photo by izumiflowers

I just had to cancel a trip to Malaysia.  While I can't say I am going to miss the unbelievably long plane ride, I will most definitely miss the street food.  Street food is built into the fabric of life in Singapore and Malaysia, so the choices and quality are astounding.  If America could convince all those folks parading through drive-throughs to get out of the car and eat at a trailer, I'm sure the results would be just as amazing.

There are simply too many varieties and tactics in Malaysia to narrow the focus on one dish, but noodles rarely disappoint.  There are plenty of Thai and Chinese influenced noodle bowls to mix with the local favorites.

This is a very simple recipe that finds its depth in two ingredients - the sausage and the noodles.  If at all possible I use fresh made egg noodles.  You can buy fresh pasta, but its remarkably easy to make and the little machine is great fun to use.

The sausage is trickier - choose wisely.  I am lucky enough to have access to some truly fantastic sausage from Whole Foods and some stunning smoked sausage from a few of the BBQ joints nearby.  Either works well, but the preparation changes based on the sausage content.

Hakka Noodles

Handful of bean sprouts

Handful of fresh egg noodles

1 pork sausage, casing removed and diced

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

1/4 cup chicken stock

Directions

1. Bring the stock to a boil and let simmer.Boil  water for the noodles. 
   


2. Blanch the bean sprouts, then add some salt. 


3. Prepare noodles.


4. Cook the pork, dicing as it cooks.


5. Add soy and fish sauces to the bean sprouts, put noodles on top and pork on top of the noodles.


6. Serve warm broth on the side.

photo by minishorts

If you have read this blog at all, you've noticed a few areas where I take some liberties:

• Street food can have many definitions and variations.  It's good enough for me if I think something should be a street food.


• I am heavily influenced by ingredients.  It would be pretty easy to throw up a recipe for tacos, but if there is something in season its usually a good time to talk about it.

This is one of those times.  It’s the time of year that if you are lucky enough to have a friend that hunts, or time to get out there yourself, you are getting ducks.  I was recently lucky enough to get the golden cooler filled with fresh teal duck breasts, and this recipe is the first thing I thought of. 

Since you can pretty much get any noodle dish in Bangkok, I feel like I can take some liberties with noodles.  This a great way to cook duck breast and its even better on noodles.

Duck can get pretty gamey, so it’s a great idea to brine it first.  This recipe takes some time to brine and marinate the meat, so I recommend you do the marinating overnight if you want to serve this for lunch. 

It would not be accurate to call this asian, but you don't see many noodle bowls on ranches in Texas.  The noodles vary in time and texture, so you are on your own for cooking soba the way you like.   In the next couple weeks I'll do duck tacos while ducks are still in season. 

Soba noodles with wild duck

2 lbs duck breast

Soba noodles, cooked to your liking

Brine:

1 cup water

1 cup orange juice

1/2 cup salt

10 black peppercorns

1 clove garlic, smashed

Marinade:

1/4 cup brandy

1 cup red wine

2 onions, minced

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp allspice

1 bay leaf

The rest:

3 Tbsp butter

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced

3/4 cup chicken stock

1. Rinse the duck and pat dry.


2. Mix the brine in a bowl until the salt is dissolved.


3. Put the duck into a glass bowl and cover with the brine.  Cover and refrigerate.


4. Brine the duck for 2 hours.


5. Rinse the duck, clean the bowl and return the duck to the glass bowl.  Cover with the marinade.


6. Marinate overnight or for 5-6 hours.  Stir when you can.


7. Strain the marinade into a bowl.  Reserve both the solids and liquids.  Remove the bay leaf and discard.


8. Heat the oil and butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Brown the duck for 10 minutes.


9. Add about half the reserved onions from the marinade.  Cook for another 7-10 minutes.


10. Add the garlic, mushrooms, stock and 1/2 cup of the marinade liquid.  Bring to a slow boil.


11. Reduce the  heat to a slow simmer, cover, and cook for 1.5 hours.


12. Spoon over the soba noodles.

photo by Grape Juice Girl

Noodles are such a simple meal - the list of noodles you can buy on streets throughout Asia is long.  You can really get by on noodles from a stand at all hours of the day - in a light broth for breakfast, with meats for lunch or a spicy bowl of noodles to end a long night out.

I just love buckwheat soba noodles.  Besides coming in great packages with perfect little wrappers, they are hearty and go well with just about everything except the lightest broths.  This is a quick recipe that makes for a terrific bowl of noodles.  If you have the chicken already cooked, its takes less than 10 minutes to cook this perfect bowl of noodles.

Soba noodles with Spicy Peanut sauce

1 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup scallions

1/2 tsp red chili pepper

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 in grated ginger

Zest from half a lemon

1/2 cup peanuts

2 tsp Hoisin sauce

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1/2 lb or 2 bundles of organic buckwheat soba noodles.

1 chicken breast, cooked or grilled to your liking, slivered

Scallions and cilantro for garnish

Filling

1. Boil water for the noodles with salt.  Cook the noodles while you are making the sauce.


2. Heat the oil over medium heat.  Add scallions, pepper and garlic and cook until softened.


3. Add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar, ginger and lemon zest and allow to heat through but not cook.  Set aside.


4. Blend the sauce with the peanuts, Hoisin sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil in a blender or food processor.


5. Once the noodles are cooked and drained, mix half the sauce with the noodles.


6. But the noodles in a bowl, add the other half of the sauce on top, and add the chicken on top of that.

Make 2-3 servings.