Friday, April 25, 2008

Cellophane Noodles with Mushroom Fritters & Say EEEE!


A recent comment from Tigerfish hit me in the head (in a very good way ^_^). I realised that lately I've been trying (maybe a little to hard?) to cook more challenging things, which required more effort. A simple stir fry with classic ingredients does not satisfy me anymore, I wanted MORE, MORE & MORE!...which I believe is a somehow good thing, as it unleashed the little adventurous bitch in me, and cured my:

1. Bake-O-Phobia
The idea of baking, especially baking, used to scare the heck outta me! I could feel the oven staring at me icily as I walk back and forth past it, it demanded me not to grill another batch of meat, its authoritative glance ordered me to get over myself and at least try baking something sweet, for the title of my blog's sake!!! Finally I did my first attempt of baked goodies! Gosh! The closest I got to baking anything before was to take the elevator to a nearest bakery, buy the damn thing and eat it faster than the time required to measure a cup of self raising flour HAHA!
2. Home-Sick-O'xicosis
I always think Indonesian cooking is as easy as Calculus in my university days (hope you got my hint ^_*...I failed Calculus miserably by getting 4 out of 10 in first year of uni. If you didn't get the hint = I thought it is SUPER HARD hehe). So, I used to only "cook" Indonesian food out of instant spice packets, which wasn't bad, but certainly could not compare to doing things from scratch. I braved myself dicing, chopping, pounding, & grinding the raw ingredients and the dish ended up pretty close to Mbak Yem's version, yay!
3. Boring-ausea
I am a 9-6, routine-loving, boring gal, who hates change, and I love eating the same thing again, and again, and again...the idea of eating bbq pork rice daily for one whole straight month (or more) does not daunt me the slightest. But I bet you guys would throw up reading the same blog post about bbq pork rice daily...so I set a new challenge for myself: never to bore myself, my sous chef, and my fellow bloggers. Although my "experiments" might not end up great, as some things sound good in my head, but might taste like a pair of facebook's raggedy old boots on my plate, but I will try my very best NOT to make you think "Oh gawd, if I see another _ _ _ _ _ _*insert your choice of something booooring here*, I'll go & bury my head in my toilet bowl throwing up".

I can't believe I 've already been blabbering so long and haven't even talked about the challenges of being newly adventurously complicated yet???!!! OK, to be continued in my next post then...

Now let me bore you and the Presto Pasta Night gang with my last night's experiment...hehe
Cellophane Noodles with Mushroom Fritters (Soun Goreng & Bakwan Jamur)


Recipe
Cellophane Noodles (Soun Goreng)
(serves 4)
- 4 packs of cellophane noodles , soak in water to soften
- 4 cloves of finely chopped garlic
- 5 cloves of thinly sliced shallot
- 2 red chilli, core and seeds removed, sliced thinly
- a few sprigs of corriander, finely chopped
- a handful of dried shrimps (optional), you can use fresh shrimps instead
- 2 heads of small napa cabbage, thinly sliced (you can also use beansprouts)
- olive oil, kecap manis, fish sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce

Saute aromatics, add napa cabbage, add noodles, add seasonings, garnish with corriander, serve with...

Mushroom Fritters (Bakwan Jamur)
- about 0.5 lb fresh straw mushrooms (Chou Gu /草菇) or you can use white button mushrooms
- 1 small clove of finely chopped garlic
- 1 small red chilli, core and seeds removed, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp dried shrimps (optional or use fresh shrimps instead)

- 1 egg
- 4 tbsp corn starch, 3 tbsp plain flour (you can use self raising flour if you want it fluffy)
- 1/2 tbsp salt, 1/4 tbsp sugar, a bit of white pepper

Wash mushrooms, chop into small pieces, soak in hot water for 3 minutes, drain, set aside to remove most water. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix well, scoop 1 tbsp of mixture into hot oil (if you are not using self raising flour, you do not need so much oil) fry 1-2 minutes each side until golden brown, serve. You can reheat these bad boys in the oven and eat em as snacks.



Millions of thanks to Taste Memory whose gorgeous blog I newly discovered but inspired me aplenty :) I am so honored to have been given this award...tonight is the night of celebration! Woohoo!

Now, passing on this award is not an easy task (another SUPER HARD mission). There are just soo many fab bloggers out there! After thinking real hard (which you might notice from how late I posted this today), I've decided to pass the award to the following bloggers, who continue to amaze me daily:
Kevin from Closet Cooking> his ecclectic & creative cooking, topped off with beautifully styled food photographs have me oohhh-ing and aaaah-ing every day. Is there anything you cannot do, Kevin?
Daphne from More than Words> I love her innovative savoury baked or layered creations, she totally sees my visions, she gets my inspirations, our taste just clicked!
Peter from Kalofagas> His blog opened my eyes to a whole new world of rustic gastronomical pleasures, namely Greek food at its very best!
Tigerfish from Teczcape> I love reading her episodes of food adventure, her Chinese touch, her one pot dinners and her recent comment which made me realise that I have improved so much, but I should not forget to get back to basic and keep things simple sometimes
Mba Retno from Kedai Hamburg> Her expertise on Indonesian food guided me to brave the exotic world of Indonesian cooking, not from packets

If you're bored now...get a copy of sudoku or Nintendo DS LOL

28 comments:

daphne said...

I can't get enough of mushrooms. Those fritters are practically calling out my name. In fact, I might give it a go in the next few weeks! I want to try the cream corn recipe first though. hehe. Wait a minute... maybe they can GO TOGETHER!

and the E-award? Amazing. Thank you. It's a pleasure knowing great food bloggers like yourself. I look forward hopping over to your blog and filling my mind with more ideas!

And u deserve every e in that excellence award!!! *muacks*

Peter M said...

Rita,

Thank you so much for your kind words and for being a new regular reader of my blog.

I do hope that you will tell your friends and family about Greek food...THANK YOU!

tigerfish said...

Ex-cell-lant-ophane noodles! No No....you need to push yourself harder...whip up more things in the kitchen. I just admire you, that's all :) MORE...can make you more and more efficient too :).
Though I have some time on my hands sometimes, I just keep thinking of LESS LESS LESS ...coz I'm just LAZY (SShhh...)...and LESS always keeps me efficient. It's just what keeps you going :P

Thanks for your award :)

SIG said...

I don't think you are boring at all. You constantly inspire with your interesting foods, just like Daphne does. Congrats on the award! And mushroom fritters - how interesting! I bet they are gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Hi Rita! That dish is not boring whatsoever ;)
Congrats on your "E". All wonderful blogs you mentioned.

Ruth Daniels said...

Great dish and well deserved E for Excellence award. Thanks for sharing such an interesting dish with Presto Pasta Night.

Retno Prihadana said...

Rita, thank you so much....muuuaaahh. I´m really honoured. You know, I´m not expertise, still learning by doing how to cook :).

Christo Gonzales said...

wow more excellent dishes....

Anonymous said...

ok, those mushroom fritters are making me hungry! they look awesome! so does the noodles, but the crunch of the fritters make me want them now!

Salt N Turmeric said...

Cellophane noodles? haha. didn realise tht's its called tht among other names.

Im so like you Rita, used to just 'make' them using money i.e. buy fr the stall/restaurant. no measurement or cutting or slaving in the kitchen needed. easy-peasey. lol.

KC said...

Congratulations on winning the award for excellence! It is well deserved. I'm never bored by your recipes

Anonymous said...

I have never heard of cellophane noodles but they look delish along with mushroom fritters...be still my heart.

Cakelaw said...

Congrats on your award. These aredamn fine noodles - if they were a calculus exam, I'd say you just graduated with honours.

test it comm said...

Congrats on the award! I have really been enjoying learning about Indonesian cuisine from your posts.

Those cellophane noodles look interesting and I really like the sound of mushroom fritters!

Thanks for the kind words and the award!!

Mama Mia said...

congrats on your award! This dish looks amazing! As all of your dishes always do~

Jessy and her dog Winnie said...

Your food is so exotic and awesome! I wish I could make something cool for dinner like you do! Im like the opposite of you. I can bake anything with no fear, but when it comes to cooking stuff on the stove, im clueless!

Anonymous said...

Lol..sometimes going back to the basics of simple is indeed worthwhile, isn't it? And these recipes sound fantastic!

taste memory said...

awesome recipe again ~ noodles remind me of Korean 'chapchae' w. a twists and anything mushroom is fine w. me!

Thanks for the kinds words....you deserve the 'E' and look forward to you cooking adventures ahead!

Little Corner of Mine said...

You funny gal can never be boring! Love your noodle with mushroom fritters! And congrats on the E award.

Anonymous said...

hehehehe..you're funny funny!
Now don't go throwing up in your toilet bowl and keep posting about delicious recipes like this one.
Me love everything on your plate!

Dwiana P said...

Rita, all I know your noodles absolutely look so delish! Sometimes I challenge myself to cook something which required time and skill, but you know with my two years old son around I think I rather put a side my crazy idea. Because if I do so I still have to cook something else for him and my hubby.

So now I rather cook simple but yet delish food which the whole family like it!

Susan @ SGCC said...

This dish looks "excellent"! Really, it looks delicious! I love cellophane noodles. And the fritters look terrific.

Congrats on the award! It is well deserved! :)

Anonymous said...

ritaaa...congratulations for the E award...!!...heheheh emang TOP dehhhh...

keep writing...:D

Kajal@aapplemint said...

mushroom fritters sound amazing.
this by no means ...looks like a simple dish to me. its looks nice and impressive, and i'd love to have some right now for lunch.

Elle said...

Congratulations on your award! And there is not one thing in that recipe that I don't like, it looks a-maz-ing!!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on this very well deserved award! You are sooo funny! I love visiting you for your humor and great recipes! No matter how difficult, I just love licking them off my computer!

Unknown said...

hi daph...yeah i am a mushroom mania too! and i am always into messing n matching ^_^

hi peter, my pleasure!

tigerfish, ur less less less remark really cracked me up! haha

hi singairish, maryan, ruth, doggybloggy, kc, lina, ching, susan, elsye, elle, & worc, thanksssssss so much for the kind words...i almost didn't need to buy a new blush on! hehe

mba retno...hihi daku akan lanjutkan belajar, sama2 yookkk

s&t, yeah, for cookies, i still go to mrs fields haha...at least until i can bake my own cookies lol

hi noble pig, u can try finding cellophane/glass noodles/vermicelli in nearest asian minimarkets ^_^

cakelaw, wow the thought of retaking that calculus exam made me shudder with fear haha

hi kevin...i'm waiting for the day you post your take on indonesian dishes...must be brill!!

hi jess...could you teach me how to bake plzzzz...pretty plzzzz??

zen chef, hold my hair wud ya? hehe

hi kate/kajal, ehm...not as simple as i'd want them to be (throwing everything into a pot and bring to boil) hehe...which i must try again soon before i forget how to

amycaseycooks said...

The mushroom fritters are going on my menu hopefully for tonight's dinner. I love putting mushrooms in everything, but I have never had it in a fritter. A trip to my Asian market for the ingredients for me today.