Lockdown Day 43: Blanching dry noodles - that's all it takes
Breakfast was a successful experiment: white rice and green lentil congee. I also put in ginger, dried shiitake mushroom, and some chicken bouillon in, the night before. Very simple, but hearty and full of protein. I’m going to make this again!
To my slight surprise, we had another PCR today, even though we had done one yesterday. You can see in the picture below, the worker inspecting and collecting our antigen tests from this morning.
Thankfully the PCR test was just before noon, and I was one of the first people out. Entryway lady worried that I didn’t have an umbrella, but I wore my coat with hood on, so I was okay in the rain. I think it’s more convenient anyway, when I lower my mask, because I need two hands to lower it.
As soon as I got back, I could set about preparing lunch. Like this morning’s congee, all of the prep work happened last night (thank you yesterday me). Already chopped were the Chinese sausage, Napa cabbage, red onion, garlic, carrots, and dried shiitake mushrooms which have also been soaking since last night with the lily flowers. The sauce of oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine, and sesame oil was mixed. I just needed to blanch the noodles.
After several tries, I became convinced that blanching the dried noodles is all it takes. For these thin dragon’s beard noodles 龙须挂面, it pretty much was adding them to water, and pouring out immediately, because the noodles soften and get under the surface of the water almost instantly.
See the proportion of “stuff” to noodles (and this is even excluding the Napa cabbage, mushrooms, and lotus flower. And I added one daikon shoot, grown from a daikon top next to my window!
I think the blanching of the noodles is the right technique! This was a bowl with a ton of texture. And as you can see below, it was steaming hot. I think that’s one thing that I love about cooking and eating at home, as compared to ordering delivery, and sometimes eating in a restaurant. At home, you really can eat as soon as the food is off the stove (and after taking pictures, of course!).
It’s surprising how I’ve had so many noodle dishes recently, and in particular, stir-fried noodles has become a go-to meal. i’ve really liked the process of refining the noodle preparation, and I think I’ve gotten the timing right for both fresh noodles and dried noodles!
This afternoon, I had a big meeting, and then afterwards I did my antigen test of the afternoon.
After work, I had a pre-workout mandarin orange, and then did today’s circuit workout. And I actually did the circuit with my team. I thought it could be a nice thing to do together, since we’re studying the field of sports, and we’re all working remotely.
After the workout, I made dinner. I used one of my cabbage-wheat flour crusts, which I swear have shrunken after their stints in the freezer, and I put it in the toaster oven directly on the rack, while I showered. I think because of the moisture from the cabbage, these take a long time to get crispy on the bottom.
I topped the crust with tomato sauce, mozzarella, fried red onions, olives, marinated artichokes, and that Shanghai Big Red Sausage 上海大红肠. I first fried it, though I was told you could eat it straight out of the package (i had asked a colleague).
Well, umm, I didn’t really like it. I could taste a hint of star anise, which I didn’t like in this application, and its texture was just so … plasticky. I will try it next time steamed, which is what my colleague recommended.
I topped it all with some of a carrot stem. It really tastes like parsley.
(And that Big Red Sausage is just this lurid red.)
I’ve been wanting a lot of sweets lately; I had pecans and chocolate chips earlier in the day, and tonight I finished with my very last bag of Black Forest gummy bears. I had brought a whole bunch from home in San Diego, for my quarantine stay. I’d been saving this last bag for a time I felt I could really enjoy them. And I figured a Friday night after an intense work week was a time that was worth it.
