My Pan Fried Noodles

Inspired by my sister, Evelyn's "Eats" blog postings,  I wanted to put up a recipe of my own.  We did grow up loving and eating good food.  Both parents able to cook traditional Cantonese dishes - family style cuisine.  My mother was a quick study.  Taught once and she would mastered a particular dish.  She succeeded more times than not but her foray into baking bread will never be forgotten.  The loaf weighed a ton and was inedible.  She learned from that disaster and now makes her own "lop cheung baos" (Chinese sausage buns) - the bun itself, soft and very edible.

My dad roasted a mean prime rib and broiled the best steaks.  He liked to experiment with American recipes.  After he retired, he watched many cooking shows (Nikki, at a very young age, would shout out "Yan Can Cook"!! having watched with my dad) and I don't know why it appealed to my dad but he started baking cheesecakes in his latter years.

This is not to say we only ate home-cooking.  My dad liked fine dining.  I didn't have fast food until my high school years.  Once a week, when my parents closed their store, we would go on an outing.  Sometimes it was to a mall (Green Acres on Long Island) or to a game farm (Catskills) or Jones Beach in the summer. I remember going all the way to Montauk for scallops or was it Long Island duck?  Other times, it was just out to dinner.  Cooky's (Green Acres) or the Statler Hilton (34th Street) for prime rib or Blue Sea (2nd Ave) for lobster.  When we were very young, we would head to Shanghai Village, located above the store for sizzling crispy rice tomato soup and my dad's favorite spicy fish head casserole along with sui lung bao (soupy buns).  Or my mother would take us for lunch on Doyer street for Canton chow mein.  Extra noodles, please.

I love pan fried noodles - probably from those lunches.  I like the texture of the dry crispy noodles being drenched in the gravy of meat and vegetables.  I would always splash on red wine vinegar giving it that extra tang.

And so the other day, with all these frigid temperatures, I had a hankering for those pan fried noodles.
Here are my results:

Chinese Broccoli - washed and cut up

Pre-cooked Chinese roast pork - sliced into strips

Blanched greens for 5 mins., drain and flash in
cold water to stop cooking.

Bag of Hong Kong style pan fried noodles

Pan fry noodles in small amt of oil  - 4-5 min on each side

Sauteed garlic, add greens & roast pork until warmed. Add water
or broth & oyster sauce.   Heat until boiling. Stir in corn starch mixed
 in water for thickening.  Spoon gravy over noodles.

Finished product.  Enjoy!

Barclay Center with the Nets & Nic

I have been looking forward to tonight ever since I opened my gift from Tom on Christmas Day.  A pair of Nets tickets at the Barclay Center.  They played against the Toronto Raptors and won...113-106.

I invited Nikki which was perfect since she now knows her way around there.  We met first at Taro, her favorite sushi restaurant in easy walking distance to the arena.  I was lucky enough to also find parking a block away.

My appetizer: Chef's Choice - Mackerel,  Squid & Salmon Roe
and Scallop with Sea Urchin

Nikki's appetizer: Sea Urchin special

We both ordered the Sashimi Deluxe...the fish was extremely
fresh and melted in my mouth.  De-lec-table!

It was advantageous to have Nikki with me for my first time at the Barclay.  She knows her way around.  It's a beautiful building and as we passed the different food counters, I loved the variety of cuisines and their names: Brooklyn Bangers and Dogs, Bed Stuy Grill, Fatty Cue BBQ to name a few.

Although we were in the upper level, there is no bad seat!  The outcome of this night surpassed my anticipation.  But then, any opportunity I get to spend time with Nikki is price. less.

The winning moment!