Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Noodles

Like the technique to quickly rehydrate dried mushrooms, Technique: How to Quickly Rehydrate Dried Shiitake Mushrooms (冬菇, Dung¹ Gu¹), the microwave is used to quickly rehydrate dried noodles. Usually dried noodles need to be rehydrated by using boiling water in a pot, which means the pot needs to be cleaned afterwards.

I use boiling water, a microwave safe covered container, and the microwave to speed up the process, and not have to clean a pot afterwards (the covered container gets placed into the dishwasher). Depending upon the type and thickness of the dried noodle and the strength of the microwave, the time required to rehydrate the noodles in the microwave is about 3-4 minutes after boiling the water. Using this method allows just about any dried noodle to be rehydrated using this technique. I have not tried using this method with long thick noodles, like spaghetti, since those noodles don’t fit into normal microwave safe covered containers. However dried noodles that are smaller in length, such as those found in Asian markets, this is a quick and easy method to rehydrate the noodles before making a stir fry noodle dish. These noodles usually come in 3.5 oz (100 g.) packages, so two of these packages are good for two meals (one portion to eat now, one portion to eat later).

Enjoy!

Mesquite Grilled Three Pepper Beef Porterhouse Steak (燒烤豆科灌木三椒上等牛排, Siu1 Haau1 Dau6 Fo1 Gun3 Muk6 Saam1 Ziu1 Soeng6 Dang2 Ngau4 Paai4)

If you like your steak a little spicy, this easy to make recipe should make you happy since it uses three peppercorns: black, white, and Szechuan. I keep pepper grinders with each of these whole peppercorns in my pantry, so it’s easy to grind just the amount desired to season the steak. If you don’t have the whole peppercorns in separate grinders, you can easily throw the peppercorns into a spice grinder. The outer surfaces of the steak are first coated with sesame oil and then Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (or just plain salt) before applying the ground peppers.

I’ve totally changed the way I grill beef steaks after reading the method used by America’s Test Kitchen. The recipe is for porterhouse steaks, but it can be used for other cuts of beef and other meats (e.g. pork). Their method produces a charred exterior with a tender medium-rare interior, and uses both the oven and the grill. The basic premise for their method is to preheat the steak in the oven before grilling the steak over a hot fire to produce the desired results. I adapted the method to use the grill only to produce similar results. In my previous grilling recipes, I would place the meat over a hot fire first to char the outside and then move the meat to the cool side of the grill to roast and/or smoke. This produced a charred exterior and medium-rare interior, but the medium-rare interior was sandwiched between a well-done exterior, whereas the America’s Test Kitchen method produced a consistent medium-rare interior without the well-done exterior layers.

So my adaptation is to reverse the previous order of cooking the meat to first pre-heat the meat on the cool side of the grill to smoke it before moving to the hot side to char. This produces similar results to America’s Test Kitchen’s original method even though the fire is reduced in heat when the meat is charred after pre-heating, and you don’t need to use your oven. The new method does take longer to cook the meat, but it’s worth the extra time to get the desired results. The cooking time varies with the thickness of the meat, temperature of the fire, and your previous experience with the barbeque grill, so you’ll have to experiment a little to get the desired results. I think if you try cooking steaks using my adapted method, you’ll also change the way you grill meat.

Enjoy!

Mesquite Grilled Ground Chili Garlic Oil Chicken Drumsticks (燒烤豆科灌木蒜油辣椒醬鷄髀, Siu1 Haau1 Dau6 Fo1 Gun3 Muk6 Syun3 Jau4 Laat6 Ziu1 Zoeng3 Gai1 Bei2)

This is a very simple grilled dish that can be made after marinating chicken drumsticks overnight using Ground Chili Garlic Oil. Mesquite wood is added to the grill, but you can use oak, hickory, pecan, or whatever your favorite wood is, to further enhances the flavor. Any leftover chicken can be used in stir fry dishes or for sandwiches.

Enjoy!

Steamed Red Tilapia (蒸紅鯽魚, Zing1 Hung4 Zak1 Jyu4)

Red tilapia is visually appealing fish, as well as being inexpensive. The fish is a good choice for steaming and is readily available at my local Asian market. I usually get an already freshly prepared fish, but a whole live fish (with the head) is also a good option.

The fish is always finished with heated oil and a soy sauce mixture. You can use a small pot or a wok to heat the mixtures, but I’ve been using the microwave to heat the soy sauce mixture. As always, you need to be very careful when you pour heated oil and liquids on the fish, as the hot oil and liquid will pop and splatter off the fish.

Enjoy!

Mesquite Grilled Two Pepper Boneless Beef Rib Eye Steak (燒烤豆科灌木兩椒肉眼牛排, Siu1 Haau1 Dau6 Fo1 Gun3 Muk6 Loeng5 Ziu1 Juk6 Ngaan5 Ngau4 Paai4)

I keep Szechuan peppercorns in a pepper grinder along with a pepper grinder containing the usual black peppercorns that’s found in every kitchen in the USA. I used both ground Szechuan and black peppercorns, together with Lawry’s Seasoned Salt (you can substitute regular salt if you don’t have the seasoned salt), to season a boneless beef rib eye steak before grilling with mesquite (any smoking wood can be substituted). This is a very basic grill seasoning that adds spicy ground Szechuan peppercorns. The amount of seasoning used is a personal preference, so feel free to adjust the amounts.

Like the Mesquite Grilled Boneless Beef Chuck Steak (燒烤豆科灌木牛排, Siu¹ Haau¹ Dau⁶ Fo¹ Gun³ Muk⁶ Ngau⁴ Paai⁴), Mesquite Grilled Barbeque Sauce Rib Eye Steak (燒烤豆科灌木燒烤醬肉眼牛排, Siu¹ Haau¹ Dau⁶ Fo¹ Gun³ Muk⁶ Siu¹ Saau¹ Zoeng³ Juk⁶ Ngaan⁵ Ngau⁴ Paai⁴), and Oak Grilled Dungeness Crab and Beef Rib Eye Steak (燒烤橡木北美大肉蟹肉眼牛排, Siu¹ Haau¹ Zoeng⁶ Muk⁶ Bak¹ Mei⁵ Daai⁶ Juk⁶ Haai⁵ Juk⁶ Ngaan⁵ Ngau⁴ Paai⁴) recipes, I’ve totally changed the way I grill beef steaks after reading the method used by America’s Test Kitchen. The recipe was for rib-eye steaks, but it can be used for other cuts of beef and other meats (e.g. pork). Their method produces a charred exterior with a tender medium-rare interior, and uses both the oven and the grill. The basic premise for their method is to preheat the steak in the oven before grilling the steak over a hot fire to produce the desired results. I adapted the method to use the grill only to produce similar results. In my previous grilling recipes, I would place the meat over a hot fire first to char the outside and then move the meat to the cool side of the grill to roast and/or smoke. This produced a charred exterior and medium-rare interior, but the medium-rare interior was sandwiched between a well-done exterior, whereas the America’s Test Kitchen method produced a consistent medium-rare interior without the well-done exterior layers.

So my adaptation is to reverse the previous order of cooking the meat to first pre-heat the meat on the cool side of the grill to smoke it before moving to the hot side to char. This produces similar results to America’s Test Kitchen’s original method even though the fire is reduced in heat when the meat is charred after pre-heating, and you don’t need to use your oven. The new method does take longer to cook the meat, but it’s worth the extra time to get the desired results. The cooking time varies with the thickness of the meat, temperature of the fire, and your previous experience with the barbeque grill, so you’ll have to experiment a little to get the desired results. I think if you try cooking steaks using my adapted method, you’ll also change the way you grill meat.

Enjoy!

Snow Pea Shrimp and Dungeness Crab (荷蘭豆蝦北美大肉蟹, Ho4 Laan4 Dau6 Haa1 Bak1 Mei5 Daai6 Juk6 Haai5)

This is a luxurious seafood dish using shrimp and cooked Dungeness crab meat with Shiitake mushrooms, snow peas, and eggs. A minimum amount of sauce is used in this dish to allow the flavors of the ingredients to come through. I happen to live in an area where freshly cooked whole Dungeness crab can be obtained seasonally (you just have to take the time to remove the meat from the shell), but you can substitute any cooked crab meat; fresh, frozen, or canned. I originally made this dish for the Lunar New Year and the dish certainly matched the occasion.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili Oil Poblano Chili Chicken (黑豆辣椒油椒鷄, Hak1 Dau6 Laat6 Ziu1 Jau4 Ziu1 Gai1)

This recipe is similar to the previously posted, Black Bean Garlic Sauce Poblano Chili Chicken (蒜蓉豆豉醬椒鷄, Syun³ Jung⁴ Dau⁶ Si⁶ Zoeng³ Ziu¹ Gai¹), recipe. The black bean chili oil makes the dish just slightly, but not overly spicy. Poblano chilies (Capsicum annuum) are a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. When dried, it’s called ancho chili. The chilies have a dark green color that look great in any dish. So rather than using green bell peppers, I substituted Poblano chilies.

Enjoy!