Category: noodles

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fish ginger honey noodles

ginger coley with noodles

ginger pollock

I do love fish. Cod and haddock are two of my favourite things to eat. Growing up on the East coast of England we regularly had fish and chips, and the smooth, flaky texture of a piece of white fish takes me right back to my childhood.

But fish supplies are not what they used to be. Certain Atlantic cod is becoming rare, and as haddock and cod swim together they can become easily overfished. You probably recall Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fishfight campaign, which successfully fought to change the European discards policy. But this is only a small part of it – a drop in the ocean, if you will (sorry). Many fish stocks are depleted and we need to change our own buying habits if we want to enjoy these species in years to come.

For more information read the Marine Conservation Society or Sustain Web.

In a bid to get some traction, Sainsbury’s are launching a #SwitchTheFish campaign. They want us to think looking out for sea bass, coley, hake or loch trout in place of the “big five”. In fact on 12th June if you ask for salmon, tuna, haddock, cod or prawns they’ll offer you an alternative for free. That’s right, free. No excuse not to try them out!

As a starter they’ve asked me to come up with a recipe, so here’s my ginger coley with noodles.

Coley is a firm white fish, very reminiscent of cod and takes on flavours in a similar way. In this recipe the hum of ginger is tempered with a sweet-salty dressing.

You can substitute the vegetables for whichever stir-fry veg you like. On a weeknight I like to use those bags of stir-fry veg to speed things up.

Whatever you substitute, make it a meal to remember.

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ginger coley with noodles

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 250 g coley fillets
  • 1 inch ginger peeled and chopped
  • 1 garlic clove peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon miso paste
  • 2 egg noodle nests
  • 200 ml vegetable or fish stock
  • 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 400 g mixed stir fry vegetables such as cabbage carrot, beansprouts

Instructions

  • Combine the miso, sesame oil, ginger and garlic and rub all over the fish. Leave to marinate for an hour.
  • Mix the stock, ginger, honey, and soy sauce for your dressing and put to one side.
  • Cook the egg noodles until al dente, drain and rinse in cold water, again leaving to one side until ready.
  • You'll need to cook the vegetables & sauce at the same time as cooking the fish so have two pans on the go.
  • In a small frying pan cook the fish over a medium heat. Don't shake the pan or move it about or the fish will break up. After three minutes or until the fish is white halfway up the side, turn over and cook for another two minutes or until done to your liking. Allow to rest for one minute.
  • Meanwhile, get your wok on high and add a splash of oil. Stir frty the veg briskly for three to four minutes until tender, and then add the sauce. Allow to bubble and reduce for a minute until starting to thicken and then toss in the noodles to reheat and coat.
  • Serve the noodles and veg with the coley on top. Garnish with dried crispy onions.
Categories
noodles steak

black pepper steak stir fry

I’ve been enjoying a lot of noodles in the past year. Most of it down to MiMi’s fabulous education via her Noodle! book, which has encouraged me to explore on my own. I’ve made dozens of stir fries in 12 months, with many types of noodle and rice, meat, vegetables, the works. I’ve also made several trips to See Woo Stores to keep my cupboards stocked with fantastic ingredients!

It also means I’ve been attempting to recreate dishes I’ve had. Like this one:It’s inspired by a dish I had at Hakkasan, the stir-fry black pepper rib eye beef with merlot. It had a glutinous coating, yielding to tender beef and leaving a sticky pepper flavour on the palate. Really, seriously good Cantonese cooking with Western influences. I polished off the whole lot very quickly, and a few minutes later one of my dining companions asked me a question. I had to confess that I’d missed the question, as I was deep in thought as to how they’d achieved the textures and flavours in the beef!

So here’s my version of the Hakkasan dish. It’s not as clean tasting as their version, but retains the heart of it. It ticks all the boxes I was after and one I’ll be making many times.

You start by marinating bavette (skirt) steak. Whilst I love rib-eye – it’s probably my favourite steak – bavette is brilliant in stir fries and extremely tasty. But you must cook it very quickly to avoid it getting tough.

A quick flash-fry later:

After a period of resting, it’s thinly sliced and added to stir fried vegetables, noodles and a quick sauce. 

I think it’s a cracker-san. Give it a try!

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black pepper steak stir fry

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the beef:

  • 400 g bavette steak
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • A good six or seven grinds of black pepper

For the sauce

  • 300 ml beef stock
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 inch piece of ginger minced
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • Plenty of freshly ground black pepper to taste

For the stir fry:

  • 200 g sugar snap peas halved
  • 100 g asparagus halved
  • 1/2 red pepper diced
  • 2 nests egg noodles boiled, drained and rinsed

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients for the beef marinade well and baste liberally on the steaks. Leave covered for at least an hour.
  • Make your sauce by combining all the ingredients, whisking well to dissolve the cornflour.
  • When you're ready to cook, get your wok on screaming hot. Shake excess marinade off the beef and fry the steaks for 90 seconds on each side, until they have coloured well but still quite squishy to the touch. Leave on a board to rest on one side while you carry on with the rest.
  • Keep the wok hot and add a tablespoon of oil. Stir fry the vegetables until starting to soften. Keep stirring to avoid them catching, and then add the sauce (at this point you don't have to stir so diligently).
  • Slice the steak thinly. When the sauce in the wok is bubbling and thick, tip the steak and the cold noodles into the pan. Stir fry for another minute to warm up the beef and noodles, and serve immediately.
Categories
food noodles

baked spring rolls

If you’re looking for an alternative to deep frying spring rolls, try baked spring rolls.

Mrs. Spud loves a spring roll, but they’re not always the most convenient thing to make. But this version is pretty quick to knock up. Some baked recipes aren’t a patch on their fried alternatives, but this is one that does work really well.

I love deep-fried food – a lot – but doing it at home is a faff, messy and smelly. Baking can be a an alternative to deep frying with the right recipe. For this recipe you can mix up the fillings as you wish and change according to what’s in your fridge.

The hardest things are the spring roll wrappers, but larger supermarkets offer them now in both fresh and frozen varieties. Of course if you have access to a Chinese grocer you’ll have no problems.

Try this baked spring roll recipe and let me know how you get on.

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baked spring rolls

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 1/2 onion finely diced
  • 1 carrot julienned
  • 1 clove garlic crushed
  • 30 g vermicelli noodles cooked and allowed to cool
  • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
  • 8 - 10 rice wrappers or spring roll wrappers check your packet for instructions - the ones I get need dampening with water before use

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 200C.
  • Mix all the filling ingredients together thoroughly. Put a heaped tablespoon of the mixture in the centre of a wrapper. Roll up and fold over each end, a little water may help to seal. Place on a greased baking tray.
  • Brush lightly with oil and bake for 15 minutes or until puffed up and crisp. Serve with your favourite dipping sauce.
Categories
burger cheese food noodles pizza steak

what’s new – march round-up

There’s been a lot going on recently , so I thought I’d share with you a quick round up of what’s been happening…

Comte cheese workshop

Comte cheese held a cookery workshop. I absolutely love Comte cheese: smooth, nutty and full of flavour. And really versatile, as evidenced by what we cooked. Check out these beautiful scones:

We also made a delcious chicken and tarragon pie flavoured with Comte.

Cooksister gave it a much more thorough round up, with photos at least 800% better than mine. Go give it a read for the full recipe.

If you haven’t tried Comte, look for it in the supermarket – you won’t be disappointed.

Noodle Kids

I’ve fallen in love with this charming little book.

It uses the American meaning of the word ‘noodle’ taking in any and all pasta recipes. There’s making your own pasta, gnocchi, slurpy soups and all sorts. The book is infused with good humour and is especially written with young families in mind. We had great fun having a “ramen party” with our five year old, where I cooked up broth and noodles and provided a buffet of all sorts of tasty things to add to the bowl “provided there was at least two vegetables”.

I loved it. Available from Amazon.

Pizza Express 50th Birthday

Wouldn’t you know it – Pizza Express is 50 years old this year. To celebrate Pizza Express have revamped their old classics, taking them from great to excellent. Check out the “American Hottest”, a spin on the original American Hot:

More chillies, more peppers, more pepporoni! I tried this and the other modern classics out, and they’re all great fun. They’ve also opened a competition where you can design your own pizza. The prize is £10,000 and a holiday! Try it yourself.

Sainsbury’s lunch ideas

Sainsbury’s have a new range of lunch inspirations. I’ve tried the chicken tikka masala (in a clever microwavable tin), grain pot and tom yum noodle pot as below:

They’re very tasty and a good alternative if you’re in a rush. Visit your nearest Sainsbury’s for more.

Ultimate Burger Stack

I also recently posted an super indulgent burger recipe – meat lovers, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Chop Bloc

Revenge of the meat – I had a real treat of a visit to new Chelmsford steak house Chop Bloc. Go have a read. Spoilers: it’s fab.

And finally… the In Search of Perfection Collection

My ol’ pal In Search of Heston has finally finished cooking all 16 recipes from Heston Blumenthal’s In Search of Perfection series. A massive commitment and fascinating reading. Go enjoy.

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