When my Culinary Experimentation Club chose Chinese as our theme for February, I was delighted! I’ve been craving noodle soup something fierce and knew that would be the very first thing I made. (Please forgive the blurry state of some of these photos! I’m getting used to new settings on my little camera. :-))
As everyone knows, an authentic Chinese dinner begins with piping hot Ceylon tea (brewed from whole leaves by Darren) and…
…chocolate chip cookies. 🙂 At least OUR Chinese dinner started this way. Mostly because all of our dishes took extra time to prepare and we were absolutely ravenous well before they were done!! But Mike – the maker of these oh-so-chewy and decadent delights – assured us that all was kosher since the recipe came from his grandmother who was 1/5th Chinese. We all readily believed his claim and grabbed another cookie.
The kitchen was filled with the scent of garlic and fresh ginger and all sorts of splendid spices as various pots bubbled and steamed. At last all was ready and we clustered around the dining room table to eat.
We started with my spicy Chinese Noodle Soup with Prawns. I loved it so much I came home and made another batch the very next day! I used gluten-free pasta for the noodles and they worked beautifully. The broth was rich with ginger, scallions, garlic, chilies, and soy sauce, filled with thinly sliced savoy cabbage and matchstick-sized carrots and topped with fresh cilantro. Mmm, mmm, good! Our sinuses were clear in no time flat, I tell ya!
Kat made fluffy white rice and Robin sauteed bok choy with crispy pieces of toasted garlic. Delicious!
Selwyn sliced and diced furiously and whipped up a succulent beef stir-fry with brightly colored bell peppers and snow peas.
Kat closed our evening with bowls of vivid Purple Yam and Coconut Ice Cream. I’ve never had it before but I’m huge fan now. 🙂
I can’t wait to see what everyone brings next week to Round Two of our Chinese food celebration.
What is your favorite Chinese food?
Krista’s Chinese Noodle Soup with Prawns
Ingredients:
2 quarts organic free-range chicken broth
3-4 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chunked
6-8 garlic cloves
4-6 scallions, sliced
soy sauce to taste, about 2-4 Tbsp
1 rounded tsp Chinese 5-spice
1/2 red chili (or more if you want it really spicy), seeded and diced fine
2 cups savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut into matchstick-sized pieces
1-2 cups prawns or shredded chicken
1 package noodles (soba, angel hair pasta, egg noodles, etc)
1 cup fresh cilantro
Directions:
- Dump all but 1/4 cup broth into sauce pan and begin to heat.
- In food processor add 1/4 cup broth, ginger and garlic and blend until ginger and garlic are shredded. Add to broth.
- Add scallions, soy sauce, 5 spice and chili and bring to boil.
- Add cabbage and carrot. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15-20 minutes or until carrot is soft.
- Bring separate pot of salted water to boil, add noodles and cook until done. Drain.
- Add prawns to broth and cook about 5 minutes until prawns are pink and cooked through.
- Pile noodles in bottom of bowl, ladle over broth and top with cilantro.
Love these themed dinners Krista!!!
Oh Yum. Now I’m craving a bowl of that soup. It all sounds delicious!
I loved that first course :-). Everything, especially your soup, looked wonderful. Hands down, my favorite Chinese dish is a shrimp omelet. Mt favorite Thai dish is Mother-In-Law beef. Have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Wow, your soup looks delicious and the colors of that ice cream!
Am loving everything!!! What a fun group to be apart of!
I often find myself craving Chinese food and when I do I am definitely going to make this soup! What a fun menu you guys had…that purple ice cream is just so vibrant!
This looks so delicious and healthy and light! I don’t usually cook chinese meals but you are tempting me! As far as my favorite chinese, I like these types of meals the best.
The ice-cream looks perfect for Mardi-gras!
Wow the yam ice cream is stunning! That soup would be perfect for this sudden cold snap… and I’m loving the 1/5 Chinese Cookies. 🙂
Those look delicious, I live in China and I’m unearthing Chinese cuisine one delicacy at a time!
The title of the post was inviting enough. I made a stir fry tonight, too! And, the Chinese grocer has the most interesting ice creams. You should visit it!
🙂
Valerie
The cookies and the ice cream look absolutely delightful…the rest of the food is also very tempting 🙂
Oh i so loveee the idea , hot Chinese food on a cold night , infact i make so muc of chinese these days , chinese chilly chicken and cottage cheese and what have u!
Oh all the food is good , and i love that first pic of the cup o tea and the cc cookies…
I so wannntttt….
I am sure I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, love these dinners! And Asian is a favorite – and how right that it is a perfect meal in winter. I am daunted by Chinese cooking but boy have these dishes inspired me! That purple yam ice cream is so beautiful, kind of scary yet absolutely intriguing!
The soup looks absolutely delicious !! We are having very cold temps in the morning, and this is just the kind of thing that would warm us up !
It’s not the first time that I read about them and I don’t know what they are : yams ? And this colour ? I’m beyond curious now.
I’m a ny-er. Chinese and bagels are my life blood. I can’t decide really.
Mmm, wish I went to this dinner but happy to have the recipe so I won’t miss out. Love the purple ice cream too.
I’ve never seen purple ice cream before. I think it must be made with Okinawan sweet potatoes. I can’t wait to try to make the frozen treat with coconut milk. Very original!
Hey Krista, great Aussie topics, food looks awsome………