Rice might be the most important staple food in China, but noodles are often served as a single-dish meal for lunch, or as part of a banquet dinner. Especially in the northern regions, where noodles often replace rice in a meal. The long strands symbolize longevity, and because of that, they're part of many celebrations, like Chinese New Year and birthday parties. The texture and taste of fresh noodles is rich and distinct.

1. Whisk flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in water with one hand while mixing with the other. Turn out the mixture and knead on a work surface until smooth. Cover with a plastic wrap and allow it to rest for 1 hour.
2. Roll the dough out into a thin rectangle of an even thickness throughout. Sprinkle the semolina or cornstarch over. Wind the rectangle round the rolling pin and roll the dough into a 3mm sheet. Fold and cut into noodles of a desired width. Separate the noodles with the help of a little bit of flour. Cook the noodles in a pot of boiling water.

1. Press hard-boiled egg yolks through a sieve into a mixing bowl. Add in raw egg yolk and beat until incorporated. Slowly beat in half of olive oil until thick and stiff.
2. Beat in lemon juice and mustard. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Blend all ingredients and chill. Will keep for several days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It is often served with seafood dishes, fries, or salad.

© 2008 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

© 2008 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

Curry Bread, or curry doughnut is a popular Japanese food. An amount of Japanese curry is wrapped in a dough, which then breaded with Panko fresh bread crumbs, and deep fried until golden crispy.

1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced onions and sautee over medium-high heat, stirring often, until lightly browned. Stir in ground beef and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the grated carrot and sautee for 1 minute. Pour in the white wine and bring to a boil over high heat. Add in curry and chilli sauce. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the dissolved cornstarch and cook until thickened. Season with salt to taste. Set aside to cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. To make the dough in a bread maker, put all of the ingredients into the mixing bowl of your bread machine in the order listed, and set the machine to create dough. When the machine finishes, roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 8-10 even portions. Round up, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Combine egg and milk.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface into a 4-inch round. Place some of the filling in the center of the round. Fold each of them in half to enclose the filling in a semi-circle. Be sure that the seam is well sealed. Dip the bun into the egg wash, coating it on all sides, then roll in bread crumbs. Place them on a tray lined with parchment paper and let rise for about 20 minutes. Heat up a skillet with oil until 180C/350F. Place the bread into the oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, about 60-90 seconds per side. Drain the curry bread on a kitchen towel.

© 2008 | http://angiesrecipes.blogspot.com

1. Sieve the flour and vanilla sugar on a piece of baking paper. Prepare two baking trays lined with baking papers. Bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Remove from heat and with one hand tip all the flour in all at once, while stir the mixture vigorously with the other. Once the mixture free of clumps, put it back to fire and cook for one more minute until you have a smooth ball of paste that has left the sides of the saucepan clean.
2. Take the pan off the heat. Transfer the paste into a mixing bowl and stir in one egg, which must be completely blended in before the next egg is added, and so on until all the eggs have been incorporated. The paste appears shiny and should be of a pipeable consistency and not too runny.
3. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Using a fine plain nozzle to pipe “S” for the head and neck of the swan, and a large star nozzle or a couple of teaspoons, to form small balls of choux paste onto the prepared trays, allowing space for them to raise and expand. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden and crispy. Swan necks should be removed from the oven after 20 minutes, to prevent them from burning.
4. Remove from the oven and use the tip of a knife to make a slit in the side of each eclair or profiteroles to let the steam inside the puff escape. Return to the turned-off oven and dry out for 5-10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. Cut the top of the cream puff 1/4 of the way down. It should be dry in the centre with no uncooked dough in the middle. Fill the bases with whipped cream and then the "S" shape in the Chantilly cream. Slice the tops lengthwise into two, placing the two pieces on either side of the cream to form the wings of the swan. To make profiteroles, pipe whipped cream carefully into the slit cut of each puff or slice the puff open and fill the whipped cream.

1. Sift the flour in a mixing bowl, add in baking powder and salt and stir together. Add in butter and water and mix until soft and smooth. Cover with a plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
2. In a mixing bowl, stir ingredients A and B for the dough at slow speed for 1 minute. Increase the speed and continue to mix until a rough dough forms, about 3 minutes. Stir in butter until the dough has become smooth and elastic. Add in almond and apricot. Mix at slow speed until well-combined.
3. Place the dough in a lightly oiled container and cover closely with plastic wrap. Allow the dough to proof till doubled in size. Remove and divide the dough into 3 equal portions and allow them to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the pastry dough into 3 equal portions too.
4. Flatten each pastry dough lightly with your hand. Round each dough and place them in the center of each pastry dough. Seal the dough by pinching all sides together to make a neat package of each. Arrange the rolls, pinched side down, on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Slash the loaves diagonally 2 or 3 times with a razor blade, deep enough to see the matcha dough. Sprinkle the top with some seeds if desired. Bake in the preheated 175C/350F oven for 30 minutes.

1. Cut the shelled shrimp down the back and remove the black vein with a toothpick. Rinse the shrimp in cold water, drain and pat dry on a kitchen towel. Coarsely chop the shrimp and finely mince with the ground meat until blended. Stir in the liquid of ginger and onion in 2 additions, then add in the rest of the seasonings and stir until you have a smooth paste.
   
   
2. Divide yau char kwai in two sticks and cut each into 2 inches sections. Slice each of them open and fill the hollow with some shrimp paste. Heat up a skillet with enough oil until hot. Carefully lower the filled yau char kwai into the oil and fry for 1-2 minutes. Remove them from the skillet and drain. Turn the fire to high and return the yau char kwai to the skillet. Fry until they are golden brown and crispy. Serve them with a dish of sweet chilli sauce.
3. Alternately you can serve these stuffed yau char kwai with a simple and quick sweet and sour sauce. Mix the ketchup, vinegar, sugar, juice and salt together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Add in starch solution and stir to thicken. Add in pineapples and spring onions. Pour the sauce over the stuffed yau char kwai.

Crunchy, cool lettuce leaves make a really good contrast to the tender, warm filling, and the slight sweetness in the hoisin sauce enhances the flavour. Hoisin sauce is a sweet bean sauce made from fermented soya beans and can be found in most Asian supermarkets.

1. Wash and pat the lettuce leaves dry. Trim each into a round cup. Heat up a skillet until hot over medium fire. Add in pine nuts and adjust the fire to slow. Stir pine nuts until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Remove and set aside to let cool.
2. Wash and chop the chicken breast. Place in a bowl, add in egg white, salt, chicken bouillon and starch solution. Let marinate for 30 minutes. Set a skillet on high heat, add in oil and heat up. Fry the chicken breast until cooked. Drain. Pour off all but a tablespoon of oil and stir-fry ginger, hoisin seafood sauce and sugar until aromatic, return chicken and pine nuts to the skillet. Stir fry until all thoroughly combined. Drizzle with the chilli oil and serve.