Pandas and Dreams of Noodles

OK, I’m not ashamed to admit that I got my inspiration for two of my more successful dishes from the movie, “Kung Fu Panda.” You have to love a movie with the quote, “There is no charge for awesomeness…..or attractiveness.” Anyway, I’ve always wanted to cook some asiany (I just made that word up…maybe asianish?) noodles, and so after watching Po the Panda and his father (a goose for some reason…this never gets explained in the movie) cook and serve noodles, I really, really wanted to make some noodles. Much like why a panda might have a goose father, I can’t explain why. Just watching computer-generated noodles made me want to make some…I can’t explain it. There is a scene early in the movie when the goose father asks Po, “You had the noodle dream?” after Po lies about dreaming about noodles, when in reality he had dreamed about Kung Fu. I, however, did have the noodle dream, and I was determined to make some tasty noodles.

I took my dreams about noodles to my cookbook shelf, and started perusing my book, “365 Ways to Cook Chinese.” I wasn’t looking for a recipe per se….just some ideas for what ingredients might go well with each other. I often find it helpful to look at recipes, and just see various combinations. Hmmm…yes, yes….ginger, carrots maybe, perhaps some chili garlic sauce. I wanted my noodles to be spicy, and I wanted them to have some protein, so I knew I wanted there to be some meat in there, too. Eventually, I took my vague noodle ideas, and just went to the store.

At the market, I meandered up and down the aisles, looking for inspiration. Knowing that the asian equivalent of mirepoix is ginger, garlic, and scallions (GGS), I grabbed a nice hunk of fresh ginger, a head of garlic, and a couple bunches of scallions. Some very nice organic carrots caught my eye, and so I grabbed those, too, unsure of what I would do with them. At the meat cooler I spied some nice ground pork…yes, that would do nicely…no prepping! I headed home with my haul, and set to work.

I peeled and cut the carrots into lengths, and then shredded them in my Cuisinart. I took the ginger, peeled it, and minced it, then did the same with the garlic. I also sliced the scallions small, and well up into the green (screw that “light green parts” bit…there’s a lot of good flavor with even the dark green parts). After I had prepped, I pulled out a stock pot and got some water heating for the noodles.

I pulled out the wok my mother-in-law Dianne had bought me for Christmas, and got to work…I heated some oil, and then on a whim threw in a dash of red pepper flakes, since I really love spicy asian food. When the oil and red pepper flakes looked ready, I threw in the GGS, and sautéed that for a bit. Next came the carrots, which I cooked until I deemed them tender, and then threw in the pork. I let the pork cook until it was mostly done…maybe some pink left, but not much.

Next, I did something that I thought would be good, but wasn’t sure…I cracked 3 eggs and threw them in, and then stirred the whole mess while the egg cooked in the hot food. I then threw in some of Asian ingredients I had lying around… chili garlic sauce, sesame oil (not much…that stuff is powerful), some soy sauce, and some sherry cooking wine. I stirred that up, and things were looking good. By this time, my noodles were done, so I drained those, and then sprayed them with cold water to keep them from sticking together. I threw the noodles into the wok, and then tried cutting them with a knife to make them more manageable. My wife saw me struggling, and suggested using scissors…this was pure brilliance, and worked like a champ. Things looked a bit dry, so I threw in a bit of chicken broth, and let things heat for a while, and then served. It was, if I may so, fantastic. My wife absolutely loved it, and insisted I cook it for anyone who came to the house.

Since then, I’ve made that dish a number of times. I like to put on “Kung Fu Panda,” cook my Noodle Dream, and then watch the movie while eating dinner in the family room. I have recently been dreaming about noodles, though, and had noodles on the brain when I talked with my wife about our dinner plans for last Sunday. Susan wanted a roasted chicken and potatoes. She likes the way I do it, with fresh sage leaves shoved under the skin, surrounded by cubed red potatoes and quartered onions tossed in olive oil, and with fresh rosemary branches scattered on top, and salt and fresh ground pepper over all. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Po and those noodles. I wanted to experiment again. So once more I checked out the same little cookbook, went to the store, and came up with something similar, yet different. I used a very inexpensive cut of beef and sliced it thin (you can either use a really, really sharp knife to do this, or slightly freeze the meat). I marinated the thin slices of beef in some cornstarch, some vinegar, sherry cooking wine, and Sriracha sauce, while I sautéed the fresh asparagus. I then cooked the beef in some hot peanut oil that had been flavored with some minced garlic, ginger, and scallions. It turned out very nicely as well, although I should have used more asparagus…it cooked down farther than I thought it would, and it ended up a bit more “beefy” than I had intended, but still pretty darn good.

My beverage of choice with either dish (as it is with anything fairly spicy) is usually a cold beer, such as a Blue Moon wheat with a hunk of orange or an IPA, or if I feel like wine instead, perhaps a nice, chilled Sauvignon Blanc.

Here are the two recipes (both are quick and easy):

“Noodle Dream”

Canola or peanut oil
Pinch red pepper flakes
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1” piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
10-12 scallions, chopped
4-5 small, organic carrots, peeled and shredded
1 lb ground pork
3 eggs
1 ½ tbsp chile garlic sauce
½ tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sherry cooking wine
1/3 cup chicken broth
¾ lb fettucine or linguini

- Cook noodles in salted water, drain and rinse well in cold water; cut into 1” to 2” pieces with scissors
- Heat ¼ cup oil in a wok or large sauté pan
- Add first 4 ingredients; sauté for 3-5 minutes
- Add carrots; sauté for 4-5 minutes
- Add ground pork; break up with cooking utensil and cook until pink is nearly gone
- Add 3 eggs; stir to cook and combine
- Add next four ingredients; stir to combine
- Add cooked noodles, pour on chicken broth
- Stir well and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes or until noodles heated through

George’s Spicy Shredded Beef and Asparagus Noodles

1 ¾ lb London Broil or similar inexpensive, lean beef
2 tbsp cornstarch
1-2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp sherry cooking wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp canola oil
2 bundles asparagus (about a pound or so); cut into 2” pieces with a diagonal cut
Pinch red pepper flakes
3 tbsp peanut oil
2” piece fresh ginger; peeled and minced
4-5 medium to large garlic cloves; minced
3 bundles scallions (about 15 or so); chopped
2 tbsp black bean garlic sauce
2 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1-2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
1 lb fettucine or linguini

- Cook noodles in salted water, drain and rinse well in cold water; cut into 1” to 2” pieces with scissors
- Slice the beef very thinly (about 5mm; you will need a very sharp knife), and then halve the slices and cut them so that the beef is about ¼” x 2”
- Combine the cornstarch, Sriracha sauce, red wine vinegar, sherry cooking wine, and soy sauce, and toss with the beef; set aside
- Heat the canola oil in a wok or large sauté pan, and toss in the red pepper flakes
- Add the asparagus; sauté for about 5-7 minutes
- Remove the asparagus and the oil (I simply poured the contents of the wok into a wire basket set over a metal bowl).
- Add the peanut oil to the wok and heat
- Add the ginger, garlic, and scallions; sauté for 3-5 minutes
- Add the beef; sauté for about 5 minutes
- Add next 3 ingredients; sauté for 5 minutes
- Add noodles, toss, and cook for another 5-10 minutes or until noodles heated through

Note: My cooking times are really approximations, as I normally cook until it looks right to me. By all means, adjust your cooking times as necessary for how you like your food!