KUOW Radio Interview: 'What's Fresh' at the Farmers Market

I had the opportunity to take KUOW 94.9 (NPR) host Ross Reynolds on a quick tour of the Pike Place Market Thursday market at the Amazon Plaza in South Lake Union. He asked me what was fresh and I talked about the lovely rainbow Swiss chard. I also shared a recipe for making a stir fry of fresh rice noodles with chard and leeks. Listen to the interview...

Stir-Fried Fresh Rice Noodles with Rainbow Chard & Leeks

This is such a satsifying dish – and the result of shopping in the fridge. I had one bunch of rainbow chard and a leek from the farmers market that had been in the fridge a couple of days too long. I also had a package of fresh rice noodles that also had been in the fridge a couple of days too long and thus had hardened. The good thing is, all of these ingredients still could fulfill their potential together as a gorgeous and quick dinner for the family.

The rice noodles were from Rose Brand, made by local noodle and fortune cookie company, Tsue Chong, that has a factory in the International District. When the noodles are fresh, they are silky soft. You usually can find them in Asian groceries fresh. If the noodles feel hard, then it means they've been sitting around longer than a day. They also harden once stored in the refrigerator. But they are still useable, because they'll reconstitute in the sauce. They just won't be as pliable.

I visited the Tsue Chong factory and watched them make the rice noodles:

If you find yourself in the ID, you can visit the retail shop to get fresh rice noodles. They store them behind the counter, so you'll have to ask for the noodles. They come in sheets or pre-sliced. For this dish, get the sliced. The factory address is 800 S. Weller St., but the retail shop is located on the corner of South King St. and 8th Ave. S. The storefront is covered in bars and does not look like a welcoming retail shop. But if you see the giant bags of fortune cookies on the shelves, you know you're at the right place. The best part, one package of noodles is less than $2.

STIR-FRIED FRESH RICE NOODLES WITH RAINBOW CHARD AND LEEKS

1 package fresh rice noodles, pre-sliced (I suggest Rose Brand, which comes in a 2-pound package.)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 bunch rainbow chard, chopped

1 medium leek, halved and sliced

2 1/2 cups water

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Salt to taste

Separate the noodles and set aside. Heat the wok over high heat. Add the vegetable oil and heat for a few seconds. Add the chard and leeks and stir fry for 1-2 minutes until soft. Add the water, soy sauce and hoisin. Stir to combine. Quickly taste the sauce to see if it needs more salt and add as needed. (The sauce needs to be slightly over-seasoned to accommodate the noodles.) Add the noodles and stir fry gently but quickly and thoroughly until all the noodles have been coated with sauce. Serve immediately.

Braised Beef Noodle Soup

Growing up in my family's Chinese restaurant, I remember frequently seeing the giant commercial wok bubbling with a rich braise of beef shanks. Once chilled overnight, the shanks could be sliced thinly, drizzled with soy sauce and sesame oil to be served as an appetizer. What I enjoyed most was the beef noodle soup that mom would make with the braising broth. But it wasn't just the homemade version that I liked. When we'd travel and find ourselves at the local Chinese restaurant in far-flung places, if braised beef noodle soup – especially with hand-shaved noodles – was an option, it would end up on our table. The anticipation of a steaming-hot bowl of broth, the flavors coaxed from the beef and spices, was almost as thrilling as the first bite. There wasn't always a satisfying payoff, but, to this day, I am ever the optimist that I'll find the ideal bowl of braised beef noodle soup at a restaurant that serves Taiwanese food.

I have not written this recipe before. Cooking has always been about the method and not specific recipes. Each time I make a dish, it may vary slightly according to the types or amounts of ingredients, and what my taste buds tell me might be an interesting addition or twist. Sometimes, steps happen out of proper order. So to write this recipe, I had to make the soup while measuring and recording, tasting, adjusting. The next time I make it, I may want to tweak the recipe – which is to say that you will probably see this again in a future post. I definitely want to make this again soon and serve it with handmade noodles, which have great body and texture to match this broth.

A note about the ingredients: Many recipes call for the addition of a spicy bean sauce in the broth. You may do that. Because my family has varying degrees of tolerance for spice, I leave the chili sauce to each individual to add to his/her bowl.

Making this soup isn't difficult, but the aromas will test your patience.

BRAISED BEEF NOODLE SOUP
Serves 4 with plenty of leftovers

Ingredients:

About 4 pounds of boneless beef shank

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

5 stalks green onions, cut in thirds

6 large cloves garlic, or to taste, lightly smashed

3 large slices of fresh ginger, cut on the bias, about 1/4-inch thick and 3 inches long

1/2 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns

1/2 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

1/4 teaspoon whole cloves

1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup dry white or red wine (whatever you have on hand)

1 chunk of rock sugar about the equivalent to 1 tablespoon.

2 1/2 quarts water

Sesame oil

 

Directions:

Cut the beef shank into 3- or 4-inch chunks. In a large, heavy pot, heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Brown each piece of beef on all sides and set aside. Do this in batches as needed and set aside. Once you're finished browning the beef, add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pot to heat. Add the onions, garlic and ginger, and stir fry for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add spices, soy sauce, wine and rock sugar. Stir ingredients to combine. Let the soy sauce mixture simmer for about 1 minute. Add the water. Bring liquid to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for about 2 hours or until beef is just fork tender.

There will be a layer of rendered fat at the surface of the soup, and spices and other bits that are ideally strained out. I like to take a few extra steps to make the soup more pleasant. First, I remove the beef chunks and set aside in a bowl. In batches, I use my OXO fat separator to remove the layer of rendered beef fat. Once the broth has settled and the oil has risen to the top of the fat separator, I pour the broth through a small fine-mesh strainer to catch any "debris." Once all the broth has been defatted and strained, combine it and the beef back in the pot. Add a drizzle of sesame oil, about 1 teaspoon. Keep warm while you prepare the noodles to serve. Or, if you are working in advance, the soup can be chilled and then reheated the next day.

While these steps aren't imperative, I think it makes for a better eating experience – especially, in my case, for my children, who haven't quite mastered how to pick out such things from their food.

To serve:

1 pound your favorite Asian-style noodles (can be Chinese noodles or Japanese udon, for example), cooked according to the instructions on the package

Baby bok choy, blanched

Pickled Chinese mustard greens, chopped

Cilantro, optional

Chopped green onions, optional

Your favorite chili sauce

Portion noodles into large bowls. Add broth and chunks of beef. Serve with your choice of condiments.

Chinese Spaghetti

We call it "Chinese spaghetti" because the transliteration of the Chinese name is hard to pronounce for some. But in principle, zha jian mian resembles spaghetti and meat sauce. Literally, it means "fried sauce noodles." There are many versions of the recipe, but the one I grew up eating includes ground pork, sweet bean sauce, soy sauce, peas and carrots, and wheat noodles.

This is the "no-brainer" recipe. I'd like to play around with it and see how I might tweak it a little to enrich the flavor. I'll keep you posted on the experiements. In the meantime:

ZHA JIANG MIAN

MAKES ENOUGH FOR 4-6 PORTIONS

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound ground pork

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons sweet bean sauce

1 cup frozen peas and carrots

Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat in the wok. When the oil just begins to smoke, turn down the heat to medium. Add the ground pork and cook, breaking up the pieces as you go. Once browned, add the tomatoes. Turn the heat up a little, if it seems like it's cooking too slowly. Stir-fry the tomatoes with the pork until the tomatoes cook down and render the juice.

Add the soy sauce and sweet bean sauce. Stir to combine. Then stir in the peas and carrots. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes. If the sauce seems too thick, add 1 cup of water to loosen it up. Taste. If it's too salty, add a touch more water. (The sauce should be a little salty because the noodles will balance out the flavor.)

Serve the sauce on boiled Chinese wheat noodles. Spaghetti noodles work in a pinch.