Taiwanese Style Seafood & Noodles Stir-Fry / Squid Chow Mein 台式章魚炒麵

Introducing another delicious but lesser known Taiwanese dish - Taiwanese Style Seafood & Noodles Stir-Fry 台式海鮮炒麵

 

Taiwan is an island in the Pacific Ocean with a strong fishing heritage, so Taiwanese people eat seafood a lot and love it so much. Seafood & noodles stir-fry is a very common and stable dish that you can order at roadside markets or local restaurants, the ingredients usually consist of various types of seafood together such as prawns, squid or octopus, sometimes with pork strips. (海陸炒麵)

 

Since I just bought a pack of squid legs from my local butcher, I decided to replicate this local well-loved Taiwanese cuisine at home. It’s saucy, satisfying to eat, full of umami; the squid legs tasted great with sweet and svoury flavour and I do love it! Just can’t wait to make it again soon.

 

I referred to the recipe from @e.g.kitchen but modified the ingredients a bit. Highly recommend to use ‘You Mian’油麵 (Taiwanese style yellow noodle) for making this dish if possible. Here I chose Japanese yakisoba to substitute Taiwanese You Mian as it has similar looks.

 

INGREDIENTS (Serving 2)

-270g squid legs, add salt to release slime and rinse off with water.

-1/2 carrot, julienned.

-1/2 onion, sliced.

-4 cloves garlic, sliced.

-1 pak choi, sliced.

-2 packs yakisoba.

-50ml rice cooking wine.

-200ml water.

-2 tbsp soy sauce.

-1 tbsp oyster sauce

-1/2 tsp white pepper

-1 tbsp vinegar

 

METHOD⁠⁠

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, add carrots, garlic and onion slices, stir fry until softened and fragrant.

2. Add squid legs and rice cooking wine, cook over high heat until evaporated.

3. Add water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and white pepper, cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add pak choi and noodles, stir well until softened. (about a further 2-3 minutes)

5. Add vinegar (optional) and remove from the heat, serve on a plate and enjoy!

 

 

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Taiwanese Three Cup Tofu 台式三杯豆腐

‘San Bei’三杯, or ‘Three Cup’ is a classic Taiwanese sauce recipe which refers to three main ingredients : Soy sauce, rice cooking wine, and sesame oil. Three Cup Sauce is like Japanese Teriyaki sauce that you can homemade and use it as go-to sauce for stir-fry dishes such as Three Cup Chicken. The sauce is sticky, savoury, aromatic with bold umami flavour.

 

When speaking of Three Cup, it usually includes the equal amounts soy sauce, rice cooking wine, and sesame oil. The ratio, however, could be tweaked slightly or deviated from the original proportions to balance the flavour and that’s what I did today for making my Three Cup Tofu! It’s fairly easy to make and the result turns out absolutely delicious. Another speedy supper you need to try.

INGREDIENTS

-400g firm tofu @cauldronfoods

-5 garlic cloves, smashed.

-7-8 pieces of sliced ginger.

-1 chilli, sliced. (Remove the seeds to reduce the heat.)⁠⁠

-Small handful of Thai basil

 

SAN BEI/THREE CUP SAUCE

-2 tbsp sesame oil

-2 tbsp soy sauce

-2 tbsp mushroom sauce/vegetarian oyster sauce

-3 tbsp cooking wine

 

METHOD

1. Mix San Bei/Three Cup sauce ingredients together until well-combined.

2. Drain and pat dry tofu with kitchen paper, then cut into thick slices.

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat, sauté ginger slices until aromatic.

4. Add garlic and chilli, continue to sauté until fragrant and slightly brown, then transfer to another bowl and set aside.

5. Use the same pan to pan-fry tofu over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.

6. Pour San Bei/Three Cup sauce mixture, add sautéed ginger, garlic and chilli back, reduce the heat to a low simmer for about 5-10 minutes.⁠
7. Stir in Thai basil to finish, serve immediately over rice.

Go and check my Reels to see how I made it!

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Black Pepper Beef Stir-Fry⁠⁠ 黑胡椒炒牛肉

If you want to eat like a local in Taiwan, you have to go to Taiwan’s unique ‘Re-Chao’ 熱炒(Hot Stir-fries) restaurant, a loud and fast-paced place where locals enjoy affordable foods, get relaxed and socialize with friends after work. There are many stir-fried dishes at menu to choose, and Black Pepper Beef Stir-Fry is defo one of the classics to order at Re-Chao restaurant. This cuisine is loaded with lots of black pepper, savoury and succulent with buttery beefy taste; goes perfectly with rice and beerstogether. To make this at home for a restaurant standard is not difficult as well, trust me, it’s easier and quicker than you thought. I am using chuck tail flap in this recipe but you can surely use any cut of beef. Just make sure you always marinate the beef to give it tender texture and flavour.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
INGREDIENTS⁠⁠
-1/2 onion, julienned.⁠⁠
-3 cloves of garlic, chopped.⁠⁠
-Bird’s eye chillies, sliced. (Remove the seeds to reduce the heat.)⁠⁠
-25g unsalted butter.⁠⁠
-Chopped chives to garnish.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
FOR THE MARINADE⁠⁠
-200g chuck tail flap. (Or beef strips.)⁠⁠
-1 tbsp oil.⁠⁠
-1 tsp white pepper.⁠⁠
-1 tsp salt.⁠⁠
-1 tbsp plain flour.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
FOR THE SAUCE⁠⁠
-2 tbsp oyster sauce.⁠⁠
-1 tbsp soy sauce.⁠⁠
-1 tbsp sun-dried tomato sauce. (Or ketchup)⁠⁠
-1 tbsp cooking wine.⁠⁠
-1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper.⁠⁠
⁠⁠
METHOD⁠⁠
1. Season the beef with above ingredients for the marinade, leave to rest for at least 10 minutes.⁠⁠
2. Heat oil in a pan over medium high heat, stir in garlic, onion and chillies until fragrant and translucent, then transfer to a separate plate.⁠⁠
3. Use the same pan to stir fry marinated beef over high heat until slightly browned.⁠⁠
4. Pour the sauce mixture and keep stirring for 15-25 seconds.⁠⁠
5. Put garlic, onion, and chillies back in, add butter and stir until melted in the sauce.⁠⁠
6. Garnish with chives and more black pepper, serve immediately.⁠⁠
⁠⁠

Taiwanese Soy-Stewed Pork Rice Bowl 台式控肉飯

 

Kong Rou Fan 控肉飯/Taiwanese Soy-Stewed Pork Rice Bowl is another locally loved dish that I have been craving recently. It’s very similar like Lu Rou Fan滷肉飯but Kong Rou Fan is usually cooked with large cut of pork belly that you can enjoy meaty texture with soy sauce based umami flavour. A sweet and savoury, gelatinous pork dish that would satisfy your craving. The pork is fully infused with rich flavours and the fats easily melt away when chewing. I just can’t help eating more rice than usual to extend this umami flavour and it would be also perfect to have it with some pickles and a fried sunny-side up egg!

⁠
INGREDIENTS
-350g pork belly, cut into 4cm pieces.

-1 tbsp golden caster sugar.

-1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar.

-3 garlic cloves, smashed.

-3 shallots, finely chopped.

-2 stalks spring onions, finely chopped.

-3 tbsp soy sauce.

-3 tbsp cooking wine.

-1 tsp white pepper.

-200ml water.

METHOD

1. Place pork belly chops in a non-stick pan over medium heat without adding oil, pan fry until golden on both sides.

2. Stir in caster sugar and dark muscovado sugar to brown the meat.

3. Transfer the caramelised pork belly into a pot, add garlic, shallots, spring onions, soy sauce, cooking wine, white pepper and water, bring it to a boil then simmer over the lowest heat for 1 hour. (Check constantly in case a pot boils dry.)

4. Serve with rice and enjoy with some pickles!

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Taiwanese Lu Rou Fan 台式手切滷肉飯

Lu Rou Fan, or Braised Pork Belly Rice, is one of Taiwan’s beloved comfort foods which can be found in every part of Taiwan. This classic one-bowl-dish has variations due to regional differences. For example, in the south of Taiwan, people called it ‘Rou Zao Fan’ 肉燥飯 rather than Lu Rou Fan; the taste is also sweeter than what I usually had in the north. I remember when I first visited Tainan (a city in the south of Taiwan), I was surprised they served Lu Rou Fan with meat floss (a dried, fluffy meat product) together which I then realised it helps absorb the sauce and gives a good mixure of rice bowl. Have to say I love the southern version of Lu Rou Fan more as it just overwhelms my taste buds. Since I haven’t had Lu Rou Fan for ages, I decided to make my own spin on it again. It’s so tasty to blend the tender, fatty pork with rice, and that sticky oily sauce is a golden touch to create extra flavour that makes Lu Rou Fan outrageously luscious. This dish may take a little work but is not as hard as you thought. The flavour, the sweetness and umami are amazingly comforting, and you could not get enough.

 

Ingredients

-400g pork belly, cut into strips

-7 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and squeezed. (keep mushroom soaking water)

-4 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

-1 large shallot, finely chopped.

-2 cloves of garlic, smashed.

-2 tbsp finely chopped spring onion whites.

-40ml soy sauce.

-2 tbsp oyster sauce.

-25ml rice cooking wine.

-1 tsp white pepper.

-1 tsp Chinese five spice.

-3 star anises.

-3 bay leaves.

-2 hard-boiled eggs.

 

Method

1. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan over medium heat, add pork belly and cook until golden and rendering the fat.

2. Stir in dark muscovado sugar to brown the pork belly.

3. Add shallots, spring onions and garlic, stir fry until soften and fragrant.

4. Add shiitake mushrooms, star anises, bay leaves, white pepper and five spices, pour in rice cooking wine, soy sauce, oyster sauce and mushroom soaking liquid. (add extra water if needed.)

5. Add hard-boiled eggs, cook over low heat for 20 minutes.

6. Serve over steamed rice, top with meat floss (if you have) and pair with picked radish or cucumbers.

 

Braised pork develops better flavour overnight so to enjoy it the next day would have the most aromatic flavour.

Taiwanese Rice Noodles Soup 台式米粉湯

Probably not the best known, but Taiwanese Rice Noodles Soup (台式米粉湯) is another significant Taiwanese dish which is supper common in Taiwan from breakfast shops to local night markets. This is also a common home dish that every Taiwanese family would have their own recipe. Taiwanese rice noodles soup could be very simple with fewer ingredients, but today I would like to do a sumptuous version to make it full of umami and Taiwanese flavour. This is what I called a hearty nostalgic reminder of my Taiwanese home.

 

Ingredients

-2 raw squid tubes, cut into pieces.

-2-3 ginger slices, cut into matchstick-sized pieces.

-3-5 tbsp rice cooking wine.

Marinate squid and ginger in rice wine for 15 minutes.

 

Other ingredients

-2 packs of rice noodles, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes, drain and set aside.

-3-5 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup water until soften, drain and cut into thin strips. Keep shiitake soaking water.

-2 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked in 1 cup water until soften, drain and keep shrimps soaking water.

-1 cup of water.

-1 celery stick, lightly peeled off the strings and finely chopped.

-3-4 pieces Chinese leaves, cut into strips.

-Finely chopped chives.

-Finely chopped spring onions.

-1 tbsp sea salt.

-1 tbsp fish sauce.

-1 tsp white pepper.

-Fried shallots or fried onions to garnish.

 

Method

1. Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat, stir fry Chinese leaves, shiitake mushrooms, spring onions, dried shrimps, celery and chives until soften and fragrant.

2. Pour shiitake and shrimps soaking water and 1 cup of water, bring it to a boil and reduce the heat, simmer for 5 minutes, season with salt and fish sauce.

3. Add rice noodles, cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add squid, ginger and soaking rice wine, cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

5. Serve into noodle bowls, add white pepper and sprinkle with fried shallots.

 

 

本來想做小卷米粉，但最後又演變成料很多的豪華版本，雖然英國買得到米粉，但有時還是會很想念充滿家鄉味的粗米粉，有人也跟我一樣是喜歡吃粗米粉的嗎？

Drunken Chicken / Shaoxing Wine Marinated Chicken 醉雞

In Taiwanese culture, Chicken is a symbolic dish for Lunar New Year as it symbolises to bring the prosperity of family. This comes from the Taiwanese phrase ’Jia-Ke-Khi-Ke’’(呷雞起家) as the Taiwanese pronunciation of chicken -‘Ke’ - has the same sound as ‘’home’’. Usually the whole chicken is the most popular, but ‘’Drunken Chicken’’ 醉雞, a dish of chicken soaked in Shaoxing wine, is also common to be served during Lunar New Year. Even though I don’t really drink alcohol, I do love ‘Drunken Chicken’ as the flavour of alcohol with food is just sooooo tasteful.

 Ingredients

- 4 deboned skin-on chicken thighs

Use knife to pound the thicker part of the meat so it’s evenly thick, season with salt, white pepper, and sesame oil on both sides to briefly marinate for 10 minutes.

 

To prepare the broth
- 400ml Shaoxing wine
- 300ml chicken stock or water.

- 5-8 slices of ginger.
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt

- A handful goji berries.
Cook above ingredients (except goji berries) in a large pot and bring it to a boil, turn off the heat, add goji berries, then wait until cooling down.

 

Method

1. Roll the chicken thigh and wrap tightly into a log with aluminum foil.

2. Steam these foil-wrapped chicken rolls for 15-18 minutes over high heat, then turn off the heat and leave it for a further 8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.

3. Transfer these chicken rolls in ice cold water until completely cool, this step is to improve chicken’s texture.

4. Unwrap the chickens, soak them into the cooled broth, keep in the fridge for 1-2 days. (I also place a piece of parchment paper on top as a cover lid to help chickens soaked and marinated evenly. )

5. Slice the chicken, decorate with goji berries and spring onion curls before serving.

I have actually made this dish a couple of times before but this time I also tried to transfer the cooking process into a 15-sec-Reels-video. Please check it out, hope it's easy to understand!

 

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Minced Prawns Lettuce Wraps 生菜蝦鬆

Finally, it’s Lunar New Year’s Eve today!!! In Taiwan, reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve is such an important part of Lunar New Year as all family members need to come back home having a huge feast together to celebrate the coming new year. At reunion dinner we usually have various kinds of cuisines cooked with chicken, pork, beef, whole fish, seafood…(anything I miss here?) As it’s a big day, home kitchen starts to operate in the early morning and keep busy until everyone sits on the table at night. Therefore we desperately need some quick and easy recipes for Lunar New Year feast to have less hassle, and I found Minced Prawns Lettuce Wraps 生菜蝦鬆 is actually simple to prepare, fast to cook, looks festive, and tastes so appetizing that every guest would love. This is also a popular restaurant dish in Taiwan, you would be surprised how easy it is to make at home.

 

There are two key ingredients (apart from prawns) to make this dish: You Tiao油條(fried dough stick) and water chestnut荸齊. You Tiao can be bought at Chinese grocery stores but I found crisps is a great substitute while water chestnut can be replaced by pear or apple as well. (I prefer apple to have a crisp, sweet taste.) Even you are not familiar with Asian cooking, try this recipe, you would totally love it.

 

Adapted from E.G. Kitchen's original recipe, I made these minced prawns lettuce wraps with Tyrrells Naked crisps and royal gala apple. They are more easier to get at UK’s supermarkets and have similar taste of You Tiao and water chestnut.

Ingredients

-150g king prawns.

-little gem lettuce, peel and use kitchen scissors to cut into round shape like a bowl.

-Tyrrells Naked no salt crisps, crushed into very small pieces.

-1/2 royal gala apple, remove its peel and chop into small cubes.

-2 tbsp finely chopped spring onions.

-1 tbsp minced ginger.

-Salt and white pepper to taste.

-Fried shallots or fried onions to garnish. (optional.)

To Prepare Prawns

-Rinse prawns in cold water and drain on kitchen paper, ensure you remove the excess water as this step will give your prawns the best possible texture.

-Use a toothpick or knife to remove the digestive vein.

-Roughly chop into small pieces.

-Marinate minced prawns with the following ingredients for 10 minutes before cooking.

 

Ingredients to Marinate Prawns

-A pinch of salt

-A pinch of white pepper

-1/2 egg white

-1 tbsp cornflour if you have, otherwise plain flour.

-1 tbsp vegetable oil.

 

Method

-Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, stir fry marinated minced prawns, when prawns look 70%-80% opaque (not fully cooked), then remove the prawns to set aside.

-Heat the same pan over medium heat to fry chopped spring onions and ginger until fragrant.

-Add prawns back in, season with salt and white pepper, stir until fully cooked.

-Mix prawns with crushed crisps and apple cubes, scoop the mixture into an individual lettuce bowl, garnish with fried shallots or onions.

-Enjoy!

 從象廚那裏看到的食譜，沒想到生菜蝦鬆原來這麼簡單!只是我用了無鹽的洋芋片跟蘋果丁代替原食譜的油條跟水梨，做出來的口感跟味道也是非常搭，非常推薦把這道當作自家年夜飯的大菜之一。