The Sugar Bar

Who’s up for noodles?

Well, not just any type of noodles actually.

The finer but just as elegant cousin of the udon noodle is the somen noodle. Often considered the queen of all noodles, because it originated from the aristocrats and hence is the nobility’s favourite noodle, somen is made similar to hand-pulled noodles. However, somen require a longer pulling and resting time. The noodles are made from wheat flour, salt and water. They are moistened with sesame or cottonseed oil to prevent their thin lengths from breaking. It is not difficult to find affordable packets of machine-made somen noodles in grocery stores or your Asian supermarket these days but handmade somen noodles, made the previous year, are most-prized. The reason for this is that handmade ‘overwintered’ somen changes texture as they dry out during storage and the oil on the noodles changes the noodles’s taste with time. It is recommended to wait a year before cooking handmade somen to really enjoy the flavour of somen.

Somen is the star of the show during Japan’s Star Festival in the summer. The festival of Tanabata is based on a famous Chinese legend about 2 lovers. Once a year, only on the evening of the 7th of July, the young cattleman, the star of Altair, is allowed to cross the Milky Way to meet his beloved – the weaver Vega. As a child, we’d celebrate this by placing handmade paper boats with a lighted candle on top of it on river surfaces and let it float along in hopes that all the lighted candles on the water surfaces can guide the weaver and cattleman to meet. Of course, it is not common to see anyone doing this anymore. At this time of the year, it is said that it’ll be difficult to spot any sparrow in sight as sparrows will be busy bringing the lovers together. In Japan, children used to decorate bamboo branches with their origami creations and tie coloured paper tags which bore their wishes. These decorated bamboos were then thrown into nearby rivers.

Somen noodles are usually served cold and eaten with a, similarly, cold dipping sauce. In winter, a variation of it called ‘nyu men’ is served in hot broth – and this is what I’ve prepared tonight. The house is absolutely freezing so there was no way in hell I was gonna pick out a cold somen salad recipe. When buying somen in supermarkets or grocery stores, somen are usually available in 3 appealing flavours : cha somen (addition of green tea), tamago somen (yellow due to egg yolk) and ume somen (pink from the addition of plum). Not only do they look great, they’re fabulous to the tastebuds too. I initially thought it wasn’t gonna be any different to regular somen but these ume somen packed a punch! The moment the somen is put in hot water, you can already start to smell the lovely fragrance of ume and the taste is even better. Slightly salty but definitely holds a distinctive ume flavour.

My choice of vegetable topping wasn’t anything greatly inspired but more about what was available in the fridge, and also at a near rotting stage. I haven’t come across a traditional nyumen recipe so this is something of a as-I-have-it nyumen demi-ramen broth recipe.

Check out Kimiko Barber’s The Japanese Kitchen for more info on somen and the Japanese noodle tradition. Here is my quick and easy recipe for 2.

Nyumen Fit For A Lady
Ingredients

2 servings of ume somen
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp ginger, sliced into thin strips
1 cup konbu dashi stock
2 cup chicken stock
1 tbs sake
1 tbs mirin
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tbs sesame oil
spring onions, chopped, for garnish (use the green and white bits near the ends of the stalk)
black sesame seeds, for garnish
various vegetables of choice, for topping (highly recommended to stir-fry them in butter)

To prepare the soup:
Place sesame oil in heated pan. Sauté ginger and garlic in oil. Reduce heat and add both types of stock to the pan. Let it boil then add sake, mirin, soy sauce and sugar. Once it boils, reduce the heat and let it sit to simmer.

Boil sufficient water to cook the noodles in a large saucepan. Add the somen. The cooking time needed will depend on the type of somen noodles purchased. When done, strain noodles then run under cold water and keep in pan of cold water till other ingredients are done.

Stir fry vegetables of choice in butter.

To assemble:
Simple place somen in a bowl. Place toppings on and carefully ladle soup into the bowl. Garnish and serve whilst hot.

Three generations of women coming together to make dumplings. It’s almost poetic.

The first generation Chinese-influenced. The second generation Japanese-influenced. The next generation (me) Western-influenced. It was a rather thrilling experience to be in the same kitchen working on the same thing and I’m very pleased to say the results were safe to eat (since I was the one with the responsibility of boiling them) and very yummy indeed, thanks to my maternal Gramma’s guidance.

Boiled dumplings, or shuijiao (水餃), are one of the variations of Chinese dumplings, also known as jiaozi (餃子) or gyoza (with the same characters) which are the Japanese version of dumplings. The difference between the Japanese and Chinese variety is the type of skin used and the flavouring of the fillings. Japanese gyoza are more modestly flavoured with sauces and contain garlic. Chinese dumplings are flavoured with wine, soy sauce, etc. and contain no garlic. The skin is also slightly different. It is like wonton skins, having a yellow tint to it unlike its cousin – the Japanese white gyoza skin is similar to the dough used to make noodles. Nonetheless, it is common to find jiaozi with white skins in restaurants these days. 

These dumplings are rather easy to prepare. As they will form its own shape during the boiling process, no fancy wrapping style is needed or patterning at the edges. Simply seal and place in boiling water and you’ve got the real McCoy. However, as meat is involved, one must be careful and ensure that the meat is fully cooked before removing from the hot water.I love these dumplings with Chinese pulled noodles and roast pork. It’s one of the dishes I love to order when I’m at the hawker centres or food republics or kopitiams, whatever they’re fancy new names are. They’re also fantastic in hot noodle soup as the skins get all soft, silky and so delicate with an almost-melt-in-your-mouth consistency.

But I’m a fickle woman. And I have no qualms about being fickle, especially when it concerns matters of the tastebuds. There’s no trawthe or fidelity in my tale of Roman de la Rose (of my tastebuds! haha). So I’ll tell you about the delights I found in Taiwan’s potstickers…

Boiled dumplings are generally the same as potstickers except the cooking method is slightly different. Potstickers, known as guotie (鍋貼) or jianjiao (煎餃), are steamed then shallow fried and often eaten with special dipping sauces for extra kick. These dumplings are popular in Northern areas, so I’ve learnt, and often appear as a street food or appetizer in Chinese, Japanese (yaki-gyōza 焼き餃子) and Korean cuisines. Now that Gramma’s educated me in the Way of the Dumpling, I believe I won’t be running to Wagamama’s for any last minute mental cravings for dumplings – not if I can whip this up on my own, freeze and pop em out to boil whenever I want them.

These potstickers I tasted in Taiwan were the best pick-me-up of the nightmarkets. Aside from the fact that I ate loads of dorayaki in the week I was there, I had never tasted potstickers as good as these guys. Trudging through RaoHe Night Market, I was famished and knackered from walking all day. I would have fallen over like a spastic wally-brain if not for this tub of dumplings. Perfectly cooked and flavoured with a great balance of the softness of the dumpling skin but golden-brown crispiness at the edges – it was deeeee-lish! My sister insisted it was just the comforting warmth of the first cooked food we had all day that was getting me all teary-eyed about it, but I honestly doubt it. They were good, and that’s that.

The dipping sauce was poured over the dumplings. After a little research on the net, it seems the dipping sauce comprises soy sauce, sesame oil, Chinese red rice vinegar, ginger and fresh chili. It was really good since the dumplings on their own might’ve been slightly lacking.

This recipe here produces about 50 odd regular-sized boiled dumplings. You may reduce the recipe accordingly or freeze prepared dumplings for later use.

Chinese Boiled Dumplings
Ingredients

450g minced pork
350g tiger prawns, peeled and de-veined and split into half
75g water chestnuts (about 4-5), peeled, finely sliced and then chopped to fine bits
1-2 stalks spring onions, only the green lengths chopped
2 tsp potato starch
4 tbs light soy sauce
3 1/2 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs Chinese Shao Hsing wine
pinch of ground white pepper
about 300g dumpling/gyoza skins (depending on size of dumplings, prepare about 60 sheets; gyoza skins are thinner and whiter but also perfect for these)

Prepare all ingredients beforehand as this may take a while.
Place half of prepared chopped water chestnuts in a large bowl. Add rest of ingredients except prawns and mix well, pressing the starch and sauces into the minced pork till it is smooth and soft. It should start to form a rather sticky texture due to the starch.
Cornflour or cornstarch may be used in replacement of potato starch, however, potato starch is smoother and supposedly more effective. It also keeps longer in the refrigerator than cornflour.
Do not leave this to marinate as there is no need for it and instead, the pork will start to produce water.
Add rest of water chestnuts and mix in.
Prepare a small plate or bowl of water.

To make dumplings:
With 1 dumpling skin in the palm of your hand, spoon about 1/2 tbs of meat into the centre, pressing it out into a rectangular-ish shape. Place a prawn strip on top. Wet finger with water and wet the circumference of the dumpling skin. Fold over the bottom half/top half of skin to form a crescent moon and seal the dumpling. Press gently on the outside of the edges so as not to break the skin to seal. Wet any unsealed areas to re-seal dumpling.

Prepare a pot of water and let boil. Only once water starts to bubble and boil, add a little cooking oil to it. Place about 4 dumplings each time (depends really on the size of your pot) to boiling water and let cook.
Once the dumpling floats up to the surface, allow to cook for another 3-4 minutes (depending on size of dumpling) before removing from the water with a sieve or dumpling spoon.

Serve with soy sauce and sliced chili or in a bowl of your favourite noodles and noodle soup stock.

My mother is a fan of the popular book ‘Japanese Women Don’t Get Old — Or Fat Either’. Although I have yet to read it, I would think it’s quite an interesting read mostly because I consume quite a lot of Japanese food and I absolutely adore the cuisine. As most of you already know, I hardly have time to cook or bake of late due to an office job (which seems to be sapping more and more of my life energy and murdering my precious brain cells second by second) which I am highly unaccustomed to. Sitting around all day at a desk is really soul-sapping and too inactive a lifestyle!

Today, sitting at a desk without a LAN point (meaning zero internet connection and therefore zero access to research), without any assignments — I was at my lowest point. Not to mention, my tummy wasn’t feeling too well and I felt awfully lethargic and confined. In other words, I was in a lot of pain. Thankfully, I was able to leave 2 hours earlier than usual to come back to the comforts of home and to the smell of mum’s cooking. Despite not having anything to do all day, I was still strangely knackered when I stepped through the front door so it was a great joy to be able to have homecooked food prepared by none other than my own mother.

I’ve been in Singapore for about 3 weeks now and have been plagued by discomfort in the tummy quite a bit. After discussing this with Mum and Abby, it seems it boiled down to my inability to adapt to the type of milk found here. And since I take quite a lot of diary products daily, my body can’t seem to adjust as quick as it should or recover quick enough. I am currently now off diary for about a week. It seems quite a difficult task — no cereal with milk in the mornings, no milk in tea or coffee, no cheese on crackers, no yoghurts. It’s going to be very tough!

It is now a mind over matter type of situation. I am gutted; but I desperately want to get well soon so I can get back on track with my yoghurts and cheeses and milk with cereal! I can’t do without them for long. I suspect withdrawal symptoms will start to show if I stay away from them for too long.

Anyway, Mum’s solution to my upset tummy was the Japanese Power Breakfast from the book I mentioned above. Ironic I know. But it was quite the dinner. I could hardly finish everything in my bowl and it did ease the bubbly tummy a little. The meal was followed by my sister Abby’s Amazing Ginger Tea which also did make everything so much better. I feel so much more relaxed and albeit, in a lot less pain.

I don’t know exactly the recipe for the 2 dishes in this post but they’re pretty simple to get the hang of I reckon. Abby’s Ginger Tea requires a handful of fresh pandan leaves, weaved and secured together; some maple syrup; about 5 strips of fresh ginger, thinly sliced; a teaspoon of vanilla essence and about 700ml of water. Place everything in a heavy-based saucepan and bring it to a boil, then simmer and adjust ingredients to taste. This will delight the senses with its wonderful aroma. The ginger is beautiful in clearing the system of excess gas and detoxing in general.

Mum’s version of the Power Breakfast is tofu, beans, boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and spring onions on rice with Japanese sweet potatoes in miso soup. It is quite like a watery Teochew porridge which I really love because I prefer having a bite to the rice in my porridge rather than the creamy thick congee you usually find in Cantonese restaurants and eateries. Prepare all the ingredients in a large rice bowl and ladle hot soup over it till all the rice is covered.

It’s a simple, beautiful dish. The egg and miso come together quite well and the vegetables make the whole dish taste so crisp and clean, non-greasy and easy on the stomach. Full of the ‘good stuff’ and in no way lacking in taste, this bowl of awesome deliciousness has left me craving for more and hoping to replicate this some time soon by myself — for myself!

Yet again, despite my awful pictures (taken in the evening when I’m absolutely shattered with hands shakey from hunger and tiredness), Mum has beaten me in her culinary creations. I am determined to make something mind-blowing this weekend. We’ll see how that goes. Hopefully, my stomach’s settled down for good by then too.