Miso Pork Noodle Soup with Soft Boiled Egg (ゆで卵)

I hope all of you had a wonderful and blessed Christmas this year.  Mine was filled with wonderful food, lots of presents, great friends and family.     hm….maybe a few too many cookies and chocolates!    Is there such a thing as too many cookies and chocolate?  hahaha… I guess not.   



Nothing is more comforting than having a bowl of hot noodle soup after the holiday feast. Noodle soup gotta be one of the top 3 of my favorite brunch items. I hope some of you had a chance to make the Roasted Pork Loin with Miso and Asian Pear Glaze in my previous post. Actually, I do make that pork roast from time to time. Because I can use whatever left over to make this Miso Pork Noodle Soup. Plus, my little boy is a big fan of noodle soup, especially when I serve it with the pickled daikon (the yellow half circles you see on the small plate).



This Miso Pork Noodle Soup with Soft Boiled Egg is super simple to make. If you know how to boil water, you can make this noodle soup! No kidding. I love soft boiled eggs, if you are serving them to young kids, elderly or pregnant ladies in the house, just make sure you get the pasteurized eggs so everyone can enjoy a soft boiled with the peace of mind.



The trick to prevent cracking on the egg shells is to place the eggs in the cold water before heating your pot. When it’s the doneness you want (I cooked mine 3 to 4 minutes more after the water comes to a full boil), remove the eggs from the pot and run under cool tap water until the eggs are completely cool to the touch. That way, the eggs shells will peel off nicely and won’t stick to the egg whites.



In this particular noodle soup, I thinly sliced the Roasted Miso Pork Loin I had along with some Japanese fish cakes (they comes in all kinds of shapes and colors).  Add the soft boil egg and some bok choi and you are all set.  The pork slices were still very juicy and tender even after reheating in the miso soup.   My little boy declared he can (and wants to) have this noodle soup every day and won’t get bored! 

Thank you for stopping by today and I wish you all a prosperous 2012!  Happy New Year.  





Miso Pork Noodle Soup with Soft Boiled Egg (ゆで卵)
(Printable Recipe)
4 Servings

2 eggs
4 servings of egg noodles or ramen (I used fresh egg noodles)
8 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons instant dashi granules (This is what I used)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 tablespoons red miso paste (Such as this one)
1 bunch of bok choy
some ready to eat fish cakes (Kamaboko), whatever kind you prefer
12 thinly sliced Roasted Miso Pork Loin

In a medium saucepan filled with cool tap water, place the eggs in the pot before heating on the stove.  When the water comes to a full boil, let the eggs cook another 3 to 4 minutes (depending on how cooked you want your eggs to be).  Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and run them under cold tap water until completely cool to the touch.  Remove the shells and cut each egg in half, length wise.

Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles to el dente according to the package’s instructions.  Remove noodles from water and equally divide them into 4 serving bowls.

In another clean medium saucepan, heat the chicken broth with the dashi, soy sauce and miso paste to a boil.  Place the bok choy, fish cakes and roasted miso pork loin slices into the broth.  When the broth returns to a boil, remove from heat and arrange the veggies, fish cakes, pork loin and soft boil egg on top of the noodles.  Equally divide the soup in each bowl and serve hot.


This recipe is shared with:

Full Plate Thursday
Foodie Friday
Friday Favorite
Pink Saturday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Tuesday Talent Show
Success U
What's Cooking Wednesday

Roasted Pork Loin with Miso and Asian Pear Glaze

If you haven’t decided what entrée to make for the Holiday Dinner, here’s a simple and scrumptious recipe for you.  Honestly, I’m not a big fan of turkey.  They often turn out to be on the 'dry' side rather than juicy and moist.  With that said, I still have to fine tune a turkey recipe.  But I’ll save that task for next year.  This Christmas, I’m totally all over the Oink! Oh, I mean pork.   



This Roasted Pork Loin with Miso and Asian Pear Glaze recipe is wonderful.  Not only that it’s super easy to make, it’s also very favorful.  The meat will turn out tender, juicy and moist.  Want to join me into the kitchen?  Come check it out.

First, we need to hold the pig hostage!  Tie it up so that it does not run away.  Well, actually, the kitchen twine helps the pork loin to stay in its beautiful shape after roasting.  Whatever the case is, tie it up!



Up next, keep the pig happy!  We will need some flavorful marinate to do that.  The red miso paste in this recipe is one of the star ingredients.  You might notice from my recipe below that I didn’t use a lot of salt in the marinate because both the miso paste and soy sauce will add saltiness to the meat.



Now, give that pig a mask and a massage!  Smear the marinate onto the pork loin and put it into a ziploc bag and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.  Gotta keep the pig cool!



To make this pig even happier, feed it with some Asian pears!  These pears are crisp, sweet and juicy.  Very different than the skinnier, mushy, green and red version you normally see in the markets.  If you haven’t try these Asian pears before, you need to hung them down and give them a try.  They are delicious as is, and really work wonderfully in this recipe by adding some natural sweetness to the glaze. 



When you are ready to roast, tuck the pig in along with the Aisan pears, onions and chicken stocks.  Let the pig get its beauty sleep in the oven.  Well, more like a nap, I should say.  I have a 3 1/2 pound pork loin and took me 60 minutes to cook.  Make sure a meat thermometer reads 145 degree F when inserted at the thickest part of the meat. 



The whole house smells wonderful when it’s roasting.  When it’s ready to get out of the oven, I couldn’t help but inhaled deeply before I take the whole dish out.  It’s amazing how scrumptious it is.  See how beautiful the pig turns out after its beauty nap?



Let the loin rest on the chopping board covered with a foil for at least 3 minutes.  Now, the pig is happy, relax and satisfy.  You can untie it and serve.  It’s not going anywhere except to your tummy.  And you’ll be one happy camper, or kidnapper.



I reduce the sauce a little and add another tablespoon of miso paste to finish off the glaze/gravy.  These pork loin are wonderful over rice, noodle, or mash potatoes, whatever you prefer.  After I finished my plate, I wanted my beauty nap too!



I’m sharing this recipe with Kitchen PLAY this month.  The National Pork Board is also sponsoring a delicious giveaway at Kitchen PLAY.  All qualifying bloggers in each course will be entered to win a National Pork Board prize.  If you’re joining in the fun, please review the complete contest rules before entering.  Good luck!








Roasted Pork Loin with Miso and Asian Pear Glaze
(Printable Recipe)


Ingredients:

3 ½ pound pork loin
1 large Asian Pear (Korean Pear), cored and cut into small chunks
1 small onion, peeled and cut into small chunks
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 tablespoon red miso paste

Marinate ingredients:

1/4 cup red miso paste
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Shao Hsing Rice Cooking Wine
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and split in half
2-inch fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into small chunks
3 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon white ground pepper

In the bowl of a small food processor, ground all the marinate ingredients until it’s a smooth paste.
Tide the pork with a kitchen twine so the pork remain its shape after baking. Place the pork in a large zip log bag with marinate paste. Squeeze out excess air in the bag and close the zip. Move the pork and marinate around so all surface of the pork is covered with marinates. Place the bag in a container and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven at 350 degree F. Place pork loin along with all marinate onto a large glass baking dish (mine is 8 by 10 by 2-inch). Arrange Asian pear and onion on the sides of the pork. Pour chicken stocks onto the pork. Bake for 60 to 70 minute or until a meat thermometer reads 145 degree F in the thickest part of the loin.

Remove loin onto a cutting board and cover with foil to rest for at least 3 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer sauces, pears and onion from baking dish to a small sauce pan and cook on high heat. Reduce the liquid by 1/2. Stir in a tablespoon of red miso paste, to taste. Then, puree reduced stock, pear and onion until smooth.

Cut pork loin into desired thickness, about 1/2 to 3/4-inch. Drizzle gravy/glaze over pork and serve over rice.


This recipe is shared with:

Foodie Friday
Fresh Bite Friday
Full Plate Thursday

BBQ Galore

Hope you all had a wonderful Independence Day.  In the States, it’s the “official” BBQ day.  So, here we go.  A recap of what we had to celebrate 4th of July with family and friends.



What’s a celebration without some bubbly?  Plus, the person who “man the grill” needed a chilled drink too, especially with the hot weather.  It was nice to add a few frozen blueberries to keep it super cold.



On the menu, we had baby back ribs, citrus marinated chicken wings and chicken drumsticks.  We also had some shrimps and sweet onions skewers marinated with olive oil and thyme.
 


BBQ shrimps are the best when you’re hungry, they were done in just a few minutes. 



Of course we needed more veggies.  I used to roast asparagus in the oven and thought they were good.  After trying these grilled version, I can totally start the grill just for them!  They were so flavorful!  The grilling really enhance their natural sweetness and added a lovely charcoal flavor at the same time.  These asparagus were really tender, yet still had a great crunch to them.  nom, nom, nom….



Corn was another wonderful item to BBQ.  These were particular sweet and juicy.  I had some crimini mushrooms wrapped in foil too, but they were all gone before I had a chance to take pictures.



The chicken wings are my favorite items to BBQ as well (I really have that many favorites!)  With a coat of honey at the end, they are out-of-this-world-succulent.  Yes, wings are a little messy to eat, but totally worth it because they are finger licking good.



I totally forgot to take a closed up shot for the chicken drumsticks, the wings are too distracting!  LOL.  The drumsticks were juicy and flavorful with a hint of smoky flavor.  Not bad at all.



By the time the baby back ribs were done, I was quite full already.  But, still can’t help but to cut myself a piece or two. 




For dessert, we had Nutella Macarons, Mixed Berries Sorbet with Meyer Lemon and Basil, and lots of ice cream!  We’ll have another BBQ party coming up soon to celebrate baby girl’s birthday.  Can’t wait to enjoy more BBQ goodness with my family and friends.

This post is linked to:

Full Plate Thursday
Sweets For Saturday

Pork Chops with Vegetable Rice (排骨菜飯)—An award winning recipe, no kidding!

I meant to share this delicious recipe with you all since a while back but never got a chance to do so.  There were always something that got in the way.  Either I had a new dessert creation that I couldn’t wait to post (that happened more than once), or like the giveaway post that’s time sensitive (I want to make sure the winners get the prize(s) before Valentine’s Day).  And the most recent Culinary Smackdown Battle!  By the way, if you haven’t enter your cookie recipe for the Battle, come join us for the fun here.

However, I have a big reason to share this recipe with you sooner, like now!  Yes, you’ve got it, this recipe that just won the Asian Home Cooking Contest!  I’m so thrilled and couldn’t be more happy to share this great news and this wonderful recipe with you.   It’s a wonderful feeling knowing someone out there appreciate your recipe and the love you put into your dishes.

Pork Chops with Vegetable Rice (排骨菜飯) is a Classic ShangHai dish. My husband and I both love ShangHai cuisine and this is what I would make whenever we crave for the 排骨菜飯. This Pork Chops with Vegetable Rice is comforting, delicious and satisfying. Of course, I put my own little twist on the recipe by adding the shallots toppings.  They are delicious!  Just make sure you get the bone-in, thin cut type of pork chops.  That way, the cooking time is shorter and you’ll get moist and juicy pork chops with a flavorful crust. 



Click here for the link of the recipe that I submitted to the contest.  This site have quite many other Asian dishes as well.  Although I haven’t try others’ recipes, but they all look wonderful and delicious.  Be on the lookout for their next recipe contest.  I can’t wait to see what the theme will be. 
Thank you for stopping by today and have a wonderful week.

Pork Chops with Vegetable Rice (排骨菜飯):

Servings: 4
8 thin pork loin chops
1 lb baby bok choy (青江菜)
2 cups Jasmine rice
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 tablespoons minced shallot
1 red chili pepper, finely diced
2 green onions, finely diced
3 slices ginger
A dash sesame oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Marinade:
2 teaspoons light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

Mix pork chop with marinade ingredients and marinade for 20 minutes.

Rinse rice and cook in a rice cooker, adding chicken stock instead of water until liquid reaches water level required on rice cooker’s menu (add water if needed).

Rinse baby bok choy and drain well. Roughly chop into pieces. Set aside.

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a sauté pan at medium high heat. Cook pork chops until both sides are lightly golden brown and cooked through. Remove and place on a platter.

In the same pan, add ginger slices followed by bok choy and cook until softened. Sprinkle chicken bouillon granules and combine well. Add sesame oil and discard ginger. Drain well. Toss bok choy into cooked rice, stir to combine. Add salt, to taste. Cover and set aside.

Sauté shallots, garlic, chili, and green onions in the same sauté pan until shallots softened and fragrant. Stir in sugar and fish sauce. Remove from heat when sugar dissolved.

To serve, place a scoop of bok choy-rice on a serving plate, top with pork chops and shallots mixture.

This recipe is linked to:
Foodie Friday

Amazing Transformation—Roasted Potatoes with Herbs de Provence to Sausage Hash Brown

Yes, amazing transformation!  Unfortunately, it’s not on my body (I wished though)!  hahaha…of course, I’m talking about food here on my blog.  If you ever run out of side dish ideas, here’s a quick and simple recipe for you. Roasted Potatoes with Herbs de Provence.  I found some multi-color mini potatoes from the market the other day, they were perfect for roasting.  Simply drizzle them with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and Herbs de Provence.  Roasted in the oven until they are golden brown and fork tender.  I love the fragrant that the Herbs de Provence brings to this dish, it really made the flavor pops and not over-powering the natural flavor of the potatoes.



We couldn’t finished all of the potatoes that night, so, I saved them for the next day and transformed them into Sausage Hash Brown.  To make the sausage hash brown, I used some red onions, green, red and yellow bell peppers and ground pork (yeah, I didn’t have sausage at home so I made my own).  I think it’s healthier to make your own sausage because you can use leaner meat or even substitute with ground turkey.



Chopped up the vegetables, seasoned the ground pork.  Then, brown the meat and sautéed the vegetables until they are crisp-tender.  Tossed them back together and there you have it.  It’s that simple. 



For a finishing touch, I added a dollop of sour cream and sprinkles of green onions on top.  My kids gobbled up their hash brown in record time!  It was that delicious.






Roasted Potatoes with Herbs de Provence:
2 pounds of multi-color mini potatoes (or any varieties you can find)
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons Herbs de Provence
Kosher salt and freshly grounded black pepper to taste

Heat oven at 475F.  Wash, pat dry and cut potatoes into 1 1/2-inch cubes.  Just make sure they are all around the same size for even cooking.  I left the skin on because that’s the good stuff.

Place potatoes on a baking pan, drizzle with olive oil and slightly toss to coat.  Arrange potatoes in a single layer.  Season with Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper.

Roast in oven for 20 minutes, insert a fork to check doneness.  If they’re not as fork tender as you like, put them back to the oven and roast for another 5 minutes until you’re satisfied.  Total roasting time depends on the size of the potatoes.

Rest for 3-5 minutes before serving.  They’re extremely hot when they’re first out of the oven.


Sausage Hash Brown:
1 pound of Roasted Potatoes with Herbs de Provence
1 pound of ground pork (I used lean ground pork, you can also use ground turkey)*
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted and grinded
1 red onion
1/2 each of green, red and yellow bell peppers
2 green onion, finely chopped
Sour cream

In a large mixing bowl, mix ground pork with salt, pepper, paprika, and grounded fennel seeds. 
Diced the potatoes and vegetables into bite-size pieces.

In a heavy sauté pan over medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and brown the ground pork until cook through.  Break them up into bite-size pieces with a wooden specula while browning. Place in a large serving bowl and set aside.

In the same skillet, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and sauté the potatoes until edges are brown.  Remove from heat and place them into the same bowl with the meat.

Add a teaspoon of olive oil in the same skillet and sauté the vegetables until crisp-tender.  Add the meat and potatoes mixture back to the pan and cook until heated through.
Serve with sour cream and sprinkle with green onions on top.

*Note: if you used ground pork butt, which contains higher percentage of fat, use less oil while cooking and might need to drain off excess oil before cooking the potatoes and vegetables.

This recipe is linked to:
Full Plate Thursday
Fresh Bites Friday

Broccoli-Beef and Shiitake Mushroom Rice Noodle

Just realized I haven’t post that many Asian or Chinese dishes on my blog.  You might see all kinds of breads, cookies, and desserts here.  But trust me, those are not what we normally consume everyday, although I have no problem with that at all…LOL.  On average, at least five out of seven days a week, I cook a traditional Chinese dinner, which includes steam rice and 1 to 2 main dishes that contains meat (or seafood) and vegetables.  I tend to make more simple dishes on the weekdays and perhaps make the more time consuming ones over the weekends.  Nevertheless, it’s still not a simple task to cook up 2 different dishes every night, let alone came up with new dishes to cook every day.



Thanks to my son, our dinner menu has been changed quite a bit lately!  He is a big time noodle lover, really, any kind of noodles.  Whenever I serve noodle instead of rice for lunch or dinner, he sits down quietly and finishes his plate in no time.  So, we’ve been eating noodles and pastas more often, well, a lot more often lately!  Happy kids, happy parents, why not?!  :)  Now, this Broccoli-Beef and Shiitake Mushroom Rice Noodle is one of the most requested dish in the house, beside spaghetti with meat balls and pink sauce.  It’s easy to make, delicious and very flavorful.  Of course, I have no problem cooking this, any day of the week.  Simply change up the protein and veggies and you got a whole new dish!  I used beef and ham here for the protein, you can substitute with shrimp, chicken, pork, squid or eggs.  Besides broccoli, you can use spinach, asparagus, carrots, enokitake mushroom, snow peas or bak choy for the veggies.  Why this dish is so delicious?  The secret is in the shiitake mushroom sauce and the noodle base seasonings.  Of course, I’ll include the recipe for you below.  After you try this recipe yourself, please kindly let me know how you like it.  :)  Once you’ve tried this recipe, maybe that would change up the dinner menu at your home, too.   

                                          **Giveaway**

Canadian Beef is sponsoring a wonderful giveaway at Kitchen Play. Simply recreate any one recipe from this month’s Progressive Party, post about the experience on your blog and provide a link to your post on Kitchen Play to enter.  All qualifying bloggers in each course will be entered to win $100 (6 prizes total).  This contest is open through February 28, 2011. Please review the complete contest rules before entering. Good luck!

I recreated the Thai-Inspired Beef and Vegetable Soup with Rice Noodles into my Broccoli-Beef and Shiitake Mushroom Rice Noodle.  Since I don’t think my son can stand the heat from the Thai chili,  this would be a more kids’ friendly version for him. 
 

                          

Broccoli-Beef and Shiitake Mushroom Rice Noodle:

Main Ingredients:
1 (14 ounce) package rice noodle
1/2 pound beef flanks, cut across the grain into 1/4-inch thick slices, then julienne to 2-inch long pieces
1 cup cooked ham, cut into thin strips
1 pound broccoli florets
10 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms, soak in hot water for at least 2 hours or over night
2 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons fish sauce (I used the brand called 3 Crabs Fish Sauce, it’s the best flavor fish sauce out there.)
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
5 green onions, cut into 2-inch long pieces

Beef Marinate Ingredients:
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Shiitake Mushrooms Marinate Ingredients:
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
pinch of grounded white pepper

In a large stockpot, bring water to boil and blanch broccoli for a few minutes until crisp-tender.  Remove broccoli with a slotted spoon, set aside.  In the same pot, add the rice noodle and cook to el dente (check package instructions). Drain well and return noodles back to the pod.  Off the heat, add the fish sauce and sesame oil, mix well until all noodles are coated with seasonings.  Taste the noodle to check seasoning, add more fish sauce to suit your taste. 

Add the beef strips with the beef marinate ingredients and mix well, set aside.
Wash the re-hydrated mushrooms and squeeze out excess liquid.  Cut into 1/8-inch strips.  Mix mushrooms with mushroom marinate ingredients.  In a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat, add mushroom and sauté for 1 minute.  Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Turn heat to low and cover with a lid to simmer.  Stir occasionally to prevent mushrooms from sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Cook until 1/4 cup of liquid remains. 

Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan on medium-high heat.  Add a teaspoon of oil and sauté the beef strips until cooked through.  Remove from heat and add them into the broccoli.  In the same pan, sauté the ham for a few minutes until edges are slightly brown.  Remove from heat and add to the broccoli mixture.

Heat the pot of noodle on low, add broccoli-meat mixture to the pod, add mushrooms and all liquid/sauce into the noodle.  Stir and mix all ingredients together until noodle heated through.  Off the heat, mix in the green onion.  Serve warm.



This recipe is linked to:
Hearth and Soul Hope
Slight Indulgent Tuesday
Tuesday at the Table
Real Food Wednesday
Gluten-Free Wednesdays

Thanksgiving Feast

As promised, I took pictures of the Thanksgiving feast and here they are.  If you’re interested in getting the recipe of anything you see below, please leave me a comment and I’ll try to get the recipe for you.

                                   

“Self Serve” California Rolls—These are so much fun to eat, and delicious.  Take a piece of nori (seaweed) and wrap the sushi rice, crab meat, avocado, sesame seed filling to create your own individual roll.  Not to mention, it’s great idea for parties because there’s minimal prep work and the nori stays crispy.



Egg Rolls—Filled with vegetables and glass noodles.  Crispy and delicious!



Mixed Salad—which is, to mix your own vegetable with the store bought dressings next to it!  Hahaha…



Honey Glazed Ham—Nothing represent holiday food better than a leg of honey glazed ham…oh, maybe besides the turkey!  Almost forgot about the turkey :P



Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausage and Shitake Mushroom—This is one of my favorites!  Sprinkle with a little bit chopped green onions on top and I can eat just that as my Thanksgiving dinner!  :D



Cheesy Penne Pasta with Broccoli and Cauliflower—Cheesy and delicious.



Korean Spicy Stir Fried Pork—This dish demonstrates the well balanced of the sweet and spicy!  I want to get the recipe to make it again at home!



Cream Corn—A holiday staple side-dish.



Orange Juice and Spices Brined Turkey—Juicy, flavorful and delicious.  I believe it looked beautiful too before it was carved.  :P



Creamy Mashed Potato—Smooth and creamy.



Roasted Beef—Great BBQ flavor and beefy.




Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallow—Another holiday staple side-dish in our family.



Garlic Knots—Check out the recipe from my last post here.



Rice Cake with Red Bean Paste and Walnut—Not too sweet, the edges are crunchy and the center is chewy, very yummy.


I bet you don’t believe we only have one type of dessert for the Thanksgiving feast, right?  I need to confess that I totally forgot to take pictures when we started to eat the desserts!  :P  This particular picture was taken before dinner was served.  The rest of the goodness were all in our tummies and memories.  We had custard tarts, pumpkin pies, smoked almond turtles, taro cakes, flan, etc.  They were all sweet and delicious.  Oh well, I’ll make it up to you by posting something sweet on my next blog post.  ;)