Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Za Jiang Mien (from...Texas?)


Technically I stumbled upon this "recipe" in Texas, although it is a Chinese dish.   I was there visiting my grandfather's childhood friend, and he was whipping up a typical lunch.  It was clear that cooking was an art to him, and not a science.  As such, I watched his every move and the ingredients he added, without asking for amounts or temperatures.  Much like when I recreated this dish in Israel, do what you can with what you have.  :)

Prepare the vegetables/toppings:

Slice finely and blanche:
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Bean sprouts (pick ends off first)
  • Cucumbers (don't blanche)
  • Edamame (optional).
Cook the meat sauce:

Put olive oil and a lot of finely chopped green onions into a frying pan.  Add ground pork and split apart with chopsticks or a spatula.  Add soy sauce.  Then add chicken broth and let it boil down a bit.  Then add superior dark soy sauce.  In a small bowl or mug, mix a bit of flour and water and then add the mixture to the meat sauce, stirring to thicken.  Let it cook a bit more.

Cook the noodles:

Typically, you use a thick wheat noodle.  I've also had it with dried Chinese noodles, or most recently I used egg noodles (because that's what I could find!).



Set the table and serve!  Fill your bowl with noodles, then add your condiments and top with the meat sauce.  Enjoy!

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