Chow Fun Stir Fry

Stir fry is the easiest dish to make. It's basically chopped up vegetables and meat with a sauce. Add noodles and it's a one pot wonder. I love stir fry noodles on a lazy day where I don't want to cook something big or spend too much time in the kitchen. Everyone who knows me knows that I love noodles. Today I made chow fun stir fry. It's basically stir fry with chow fun noodles. Chow fun noodles are basically rice noodles, but wider and a little bit thicker than regular rice noodles. Because of it's wideness and thickness, it's also a bit chewier than the regular rice noodles. However, chow fun is a noodle that everyone should at least try. It's sold in many asian markets. It comes dried or fresh.

Chow Fun Stir Fry
1 pkg fresh chow fun noodles (1 package contains 2 bags of fresh chow fun noodles)
1 cup chopped pork (amount is really up to you)
1 onion, sliced lengthwise
1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and cut in strips
2-3 stalks green onions, chopped
2 handfuls of mushrooms (amount is really up to you)
3 Tbsp dark sweet soy sauce
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce (if you really like hoisin sauce, add 3 Tbsp)
pinch of salt
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 - 1 cup water

**Can't find fresh chow fun? Use the dry ones but soak them ahead of time in hot water, drain, and then cook.**

 Heat up a wok or pan to medium heat and add the oil, garlic, and pork. Add a pinch of salt and cook. Cook the pork until it's fully cooked and add in the onions and mushrooms. Cook the onions and mushroom for about 3 minutes and then add in the rell bell peppers. Stir constantly if using a hot wok to prevent burning. Add the sweet soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Add in the chow fun noodles and 1/2 cup of water. Stir as much as you can to mix all the sauces with the noodles. If you like it more saucy then add the other 1/2 cup. Continue to stir until all the noodles are covered in the sauces. Add more salt to taste. Turn off the heat and add the green onions. Serve.

Cooking with a wok is really hard work. The wok heats up evenly and gets really hot quickly. The key is to constantly keep stirring to prevent burning. My arms were so sore after making this dish, but it was all worth it. I was short so I was on my tippy toes too.

This is a really simple dish. You don't even have to add meat. Substitute pork for chicken, beef, or just eggs. Add more vegetables if you like. Try with zucchini and eggplant. I added sriracha to my bowl and it was delish!

This is such a beautiful looking dish! This would be a great dish for Christmas because it has the Christmas color themes. Last year, instead of going with the traditional Christmas dishes, I went with dishes that has the Christmas colors; red and green. I think this dish will be on the Christmas menu this year.

Fawm Kauv/Steamed Rolls

Fawm kauv or steamed rolls is my husband's favorite. Probably because it's filled with just meat. I can only enjoy it with a side of a really good pepper sauce. I do love it because it's really easy and simple to make. It's a simple snack that everyone enjoys, but takes some patience to make. I've been making steamed rolls every since I was in my teens and we had always bought the premade package mix. However, this time, I made everything from scratch because I didn't have a bag of the premade package mix. The flours are really simple and I came across this recipe through a mistake. I was actually trying to make something else that uses the same kind of flours, but it didn't turn out right. Instead of wasting the flour batch, I decided to steam it since the mixture is similar to the steamed roll mixture. It turned out nice, but might have turned out better if I actually steamed it instead of using a frying pan. Making steamed rolls in a frying pan is the way I grew up doing it and it's definitely a lot easier. However, since I've been experimenting, I've actually steamed them and they turn out a lot better. I'm still working on this recipe because this was my first time making them from scratch (which was by mistake). Therefore, I don't actually have the accurate recipe for this. All I know is that it uses glutinous rice flour and rice flour plus water and a dash of salt. You can add a bit of oil, but I can't remember if I did.

I had some mistakes with this experiment. The flour mixture was a bit too thick and the texture was a little bit off. I added more water, but it still didn't turn out perfectly. Nevertheless, it was still delicious. My husband ate them all. He even packed them to work which he never wants to pack food to work. I obviously enjoyed them since I made a delicious spicy pepper sauce to dip them in. Here's the pepper sauce recipe.

I promise I will have a recipe soon from scratch. Feel free to go ahead and buy the premade steam rolls mixture. They work great too, but some packages have soil in them. This is why I'd like to make it from scracth. Besides, I was bored and I always like to know the ingredients that goes into such a simple, but delicious snack. Sorry....recipe coming soon!

Beef Noodle Salad

I made some to try for myself...
just the noodles, beef, and pepper sauce...
yummmm!!

Okay, I found these pictures from last year. I can't seem to find the recipe for it. I guess I will look harder. Anywho, I made this last year for our wedding anniversary and we ate this at the beach. It was a perfect cold noodle salad for the warm summer breeze. I love vermicelli noodles and I would literally eat it every way or find some way. I decided to add beef for my husband. Normally, I would add cold cooked shrimp or cold boiled chicken. This time I did it with beef and I also flavored the beef. I don't have the exact recipe, but I can remember the ingredients. The beef was marinated in a little bit of fish sauce, finely minced lemon grass, minced garlic and ginger, and sugar. The marinade is enough to just coat all the sliced beef; it's not soaked or drenched in the marinade. Cook the beef on medium heat until it's cooked. Cook the noodles and drain it out. Place noodles in a bowl, top with bean sprouts and cilantro, add the beef, and then the pepper sauce. The pepper sauce is the main flavor that will combine everything together. Without it, you mind as well not eat it. Luckily, I have the recipe for the pepper sauce. You don't have to have a recipe for the beef, any asian marinade for the beef will do.

Chili Pepper Sauce/Nouc Cham:

1 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp sugar
½ cup water
2 ½ Tbsp fish sauce
1 ½ tsp vinegar
1 Tbsp chili garlic pepper paste

Combined all ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Set in the fridge and then drizzled a few tablespoons over the beef noodle salad.

**This pepper sauce is great on steamed rolls, eggrolls; basically, it's great on anything and everything.

Our packed cold lunch for the beach in celebration for our anniversary.