, julienned
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet cooking sake)
soy sauce and pepper to taste

Method

Marinade for a few hours or overnight with the oyster sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornflour and some pepper. The acidity of the vinegar allows the chicken to absorb the marinade, and also serves to keep the chicken tender during the cooking process.

1. Heat the stock until it boils, place the dried harusame in it and turn off the heat. Let the harusame soften and absorb the flavour of the stock. If baking, preheat the oven to 180degC.
2. Saute the sliced onion with some oil on medium heat until onion is soft, then add ginger and garlic and stir fry for a minute further.
3. Turn up the heat, add the chicken and stirfry for a minute to brown the meat.
4. Add about 1/2cup of the stock to the pan to deglaze, then add the julienned pimans, mirin and sugar.
5. Bring to a simmer and turn down the heat and simmer gently for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked.
6. Add soy sauce and pepper to taste, then transfer to an ovenproof dish with a cover (eg claypot, pyrex). Add the stock with the softened harusame to the chicken and mix well.
7. If baking, place in a moderate oven (180degC) and cook for 10 minutes.
8. Serve with rice and vegetables, and enjoy while hot.


2 comments:

  1. yummy
    hmmm that actually looks very very yummy....except for maybe the green capsicums...*bleh*

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  2. Re: yummy
    Thanks :) I personally don't think it looks as yummy as it was coz I seriously need to brush up on my food-photo-taking skills. I used the capsicum for colour - green beans would work well too.

    ReplyDelete