mah jong mien (aka peanut butter noodles)

a light meal that is rich in flavour

I have no idea why this is called Mah Jong Mien in Taiwan, as it has nothing to do with the game of tiles, but it has been a staple go to meal growing up in our household.  My mom is the queen of putting together a healthy home cooked meal in minutes from items found in her pantry and fridge, and this peanut butter noodle dish is just one of those.  I think we ate this as kids weekly - and still do whenever we are home to visit.  My mom's version is even simpler - she mixes peanut butter, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and garlic together in a bowl until smooth then tosses it with the noodles and vegetables.  It's super easy and tasty.  Below is my take on our family staple.

what you need:

for the peanut sauce

• 2 heaping tbsp natural peanut butter
• 2 tbsp naturally brewed soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 slices fresh ginger
• 1 large garlic clove
• 2 green onions
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp grapeseed oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 tsp white pepper 

for the noodles

• 4 servings of any dry asian noodle, you can even use pasta (e.g. linguine)
• 2 medium carrots
• 1 handful fresh cilantro
• a small bunch broccolini (or broccoli) 

what to do:

1. Start by getting your sauce ready.  Thinly slice ginger and roughly chop garlic.  Cut off bottom white part of green onions (about 2 inches) and slice lengthwise.  Get the rest of the ingredients for the sauce measured and ready on hand.
2. In a small sauce pan on medium, heat up grapeseed and sesame oil.  Add ginger, garlic, and onions.  Sauté for about 1 min, then deglaze with the water.  Add soy sauce, peanut butter, vinegar, and white pepper.  Stir until peanut butter dissolves, and reduce heat down to a simmer.  Allow it to reduce to about half.

   

   garlic, onions, and ginger sautéing

   

   reducing sauce

3. Get a large pot of water on the stove on high heat to cook the noodles.
4. While waiting for the pot to boil, clean and prepare vegetables.  Peel and grate the carrots, and slice broccoli into long slim pieces.  Slice remaining green onion on a bias and roughly tear cilantro.  
   
5. Once the water is boiling, add noodles.  Depending on what kind of noodles you are using, your cooking time will vary.  Whatever your package indicates, set your timer for 1 minute shy of it's cooking time.  This is because you want to put the vegetables in with the noodles to cook for 1 minute.  
   
6. Drain noodles and vegetables, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking liquid.
7. Return noodles and vegetables to pot and pour reduced peanut sauce over noodles and toss.  You may need to add a little bit of the cooking liquid if the noodles seem too dry.  Toss in some of your cilantro and green onions, but reserve a small amount for garnish.
8. Transfer noodles to serving platter and top with cilantro and green onion for garnish.  Serve with your favourite hot sauce if desired - we used sriracha.  Enjoy!

with sriracha

crisp & chewy chow mein

a tasty bowl

My in-laws were visiting this weekend and they brought a giant turkey breast which needed to be cooked on saturday (expiry date!) - I had planned on making a roast with potatoes because they are a meat and potatoes kind of family.  I guess I could have done turkey and potatoes...but I decided that since it was Taiwanese New Year I'd make them something asian-y and hope for the best:)  They enjoyed it (my father in law picked out the green parts of the boy choy but ate up the rest, that's pretty good for him...I mean this is the guy who ordered a coke at a tea house on top of a famous taiwanese mountain) - so I thought for sure this one is blog worthy.

what you need:

serves 4-6

• 2 turkey breasts
• marinade:
• 2 tbsp chili soy paste (if you don't have this, just use soy sauce and some hot sauce)
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce (again, if you don't have this, sub with soy sauce)
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• ~250 g of dried chow mein noodles (found in the international aisle)
• 1 large carrot
• 1/2 cucumber
• two big handfuls of bean sprouts
• 4 stalks of large bok choy
• canola oil for cooking
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• freshly ground black pepper
• red chilies *optional - I didn't use any this time! but if you like a spicy kick go ahead and use them when you are sautéing the veggies
• 3 green onions
• 1 large handful of cilantro

what to do:

1.  Rinse turkey breasts and pat dry with paper towel.  Place in a large bowl.  Combine marinade ingredients and pour over turkey.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to 12 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 375 F.  Place turkey breast on baking dish (with all the marinade as well) and cover with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, depending on how thick the meat is (you know it's done when you cut the thickest part and juices run clear) - if there is skin on it, broil on high for the last 1-2 minutes to crisp it up.  Remove and allow turkey to rest under aluminum foil for 20 minutes.
3. While the turkey is baking, prepare carrots, bok choy, and cucumber by thoroughly washing and cutting into match stick size pieces.  Rinse bean sprouts.  Chop up green onions and cilantro for garnish.  Continue with step 4 when the turkey is done and out of the oven.
4. Bring a large pot of water to boil to cook the noodles.  Cook noodles according to it's package, usually 3 minutes or so in salted boiling water.  Drain, do not rinse.
5. In a large nonstick pan, heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil on medium.  Put noodles onto hot pan and allow it to crisp up on one side, toss/flip with tongs, and allow it to crisp up a bit more (about 5-10 minutes).  

   

   noodles crisping up

   Use a spoon to scoop up juices from the turkey pan and drizzle over noodles.
6. Transfer crisped noodles onto a serving platter and in the same nonstick pan, heat up 1 tsp each cooking oil and sesame oil and pour the rest of the turkey pan drippings into the pan.  Sauté carrots and white parts of the bok choy until tender, then add the green bok choy parts and bean sprouts.  Sauté for another minute then turn off the heat.  Add cucumbers and toss all veggies with a little more soy sauce if needed.  Season with freshly ground pepper, and place on top of noodles.
7. Thinly slice turkey (about 1/4") on an angle and lay on top of vegetables.  Garnish with cilantro and onions.  Serve hot and enjoy!

a healthy platter of turkey over veggies over noodles