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| Formal udon eating. Note the green beans in the lower left. |
We loved the Sunday at Gombei (our local family-style Japanese restaurant and always on Sunday) that she ordered udon for the very first time. prior to that historic occasion, her standard order was Gombei green beans and white rice. It hardly seems worthwhile to take your kid out to a restaurant to eat white rice! For years it was plain udon- just noodles and broth. But in the last months before leaving home the Picky Eater branched out, consuming vegetable udon, sans tofu, lotus root or any other suspicious looking legume. Still, it was progress.
The Picky Eater was also quite fond of their yummy onion rings, and was ready to make them her regular meal. Because they are a special order item, and have inherent lack of nutrition, her dad put the kabosh on that in an instant. She is also known to snitch pieces of squash tempura from other unsuspecting diner's plates.
Other than the local grocery store, Gombei is probably the only local place where we count as "regulars." So, regular, that the wait staff there pretty much has all the possible variants of our order memorized- "Large plate" or unagi don, "large plate" or teriyaki chicken, udon and green beans. At our last Gombei meal before departure, the Picky Eater asked her dad and I when we would be eating at Gombei again. In non-collusioned unison, we simultaneously answered "Never!" After 15 years of twice monthly or more Sunday meals there, we had had enough. And true, to our word, we haven't been back.
But Gombei is great for families with kids- the food is fresh, fast, comforting, and well priced, and beer is served (for the grownups). They have back room seating for small messy eaters. We even held some of the Picky Eater's birthday dinners, with 10+ kids, there, and they never messed up an order. Give our regards to Gombei if you end up there.
Gombei - Menlo Park
1438 El Camino Real Menlo Park, CA 94025
650 329-1799
Home Noodle Love
There are also a couple of stock home prepared Asian noodle recipes that the Picky Eater was partial to. The first is based on "Orchid's Tangy Cool Noodles" from The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking by Barbara Tropp. It makes me feel incredibly ancient to admit that I first made this recipe for a picnic lunch prior to a Julio Iglesis concert at the Greek Theater in Berkeley in 1983.
Chinese Noodle Salad
1 lb. fresh Chinese noodles (works fine with dried pasta of any shape too, cook it until just al dente)
Dressing:
3 1/2 Tb sesame oil
3 1/2 Tb soy sauce
1 1/2 Tb balsamic vinegar
2 Tb sugar
2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. hot chili oil
4 Tb thinly sliced scallions
Cook the noodles in a large pot of unsalted boiling water until just done, about 2-3 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. Whisk dressing ingredients together, and toss with noodles. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight and add the scallions just before serving.
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| Noodle salad with chicken |
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| Noodle salad a la Picky Eater |
This recipe invites additions of anything that strikes your fancy. Well, anything that is compatible with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and sesame oil. The Picky Eater likes hers on the plain side (surprise, surprise!) with just frozen peas and grated carrots. But, I have been know to add any and all of the following:
Shredded cooked chicken
cooked shrimp
cucumber matchsticks
peanuts
sliced snow or sugar snap peas
thinly sliced radishes
celery
sliced mushrooms
bean sprouts
cilantro
sesame seeds
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| Noodle Pillow with bell pepper saute |
When I told the Picky Eater this morning (PST) that I had made a noodle pancake last night, she let out a sigh of longing. So, I guess it goes on the list of things to do when she's home. This is also from Barbara Tropp (starting to get the picture that The Modern Art of Chinese Cooking is the only Chinese cookbook that I own? Wrong ! I also own her China Moon Cookbook!)
Again, she asks for fresh Chinese noodles; we experimented with dry pasta noodles, but they don't have the glutenous quality required for the pancake to stick together.
Pot-Browned Noodle Pillow
8 oz. fresh Chinese noodles (thin)
2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
1 tsp. salt
4-5 Tb peanut or corn oil for pan frying (use 2 Tb if cooking with a non-stick pan)
Equipment: an 11-12" heavy frying pan or two 7" frying pans (divide everything in half if using the smaller pans) with lid(s).
Fluff, separate and untangle the noodles in a colander. Boil them in a large pot of unsalted water until cooked but still firm, about 2 minutes. Drain the noodles and run cold water over them until they are cold. Drain again, and toss in a bowl with the sesame oil and salt.
Swirl half the corn/peanut oil in the frying pan over medium high heat until it will sizzle one noodle. Turn the heat down to medium, and coil the noodles into the pan in a flat, even layer, pressing and pushing them together with a spatula. Cover the pan and cook 5-7 minutes, until the underside of the pancake is brown and crispy.
Flip the pancake over (it can also be inverted onto a plate and slipped back in the pan cooked side up), drizzle the additional oil around the edges of the pan and swirl to distribute the oil. Press the pancake down again, cover and cook until browned on the 2nd side, for about 5-7 minutes more.
Slide the pancake onto a cookie sheet lined with 3 layers of paper towels, and let it drain for a minute or two. Slide onto a platter, cut into wedges, and serve with a stir fry mixture of your choice. The pancake can be made up to 2 days ahead and reheated in a 400 degree oven until hot and crispy.
Serves 2-4.
Easy Stir Fries
Sometimes making a stir fry seems like an awful lot of chopping, measuring, and mixing, especially when it includes a variety of vegetables and seasoning. Here are a couple of fairly easy ones:
Szechuan Chicken
2 whole chicken breasts, skinned & boned
2 Tb soy sauce 2 Tb cornstarch
2 egg whites
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
6 Tb peanut oil
1/2 red chili pepper flakes
2 green peppers, cut into thin strips
Sauce
1/2 t. chopped fresh ginger
2 Tb dry sherry
4 Tb soy sauce
1 Tb honey
2 Tb rice vinegar
Cut the chicken into 1/2” strips. Mix the soy sauce, cornstarch, egg whites, and garlic. Add the chicken, mixing well. Refrigerate, covered, at least 30 minutes.
Make the sauce: Mix the ginger with the sherry, then add the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a wok or sauté pan. Add the pepper flakes and cook briefly. Drain the chicken pieces, add to the pan and stir fry 2 minutes. Add green peppers and cook 2 minutes more. Pour in the sauce and cook, stirring, until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and serve.
This can also be refrigerated and reheated before serving.
Serves 4-6. From The Picnic Gourmet by Joan Hemingway.)
For vegetarian noodle fans, try topping your noodle pancake with a simple stir fry of broccoli, onion, and red bell peppers.
Veggie Stir Fry with Garlic
1 lb. broccoli crowns
1 onion
2 red bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 Tb corn or peanut oil, or other high temp cooking oil
1 Tb. finely minced garlic
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tb. soy sauce
1 Tb. unseasoned Japanese vinegar
1 tsp. sesame oil
pepper
Cut the broccoli into flowerets; peel, quarter, and slice the onion. Split the peppers, remove the seeds and inner ribs and cut them into 1" squares.
Heat the cooking oil in a wok or large flat fry pan over medium heat until a bit of garlic sizzles, then add the garlic and stir about 5 seconds. Add the sliced onion, and stir-cook for about 1 minute. Add the broccoli, stirring again for 1 minute, and then the bell peppers, also stir-cooking for a minute or so. Sprinkle in the salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, and stir together. Cover the pan and let the vegetables steam over low heat for a couple of minutes, until just tender. Stir in the cilantro, sesame oil and a generous amount of pepper. Serve on top or on the side of the noodle pancake, or with rice. Serves 3-4.
End your Asian noodle repast with these yummy sesame seed cookies. Be sure to underbake them; they turn hard and crispy on the outside as they cool.
Sesame Cookies
2/3 cup sesame seeds
7 Tb. butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
Toast the sesame seeds, stirring occasionally, in a dry saute pan over low heat; it will take about 5 minutes. (You can tell that they are toasted when you can smell them.) Set them aside to cool.
Stir the flour, baking powder salt, and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Beat the softened butter with the two sugars in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually stir in the flour and mix until just incorporated, then stir in half (1/3 cup) of the sesame seeds. Refrigerate the dough until firm, at least one hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and adjust the oven racks to accommodate two cookie sheets. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1" balls, and then roll each ball in the remaining sesame seeds. Place the cookie balls about 2" apart on the cookie sheets, and flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand. Sprinkle the cookie tops with any leftover sesame seeds.
Bake the cookies for about 10-15 minutes, depending upon your oven, until just golden brown. Do not brown! They may seem too squishy when you remove them from the oven, but they will harden significantly as they cool.
Makes 24 cookies.
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