#52_CHINESE NOODLES

FLAT CHINESE NOODLES

After baking too many holiday cookies, I am ready for a change...change of flavor that is. From sugar-y to maybe something salt-y or sour-y.... something pinoy-ish.

I thought about frying some boneless bangus with juice of lemon and patis for saw-sawan,(dipping sauce) but I have to thaw out the bangus then fry it, then that would take about an hour... forget that.

Then I remembered that I have a package of Chinese noodles that had been sitting on the shelf for a few months. I'm not so sure how to cook it because the "how-to" instructions are very vague, at least for me. You'll see what I mean! scroll down....

These noodles are dried and they come in a package of 8 in coiled forms.

The problem I had was that the cooking instructions are in Chinese and in diagrams. Can anybody translate this for me?

After few minutes of contemplations, I decided to cook the noodles like pasta by dropping the noodles in a rapid boiling water. I really wasn't sure how long I was supposed to let them boil in the water, so I just guessed and let them cook for about 5 minutes. Tantya lang! Then drained them in a colander.

I used some frozen veggies and frozen cooked chicken.

Actually, all of the ingredients I used were frozen including the garlic and onions, well, except for the canola oil and the sauces, of course. Fresh veggies would have been better but hey, I made this noodle dish in about 30 minutes or maybe even under 30 minutes, (talo si Rachael Ray) and the taste is not that bad. This is great as an emergency dish, especially when you don't have to chop up anything.

PROCEDURE:

A) Cook the noodles and transfer into a collander to drain.

B) Make vegetable stirfry:

1) Heat some canola oil in a wok, add garlic and onions, and saute until onions are transluscent.

2) Add cooked meat (chicken or pork) and continue to saute for about 3 minutes. Add about 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce and 2 tablespoons of yoshida sauce.

3) Turn the heat on high and stir in the veggies. Continue to saute for another 3 minutes or until the veggies are heated through.

4) Stir in the drained noodles mixing them until everything is well blended together.

TAPOS!

NOTE from MaMely...

Sorry, I don't really measure ingredients except for cakes and pastries.

Updated picture: 2-20-12

#19_Fake Chicken Adobo

Mamasita's Oyster Sauce and Yoshida's Sauce

I don't want to sound like I'm endorsing these brands. I'm not! Actually,I'm not into brands. Often times I buy the generic stuffs. But let me share my little discoveries with you. I've tried different brands of oyster sauce and found the Mamasitas brand to be the best, so far. The difference is that Mamasitas uses natural or real oysters, other brands say on their labels: flavored oyster sauce. But beware though, it has 82% sodium! that's awfully high!

Yoshida sauce has a sweet and savory taste with garlic and some spices not revealed on the label, of course, and has lower sodium content than the oyster sauce. I only find them at Costco. Again, I'm not trying to endorse Costco, (I'm not getting paid by these guys), but that's the only place I know who sells them aside from Sam's club.

The combination of these two sauces makes a lot of difference in this recipe. I've tried using one without the other and the result wasn't satisfactory for me. I guess in areas where the Yoshida is not available you can just use oyster sauce by itself. But because of the salt content you have to use just a little, about 3 tablespoons, and more liquid (soda), therefore, the color of the sauce will be a little pale. Oyster sauce is very excellent in stir fry dishes too.

Rotisserie Chicken from Costco

In my opinion, Costco has the best rotisserie chicken, unlike others, Costco's have mild seasonings which when use to make this recipe, blends really well with the sauces. Again, I've tried other chicken of the kind from other stores but they have too much dry rubs.

The Fake Chicken Adobo

I know you're wondering, is there such a thing?

When my 3 year old nephew first arrived here in the US, he was having a hard time with the food. I took him to McDonalds and he said "ba-aw, sabaw!" Ba-aw is Pangasinan for kanin (cooked white rice) and sabaw is sauce or gravy. He wanted to eat only rice and sauce! I asked his mother what kind of sauce? She explained to me that whenever they went to "MacDo" all he ate was rice with the adobo sauce. I didn't even know that McDonalds in the Philippines serves adobo and rice.

One time they came over, he asked me if I had some adobo sauce. I didn't want to go to the store to buy the chicken because the weather was bad. I scrounged around the freezer and all I found was some rotisserie chicken. I thawed out the chicken in the microwave and cooked it with some yoshida sauce, combined with some oyster sauce. He ate it with gusto! His mom said that I faked him out.

This recipe beats Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meal because you'll have adobo on your table for less than 25 minutes. No kidding! That's because the chicken is fully cooked and if cooked longer than needed they'll fall apart.

Okay, are you ready?

CHICKEN ADOBO:

1 (3 lb.) rotisserie chicken, cut up to serving pieces

1 medium onion, sliced

4 TB canola oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup Yoshida sauce

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar

3 TB oyster sauce

freshly cracked peppercorns

1 cup 7-up or sprite, not diet

Procedure:

1. In a large saute pan, heat oil and brown the garlic. Add the sliced onions. Saute until onions are limp and translucent.

2. Add in the cut up chicken pieces and continue to saute gently for about 5 minutes.

3. Add the sauces, the vinegar and the peppercorns. Cover and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes

4. Pour in the soda and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes.

5. Adjust seasonings to your liking, if too salty add a little more soda and simmer for another 5 minutes, otherwise, its done!

6. This is optional: If you prefer thicker sauce, take out the chicken at this point and cook down the sauce until your desired consistency

ENJOY!!

For Lemongrass Pork Adobo recipe, click here.