seafood soup pasta

Weather is getting cold, which means soup season is here! This dish looks complicating, but it only takes 30 minutes to cook. No sugar is added, yet it has very sweet flavor from all the ingredients. My 2 and half year old loved it and so did my hubby. Hope your family will like it, too. Happy cooking! (The recipe is for four large servings)

Ingredients: 

Spaghetti -1 box (or however much you need)

Onion - 1 small (chopped)
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Bacon - 3 slices (chopped)
Carrots - 2 medium (cubed)
Mushroom - 4 medium (sliced) 

Chicken stock - 5 cups **see TIPS
Tomatoes (can) - 1 can (chopped)

Shrimp (no tail) - 1 cup 
Salmon - 1 fillet
Tilapia (or white) fish - 1 fillet

[Seasonings]
Salt & Pepper - 1 tsp each
Tomato ketchup - 2 TBS
Milk - 1/3 cup
Oregano (dried) -  2 tsp
Basil (dried) - 2 tsp

Prep:

1. Chop/slice onion, carrots, mushroom, garlic and bacon. Size should be anywhere from 1/2 inch to 1 inch. 
2. Cut salmon and tilapia into 2 inch chunks. Rub lightly with salt and pepper.
3. Take off the tails off shrimp (optional). 
4. Cook spaghetti as instructed on the box. Rinse with cold water and mix with 1 TBS of olive oil. 

Cook:

1. In at least 5 quart pot, heat 1/2 TBS of olive oil. When it's hot, add onion and fry for 3 minutes, or until transparent. Add in 1 TBS of minced garlic. Add in bacon. Fry for another 3 minute. Add in carrots and fry for extra 3 minutes.
2. Add in chicken stock and canned tomatoes. Bring it to boil. Take out the white stuff on top of the pot.
3. Add in shrimp, salmon and tilapia. Let it simmer under medium heat for 10 minutes. 
4. Add in seasonings and stir lightly (don't mix too hard or you'll break the fish into small pieces). Cover and let it simmer for 10 more minutes. Check the taste and adjust according to your taste.

Serve:

1. In a bowl, add desired amount of cooked spaghetti. Pour in the soup & yummy seafood. 
2. Garlic bread or Grilled cheese sandwich goes well this dish, too!

TIPS

• For chicken stock, use the carton or can version, which has lighter taste than the Chinese stock cubes. If you don't like the flavor of chicken stock, you can use water instead.  

japchae (korean-style stir fried noodles)

We have a Korean cousin who can cook really good food. We live so far away from them now and we miss them (and their Korean food) so much. So we tried to recreate it. I love getting recipes from www.maangchi.com! 

Ingredients:

Korean starch noodle "dangmyun" - 2 bunches
Beef - 1/3 lbs
Spinach - 1 bunch
Carrots - 1 med (sliced)
Onion - 1 med (sliced)
Shiitake mushroom - 1/2 cup (soaked and sliced)
White mushroom - 2 cups (sliced)
Garlic - 3 cloves (minced)
Green onion - 6 stalks

Eggs - 2 (beaten) 

[seasoning to prepare]
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Sugar
Pepper
Sesame seeds

Korean noodle

Prep: 

1. Soak shiitake mushroom in warm water. Squeeze water and slice thinly.
2. Slice white mushrooms, carrots (matchstick-shaped pieces 5 cm long), green onions (7 cm long pieces), and onion into thin slices. 
3. Wash spinach.
4. Slice beef and marinade with 1 tsp of soy sauce and dash of salt and pepper. 

Cook: **see TIPS

1. Bring big pot of water to boil. Add bunch of spinach and blanch for 1 minute. Take it out and wash it in cold water couple of times and cut into 5 cm length. Add in 1/2 TBS of soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil to spinach. Keep the boiling water.
2. In the same pot of hot water, boil 2 bunches of noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and put in a large bowl.
3. Using scissors, cut the noodles into shorter strands and add 1 TBS of soy sauce and 1 TBS of sesame oil. Mix and set it aside.
4. On a frying pan or wok, put a 2 tsp of olive oil. Fry carrot strips and stir it consistently for couple of minutes (until somewhat soft). Take it out on a big serving dish.
5. Add another 2 tsp of olive oil and fry sliced onion and fry until translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Take it out in the serving dish with carrots. 
6. In the same wok, fry sliced white mushrooms and fry for 2 minutes. Put it together with carrots and onions.
7. Fry green onion next. Add in 1 tsp of olive oil if the pan is dry. Fry for 1 minute. Take it out.
8. On the same wok or frying pan, add 2 tsp of olive oil. Fry together with shiitake mushrooms. Cook until meat is done. Add in 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 TBS soy sauce, and 1/2 TBS sugar. Cook for another minute and add them in the large bowl with other veggies.
9. Add 2 tbs of soy sauce, 3 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs of sesame oil, and 1 ts of ground pepper to the large bowl. Mix all ingredients, then sprinkle 1 tbs of toasted sesame seeds on the top.

Serve:

1. Cook thin slices of egg (with 1 tsp salt) on frying pan and cut into thin slices for garnish on top.
2. Serve with rice and Kimchi, or as a side dish. (I didn't know it was a side dish! we had it as a main dish. haha)
3. We also made Korean green onion pancake along this dish. It turned out great!

TIPS

•  Don't let the long instruction stop you from making this dish! Basically, you fry everything separately and mix everything at the end. Just pay attention to the bold seasonings.

kimchee jjigae (woo family style)

We love Kimchee jjigae! But if any Korean people eat our kimchee jjigae, they probably say it's not authentic kimchee jjigae. We put a lot of things in the stew - our favorite ingredient is SPAM. I moved to a very cold state, so we will be eating a lot of this in the winter (and other soups, too.) What is your kimchee jjigae like? Please share with me your version of kimchee soup. :)

Ingredients:

Kimchee (cabbage) - 1 cup
Kimchee (raddish) - 1 cup

Water - 5-6 cups
Miso - 1.5 TBS (**see TIPS)
Kojujyan (Korean chili paste) - 1.5 TBS
Garlic - 2 cloves (crushed)
Sugar - 1 TBS
Soy sauce - 2 tsp

Carrots - 2 small (thin slices)
Onion - 1 small (sliced)
Bacon - 3 slices (cut in 1 inch piece)Shiitake mushroom - 6 (sliced)
SPAM - as much as you like (cut in dice)
Chapchae noodle or instant noodle - 1 bundle (**see TIPS)
Tofu (silken/soft) - 1 packet
Green onion - 2 stalks (chopped)
Spinach - 3 cups (or 1 bunch)

[Chicken/pork meatball]

Ground chicken - 1 cup
Ground pork - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 small (diced)
Garlic - 1 clove (minced)
Panko (breadcrumbs) - 1/3 cup
Egg white - 1
Pepper & salt - 1 tsp each
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Carrots (optional) - 1/2 small (diced)

Prep:

1. Cut all ingredients and set is aside.
2. Cook chapchae noodle according to packet. Drain & rince.
3. [Meatball] Mix all ingredients under meatball. Make 1 inch ball (toss the ball back and forth using your hands)

Mix all ingredients - use your hands and mix well!

Chapchae noodle

Cook: 

1. In about 4-quart pot, bring water, garlic, miso, and kojujyan to boil. 
2. Add in Kimchee (both kinds), carrots and onion. Boil for 5 minutes. 
3. Lower the heat and add in SPAM, Bacon, Meatball and shiitake. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add in sugar and mix well. Taste the soup and adjust if needed (too salty? add in more water). Simmer for 10 more minutes.
5. If you're happy with the taste, add in tofu, noodle, green onion and spinach. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

As you can see, the previous pot was too small to fit everything! :)

Serve: 

1. It goes perfectly with hot short-grain (Japanese/Calrose) rice. 

TIPS

• If you like more kimchee taste, add dashi instead of miso. Miso makes the taste mild. 
• You can use Korean instant noodle or udon instead of chapchae noodle.
• Use a bigger pot - when you add all the ingredients, the pot gets very full.

japanese curry udon

This dish is perfect if you have left over Japanese curry from previous day's dinner. But you can also make this anytime. Just add beef/chicken stock, and it becomes a noddle dish! It's a big hit during summer when all you want to eat is a bowl of noodle. 

Ingredients:

Beef or chicken - 1/2 lbs
Potatoes - 2 med (cubed)
Carrots - 2 med (cubed)
Onion - 1/2 med (cubed)

Japanese curry roux - 2 blocks (each packet comes with two separate cases. In each case there are four, so you just want to use two of them. 1/4 of the whole box)

Beef/Chicken stock - 5 cups **see under 'cook'

Udon noodle (or your choice of noodle) - enough for 4 people 

[**If you are using leftover curry, see TIPS]

Prep:

1. Cube potatoes, carrots and onions into 1 cm cubes.
2. Cut beef into thin slices or chicken into bite size pieces. 

For curry udon, it's easier to eat if the veggies are smaller

Cook:

1. In a 5-quart pot, heat 2 TBS of oil, add in onion and fry until fragrant (2 min). Don't let it burn by stirring occasionally. 
2. Add in beef or chicken. Fry for 2 minutes. Add in veggies. Coat veggies with oil. Let it integrate with meat & onion. 
3. Put enough beef/chicken stock to cover the veggies/meat. Bring it to boil and lower the heat to simmer for about 5 minutes.
4. There will be brown color stuff/scum on top of the broth. Take a ladle and scoop it out. Fill the pot with more broth. 
5. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add in curry roux (2 cubes). Let it simmer & stir for 10 minutes. 
6. If the curry seems too thick, add more broth or water. You want the soup-like texture, not thick texture like for curry rice. 
7. Meanwhile, prepare udon noodles by boiling them (follow the instruction on the packet) **see TIPS
8. Taste the soup. Adjust the taste by adding salt & pepper.

Beef/Chicken broth enough to cover the veggies/meat

Take out the brown stuff/scum with ladle

Use half of this case (2 blocks)

Serve:

1. Place noodle in a bowl. Scoop out desired amount of veggies & meat. Pour the soup on top. 
2. Some people like the soup separate from noodle. It's called 'tsukemen', meaning you dip your noodle in the soup. 

TIPS

• For left over curry - warm the curry up in a pot. Add in enough beef/chicken stock (add slowly) and stir to get the soup-like texture. 
• No stock? No problem. You can also use dashi water or plain water.
• Noodle - I like to use dry udon noodles that are a bit platter and thinner than regular frozen udon noodles. It has great texture (not so starchy). 

yakisoba (japanese-style fried noodle)

Beef Yakisoba

Yakisoba is one of my childhood favorites. My family used to make this on an electric hot plate/grill on Saturday mornings. It's very simple to make and you can put in pretty much anything you want. It's the sauce that makes it so good. My dad doesn't really cook, but he can make yakisoba (well, he was pretty good at tossing the noodle). 

Ingredients: 

Yakisoba noodle or yellow Taiwanese noodle or Spaghetti - 1 lbs (or 500g)

Cabbage - 1/2 med (chopped)
Bean sprout - 1/2 packet
Carrots - 2 med (julienne)
Onion - 1/2 med (sliced thinly)
Kamaboko (Japanese fish cake) - 1/2 cup (julienne)
Thin slice Meat (beef or pork) - 1/2 lbs

[Meat marinade]
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Salt & pepper - pinch
Sugar - 1 tsp

Yakisoba sauce  or tonkatsu sauce or chuo sauce -as much as you want (you decide how much)
**see TIPS

Prep:

1. Chop cabbage into 2-inch cubes. Wash and drain. Wash bean sprout and drain.
2. Cut carrots, onion and kamaboko in thin slices. 
3. Cut (if it's not already thin sliced) meat into thin slices. Marinade and set it aside for 10 min.
4. Prepare noodle - cook spaghetti or boil yakisoba/Taiwanese noodles for 2-3 minutes. Drain. 

Cook:

1. In a wok (or electric grill pan), heat 2 TBS of oil. Fry onion and carrots until fragrant, about 2 min.
2. Add in marinated meat. Fry for another 3 minutes.  Add in cabbage and bean sprout and fry for 2 minutes (or until cabbage is somewhat soft).
3. Add in noodle. Keep tossing noodles so meat & veggies will be integrated. Add in sauce - try 1/4 cup first. Then add more if you want. You can also add salt & pepper if you prefer less 'saucy'. 

Serve:

1. It's one-dish wonder! Meat, veggies and noodle in one. 
2. In Hiroshima prefecture in Japan, they are famous for okonomiyaki with yakisoba at the bottom. Just follow the recipe for okonomiyaki on this blog and add cooked yakisoba at the bottom when you flip the pancake to the other side.
3. Serve with picked ginger. 

Pork Yakisoba

TIPS

• The sauce is made from vegetable & fruits. It's sweet, yet tangy. Yakisoba sauce is the sweetest of all three sauces, whereas Chuno sauce is more tangy. Yakisoba and Tonkatsu sauce have similar consistency (somewhat thick), but Chuno sauce is more liquid.  Try al three and pick your choice - or you can mix and match (we used Tonkatsu and chuno sauce). 
• Some people like a lot of sauce. But if you are not that sort, you can cook the noodle with salt and pepper to taste, and have sauce on the side!

taiwanese beef noodle (niu rou mian)

I woke up this morning craving for Taiwanese beef noodle. I've never been to Taiwan, but I hear that the food there is amazing. I don't know how the authentic niu roh mian taste like, but this turned out really good. My husband gave 10/10, so that says a lot about the dish. I didn't have some ingredients on the original recipe, so here's my version of it. Happy cooking!

Total time of cooking: about 4 hours 

Ingredients: 

Beef short ribs / Pork ribs - 2 lbs

[First round of soup]
Water - 5 cups
Soy sauce - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Fresh Ginger - 1 (1 inch) cube (peeled and smashed)
Green onion/scallion - 1 bunch (about 10)
Garlic - 3 cloves (smashed)
Cilantro stems - 10
Orange peels - 2 (2-inch) slices
Star anise - 4 (medium size, about 1/2 to 2/3 inch)
Red pepper flake - 1/4 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

[Second round of soup]
Beef broth - 2 cups (2 cup water + beef stock cube)
Water -1 cup at a time

Chinese or Japanese wheat noodle - 2 packets (serves 4) **see TIPS
Baby bok choy - 4 (separated in pieces)
Cilantro - for garnish
Green onion - for garnish

Prep: 

1. Peel/skin garlic and ginger and smash them, but not cut them in pieces.
2. Cut the ends of green onion, cut the green part off. For the white part, cut into half.
3. Cut orange peels from fresh orange or you can use dried orange peels. 
4. Chop ribs into 1-2 inch size 
5. Cut baby bok choy into pieces and wash them. Set it aside.
   
6. [garnish] Chop cilantro and green onion for garnish

 Cook: 

1. In a pot (5-6 quartz), combine all the ingredients under [First round of soup]. Uncover and bring to boil, then lower the heat to simmer for about 10 minutes.
2. Add in beef ribs/pork ribs/meat in the soup. Cover and boil for 2 and half hours. Stir occasionally (e.g. after 30 minutes or so). 
3. Take out the meat and other solids from the pot by using slotted ladle (or you can use the sieve and transfer the soup to another big bowl). 
4. Add in [Second round of soup], but add the beef broth first. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust the taste by adding more water (the taste can be very strong at first). Let it simmer for another 30 minutes uncovered. 
5. Meanwhile, take the bones out of the meat and set the meat aside. Toss other solids & bones. 
6. Cook the noodle as instructed on the packet. Rinse them in cold water and set it aside. 
7. 1-2 minutes before serving, add baby bok choy in the soup. 

Separate meat from bones

Serve:

1. In a bowl, put desired amount of noodle. Add the meat and bok choy on top of the noodle.
2. Pour the soup on top. Garnish with cilantro and green onion. 
3. If you like extra spicy, you can cut up chili and serve with soy sauce. 
4. Taiwanese pancake also goes well with this noodle dish.

 TIPS

• For the noodle, look for 0.5cm thick noodles, like linguine. You can also use linguine if you can't find Chinese noodle. 
• Pork ribs turned out great. You can experiment with different kinds of meat, but the meat with bones give extra flavor to the soup! 
  

hiyashi chuka (japanese style chinese cold noodle)

This dish is perfect for hot summer days or when you don't have appetite. It's very colorful to look at and just like temaki sushi, you can make it as fancy as you want or just have basic ingredients. If you are not a fan of cold food, serve it warm. It tastes still good. :)

Ingredients:

Yellow noodle (thin) - 2 lbs (*see TIPS)
Sesame oil - 2 tsp

Japanese/Persian/English Cucumber - 2 (thinly sliced)
Tomatoes - 1 (thinly sliced)
Kamaboko (fish cake) - 1 (thinly sliced)
Eggs - 2 (beaten)
Chicken breast - 1 (cooked & sliced)
Green onion - 2 stalks (chopped)

[Sauce]
Hot water - 2 cups
Dashi - 2 tsp (optional)
Soy sauce - 1/3 cup
Rice vinegar or regular vinegar - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 2-3 TBS
Sesame seeds - 2 TBS
Sesame oil - 1 tsp
Salt - dash

Gomadare (Japanese sesame sauce for shabu shabu)

[Optional ingredients]
Nori (dried seaweed) - however much
Shrimp - (cooked & shelled)
Ham - (thinly sliced)
Shiitake mushroom - (thinly sliced)

Prep: 

1. In a small pot, bring water to boil. Add chicken and cook for 9-10 minutes. Take it out and let it cool. 
2. Cut other ingredients in thin slices.
3. Beat the eggs and add dash of salt. Set it aside. 
4. Combine hot water (2 cups) with dashi. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Adjust the taste by adding more sugar, salt, soy sauce, or vinegar. 

  Cook:

1. Oil the frying pan with little bit of olive oil. When it's hot, pour some egg mixture (thin layer). Let it cook for couple of minutes. Flip it if the other seems not done. Take it out on a chopping board. Repeat with the rest of the egg mixture (should make 3 thin layers) 
2. In a pot, boil water (about 5 cups). When it's boiling, add the noodles. Cook for 2-3 minutes. If you are using spaghetti, cook as directed. When the noodle is done, drain and add 2 tsp of sesame oil and toss to coat.
3. Slice the cooked chicken.  

Serve:

1. In a bowl, put noodle. Place other ingredients (decorate it however you want). 
2. Before eating, pour the sauce over. Mix well and eat. 
3. The shabu shabu gomadare (sesame sauce) will make the dish more creamy. If you like sesame taste, it's a great addition. 

TIPS

• We usually use yakisoba noodle (thin yellow noodle). But Taiwanese noodle also works perfectly. 
• Can't find yellow noodles? No worries! You can use spaghetti noodle.