Cross Bridge Rice Noodles

Cross bridge rice noodles.
Long ago, just south of the Yunnan city of Mengzixian (蒙自县)…. There was a beautiful lake with water as clear as jade. In the center of the lake, there was a small island covered in green bamboo saplings and giant trees whose ancient stalks reached the heavens.

Known for its natural beauty and pleasant atmosphere, the small island drew many neighboring scholars seeking a tranquil place to study for the imperial exams. Among these scholars was a particularly diligent student who spent many days studying on the island. Every day, his wife made the long walk to the lake, crossing the bridge to the island to bring him his midday meal.

However, he was frequently so engrossed in his studies that he only remembered to eat long after the food had grown cold. Due to his irregular eating habits, the scholar became noticeably thin and his warmhearted wife grew very worried.
One day, she had an idea. She butchered a plump hen to make a hot chicken soup, and separately prepared her husband’s favorite local rice noodles, seasonings, and ingredients. She brought them over the bridge in different bowls, combining them just before he was ready to eat.

On it’s own, the chicken broth stayed hot enough to cook the noodles and other ingredients, and created a thin layer of oil that kept the whole bowl piping hot. It worked. The scholar loved the hot noodle soup, and the wife started crossing the bridge everyday with these bowls. Eventually, the scholar succeeded in passing the imperial exams and, remembering his wife’s great kindness and hospitality, joked that it was his wife’s wonderful noodles that helped him pass the prestigious and famously difficult exams.

Cross Bridge Rice Noodles

Today, guoqiao mixian (过桥米线) is still considered a Yunnan specialty—and it still comes in separate bowls, allowing you to pick your ingredients and add the hot soup yourself.
In Yunnan, this dish is so popular that there are restaurant chains that specialize exclusively in varieties of guoqiao mixian. It can be found anywhere from street-side noodle shops to high-end banquet-style restaurants.

Yunnan province has the largest ethnic minorities in China. In addition to the Han nationality, it is also inhabited by 26 other ethnic groups. The province’s ethnic minority population accounts for nearly one-third of the total population.

My version of Cross Bridge Rice Noodles ( Serve 4 - 5 )
Ingredients for the broth
1 piece chicken breast meat
6 pieces chicken wings
1 chicken carcass - chopped
1 in ginger
1 stalk spring onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt

1/  Wash the chicken wings, breast meat and chicken carcass.
2/  Bring  1/ 2 pot of water to boil, put in the chicken meat and bone, let it boil for 5 mins.
3/  Remove from stove, discard the water and rinse the chicken meat and bone.
4/  Boil 6 to 8 cups of water, add salt, ginger, garlic, spring onion and chicken meat. In between skim off the foam.

Chicken wings, bones and meat produce a rich stock with great flavor and gelatin.

5/  Boil the chicken wings and breast meat for 20 mins. Scoop out the chicken wings and keep aside. Shred the chicken breast meat, keep aside.
6/  For the broth, add 2 tbsp shaoxing wine, dash of pepper, salt and pepper to taste. ( Add more water if not enough broth. )

Lijiang Old Town

Lijiang old town canal restaurants.

Ingredients for the noodles
1/2 packet dried rice noodles
400gm medium size prawn
4 slices of ham
150gm pork
1 packet fish balls
1 tube of egg tofu - cut
6 leaves of chinese cabbage
2 bunch of lettuce
50gm bean sprout
1 piece Sichuan preserves vegetable ( Za chai )
1 stalk spring onion - chopped coarsely

Fried shallots for garnishing.

1/  Peel the prawn and devine. Season with 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp soya sauce, 1 tsp shauxing wine and dash of pepper. Chill in fridge.
2/  Blanch the fish ball in hot water for 2 mins. Drain off the water and keep aside.
3/  Wash the ham with hot water and slice thinly.
4/  Slice the pork thinly, season with 1/2 tsp corn flour and 1 tsp soya sauce. Keep aside.
5/  Pluck off the bean sprout tail, wash and drain.
6/  Cut the Chinese cabbage to about 1/2 in wide.

7/  Wash the Sichuan preserved vege and slice thinly. Soak in water for 30 mins and drain off the water.
8/  Scoop out some broth to a smaller pot, bring to boil. Throw in the slice pork, give a quick stir and boil for 30 seconds. Scoop out the cooked pork and keep aside. Then boil the prawn for 1 min, scoop out and keep aside.
9/ Bring half pot of water to boil, blanch the noodles until cook. Drain off the water and keep aside.

Dried rice noodles

Cooked rice noddles

10/  Arrange all the ingredients in serving plate.

Fish balls, slice pork, prawn, shredded chicken meat and ham.

Bean sprout, lettuce, Chinese cabbage and Sichuan preserved vege,

Garnishing ingredients, spring onion, shredded pickle ginger, fried shallots and soft tofu.

Dipping sauce, chopped the red chillies and garlic finely. Add sugar, vinegar and soya sauce to taste.

 Bring the soup to boil again, scoop the hot soup into a gigantic clay bowl or porcelain bowl.

Cart the bowl of soup and others ingredients across a bridge to a small island to enjoy your Cross Bridge Rice Noodles.

Or from your kitchen to your dining table.

Add them in sequence with meat going first to the piping hot broth, followed by bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, Sichuan vege and tofu.

Then followed by a handful of noodles.

Garnish with pickled ginger, fried shallots and chopped spring onion.

 Then add the cooked chicken wing.

Stir and mixed well......then slurrrp to enjoy the cross bridge rice noodles.

Having a giant bowl of cross bridge rice noodles is highly satisfying and immensely fun.

If you like you can add quail eggs and mushroom or any of your favorite topping.

After dinner, if nothing better to do enjoy Lychee ice cream

A light and refreshing lychee ice cream, best to add extra lychee for extra kick.

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
1 canned lychee
1 cup lychee syrup from the can
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tbsp corn flour
3/4 cup fresh cream
1 tsp lychee essence

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first.

1/  Mix 1 cup of milk, lychee syrup and corn flour to make a smooth paste.
2/  Next combine another cup of milk and sugar in a pot and bring it to boil.
3/  Beat the egg lightly, pour the hot milk slowly to temper the egg and mix well.
4/  Add the number 1 mixture to the egg mixture and cook for 5-7 minutes, on a simmer flame.
5/  When the mixture starts to coat at the back of the spoon, remove from heat and let it cool.

6/ Add lychee essence and fresh cream and blend well.
7/ Now, pour this mixture in a shallow container, cover it and let it freeze till it is almost set.
8/ When it is set, add the lychee and blend in food processor/ blender till it is smooth.
9/ Now, put this mixture back in the shallow container and freeze again till 50% set, take out from freezer and blend again. Repeat 3 times to break the ice crystal.
10/ Freeze until set, scoop out in a serving glass, top with extra lychee and enjoy.

I scream, you scream.......everybody love ice cream.

Cross bridge rice noodles is very nutritious and tasty. The pure chicken soup is good to the last drop.

Have a fabulous week ahead. Cheers!
Amelia

How to wow your MIL and hubby.....

MIL coming for dinner, no idea what to cook? Why not try this simple wonton noodle and wonton appetizer to wow your MIL and your hubby.

A Wonton is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisine.
Each region of China has its own variations of wonton, examples include Beijing, Sichuan, Hubei, Jiangnan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, etc.... 

Deep Fried wonton, best to serve immediately.

Wonton Ingredients
200gm chicken meat or meat ( 猪肉 )
5 water chestnuts
1 packet wonton skin

 You can buy this ready made wonton skin from supermarket.

Seasoning ingredients
2 cloves garlic - chopped finely
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oyster sauce
2 tsp soya sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp corn flour
A dash of sesame oil
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tsp Chinese rice wine

1/  Peel the water chestnut,wash and chopped coarsely.
2/  Mince or chopped the meat finely.
3/  Add the chopped garlic and all the seasoning ingredients. Mix till well blend.

4/  Place 3/4 tsp wonton filling in the centre, moisten the wonton skin edges with water and fold into a triangle. Press firmly to seal the edges.

5/ Another way of wrapping wonton, place 3/4 tsp of the filling in the centre of the wonton skin and twist to seal. It should resemble money bag or drawstring purse.

 As part of the sealing process, air is pressed out of the interior to avoid rupturing the wonton from interior pressure when cooked. 

6/  Another fun way to wrap the wonton. Fold into a triangle, bring two end together so that they overlap. Moisten with a bit of water, press to seal. It should resemble a nurse's cap.

7/  Prepare the steamer. Put the wonton on the stainless steel plate and steam for 5mins. Remove from steamer and let it cool.

8/ Cool the steamed wonton completely and deep fried until slightly brown and crisp. Serve immediately with chilli sauce.

Adding water chestnuts to the filling will give some light crunch to the wonton filling. Very addictive appetizer, hard to stop eating.

Another way to cook wonton is bring a pot of water to boil, put in the wonton slowly and let it boil for 5 to 6 mins. Remove from stove and drain off the hot water. Don't cook too many wonton at the same time, make sure there is enough room for them to move about freely.

Marble size wonton....

Serve the boil wonton with wonton noodle soup. Add a dash of pepper before serving.

Chinese noodles is the ancestor of all noodles. They are not only world-renowned but also exert far-reaching impact on noodle culture round the globe. Spaghetti was the example of a transformation of Chinese noodles: it was Marco Polo, an Italian diplomatic agent, who learnt the techniques from China in Yuan Dynasty and let the people evolve and thus had the new type of noodle created in the country.

Another example in 1912, the traditional techniques of making Chinese noodles were brought to Yokohama, Japan, from China and Japanese ramen was then introduced. Japanese ramen was initially called "Dragon Noodle" implying it was a food eaten by Chinese people-The people who are descendant of Dragon

PRAWN DUMPLING

Ingredients
200gm prawns - shelled and dice coarsely
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp Chinese rice wine or 1 tsp rum
1 tsp corn flour
A dash of sesame oil
5 water chestnuts - peel and dice coarsely

1/  Mixed all the ingredients together.
2/  Wrap the prawn dumplings into a triangle shape.
3/  Bring 1/2 a pot of water to boil. Add the prawn dumpling and let it boil for 5 mins.
4/  Drain off the water and serve prawn dumpling with wonton noodle soup or soya sauce wonton noodle.

For MIL serve a generous amount of prawn wonton in the noodle.

Among all special Chinese noodles, the most unique type ought to be "E-fu Noodle" (or "Yi Noodle"). Yi Noodle can be served dry or with soup. It is a creation of Scholar Yi Bingshou's chef during Ganlong time in Qung Dynasty. Yi Noodle is made in both southern and northern China with Fujian and Jiangxi provinces doing it most impressively.

The noodle is special because it does not require mixing of flour with water but with beaten eggs. After a process of boiling, cooling, drying and frying, it becomes the semi-finished product. Due to its unique making techniques, Yi Noodle can be served in a variety of ways, making it superior among other noodles and become one of the must-haves in banquets.

CHICKEN BROTH FOR WONTON NOODLE SOUP

1/  Wash the chicken carcass and remove the fat.
2/  Boil 1 chicken carcass with enough water, bunch of spring onion, few cloves of garlic, 1 piece of chicken stock cube for 30 mins. In between skim off the foam.
3/  Add salt, sugar, pepper and sesame oil to taste.

Chicken broth

Raw wonton Noodle

In Hong Kong, the popular "Wonton Noodle" is made with raw noodle, which was originated in Guangdong. Hen eggs or duck eggs are the major ingredients of raw noodle. Hen eggs can make the noodle more crispy while duck eggs can add flavor to the finished product. Good raw noodle is called rice thread vermicelli, which is thin and turns yellow when it is cooked. In addition to being pliable but not too hard or too soft, it is most important that the noodle does not carry the taste of lye.

Bring a pot of water to boil, then put in the wonton noodle. Let it boil for 2 mins, keep stirring with a chopsticks.

Remove the noodle from stove and rinse noodle with tap water for 30 seconds. Put back the noodle into pot of hot water and let it boil for 1 mins or until cook.

SOYA SAUCE WONTON NOODLE

For each serving of soya sauce noodle add 2 tsp light soya sauce, 1 tsp black caramel sauce, dash of sesame oil, 1/2 tsp oyster sauce.

Mixed the boil noodle with the sauce mixture.

Traditional noodles are delicately hand-made. From flour mixing, beating, pulling and cutting, every step is done manually. But interestingly, noodle making techniques are uniquely different in the north and south. Ramen, a kind of hand-pulled noodle, is famous in the north. To make it soft and pliable is not an easy task: one does not only need to have a pair of strong arms but also have good skill to control the force to press on the dough.

Serve the soya sauce noodle with generous amount of wonton and lettuce. Sprinkle with chopped spring onion. Blanch the lettuce in boiling water for 5 seconds. Remove and drain dry.

To the contrast, making of southern noodles requires gentle yet firm forces so that the finished products are crisp but not fragile. The critical part is the ‘bouncing' bouncing. The noodle maker's bouncing on the bamboo by using his body weight to evenly flatten the dough. The dough can then be cut into thin strips.

WONTON APPETIZER

Trim the wonton skin to fit the mini muffin tray.

Peel and shelled the prawns. Wash and pat dry, season with light soya sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil, rum and pepper for 2 to 3 hours. Put 3 prawns in each wonton mini cup.

Bake at 180 deg c for 15 to 20 mins or until wonton skin is golden brown and crispy. Serve with plum sauce.

For varieties, before baking sprinkle some chopped mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese on top the prawns.

After a scrumptious meal, still got room for dessert? Let's join me.

SWEET CORN DESSERT

400 gm corn kernels
400mls thick coconut milk
150 mls water
Sugar to taste
Pinch of salt
Pandan leaves
3 tbsp sago

Sago is a starch extracted in the spongy centre, or pith, of various tropical palm stems, especially Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak, rabia and sagu.

1/  Blend 200gm corn kernels with 150gm water until fine.
2/  Mix the balance corn kernels with blended corn, coconut milk, salt, sugar, pandan leave and bring to boil.
3/  Once boil, remove from stove immediately, do not over boil the coconut milk.
4/  Wash and soak the sago for 30 mins. Bring a pot of water to boil, add sago and cook until transparent. Rinse the sago until running tap to remove the starch.
5/  Drain dry and add the sago to the corn dessert.

COCONUT CREAM FOR TOPPING

100mls thick coconut milk
50mls water
2 tsp corn flour
pinch of salt

1/  Mix the corn flour with water.
2/  Boil the coconut milk till simmering only, add pinch of salt and corn flour mixture slowly, keep stirring to prevent burn. Cook for 2 mins and remove from stove.

3/  Serve corn dessert hot or cold with coconut topping cream.

Enjoy and cheers!
Amelia