Went to a TM Team Meeting and ate out at Siena's in Mt Lawley! Had to say the pasta/pizza deal on Mondats/Tuesdays are still worth it at $13.95 (volume/price wise). Service and the wait left much to be desired. I realised upon ordering my usual penne al pollo style dish, I could cook this! And I could make it saltier and tastier with more cream & cheese without feeling guilty in a Thermomix! (I've yet to learn portion control really after I've tested a recipe)
So went home and decided to try out the Bee Hoon dish in the Taste of Asia Cookbook. Upon reading it, I realized there was no way at 10pm at night I was defrosting a couple of chicken breasts pieces just to put into my lunch tomorrow - I settled for vegetarian bee hoon.
Since I was taking out the chicken strips, the ingredient portions weren't really right - but then again, considering I never follow recipes this wasn't a surprise.
Here's my version, and no I didn't really re-invent the wheel. Bee hoon is one of those dishes that left over stir fried veggies actually make it taste better.
200 g Bee hoon (lukewarm water, soak for at least 1/2 hour to more - you don't want it mushy but all must be separated into 'strands')
4 dried shitake mushrooms (soaked for while - I put these to soak before I left the house for dinner at 6:30 - started cooking at 10:30; generally it will only need an hour or two)
200 g carrots (julienned)100 g of left-over stirfried green beans (you can use raw but will have to put in at same time as carrots)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 lrg red onion (sliced)
1 sml dried red chilli1 tbspn Oyster sauce
1-2 tspn Sesame oil
50 mL Cooking oil (extra virgin olive oil)
2 tspn of vegetable paste1/4 tspn of cracked pepper (I used TM milled pepper)
320 ml of liquid (I used the soaking water/liquid of the mushrooms = mushroom stock)
1 spring onion (chopped / julienned)
Method:
1. Garlic & brown onion & chilli into bowl, Sp 6 & 5 seconds.
2. Add 50 mL of cooking oil, set to 3 mins, Varoma, Sp Soft - Reverse. I put it on reverse now in case I forget later.
3. Attach Butterfly.
4. Add carrots & red onion (& green bean if using raw). Set to 5 mins, Varoma, Sp Soft - Reverse.
5. Add bee hoon, space it around the butterfly (having too much curled on top could 'skew' your butterfly during the turning process).
6. Add spring onion.
7. Mix vegetable paste, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cracked pepper in with the 'mushroom stock'. Pour into TM Bowl on top of bee hoon & spring onions.
8. Set at 7 mins, Varoma, Sp Soft - Reverse.
9. Pour into Thermoserver, stir through with chopstick as mixture may not be as even when poured out. Don't worry it's all cooked through & evenly cooked!!!
Taste: 4 out of 5 stars. I don't give full points. It lacked in presentation.
The spice might not be to what you normally prefer - but this way it provides a little bit of heat during "winter". Asian winter warmer!
Tips/Recommendation:
Things to note namely is the presentation... it's a bit "blobby". As in gluggy looking. This is because I tried to reduce the liquid portion when I took out the chicken - but I didn't reduce this enough! Change to 250 mL of liquid and it'll be perfect. Depending on the vegetables you use - always keep in mind they have water content, when cooked this liquid comes out and can replace
The 'mushroom stock' also gives the noodles a darker colour - so I don't use soy sauce.
Side note - prefer saltier? Add light soy - this adds salt. If you prefer 'darker coloring' - add dark soy sauce - this adds colour and not as much salt as the light soy.
I used extra oil:
1. carrots 'eat up' oil when stirfried, and you can stirfry this longer.
2. this also keeps the noodles from becoming extremely starching - other method is to drain out water & dry out the bee hoon and add a drizzle of oil on before placing in TM bowl . This means extra prep time, but it does actually reduce the overall amount of oil used.
Options with bee hoon: buy the ones which are already cut - in noodle packets - this way you don't have to worry about how long each strand is and it getting stuck on your butterfly. Or just trim the "roll/woolspun" ones at ends. So far I haven't found a favourite brand. The one I used was called the Chilli Brand (not chilli flavour, but somehow looking at the picture, adding a small chilli sounded like a good idea).
Also - upon tasting, I realized chopping the onion in with garlic really didn't do much. It's better to have it as slices, instead of the red onion, to add in with carrots. Why? Cause the red onion actually loses colour & vibrancy - it also adds colour to the overall dish. Use yellow or white onion - it will lead to a 'clearer' bee hoon dish at the end.
Always remember to have something white, green, red or yellow. Bellpeppers is a good one to add. The original calls for cabbage, cabbage requires quite a bit of cooking time and liquid. I'd recommend against it if you're doing a straight vegetarian one - extra liquid leads to a much more starchy bee hoon texture.
My friends have been asking me if the Thermomixis just as great for home cooks as it is for pro chefs, I would always tell them it depends on how often you cook. It’s a little pricy but if you make use of it properly and most of the time then the price shouldn’t be a problem.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. Sorry I haven't gotten back to you until now. Have a tendency to get distracted. Keeping a blog is still a habit that's not as ingrained.
DeleteI tend to Facebook post more often my cooking and leave it at that and forget to update. One of the biggest reasons why I became a consultant was because I knew this would make me use it more and think of more ways to incorporate it into my kitchen. I generally use it to add a dish or two to dinner with my extended family.