noodle Archives - Page 2 of 2 - The Wifey's Corner

December 24, 2016October 25, 2023

Maenam Lao & Thai, Strathfield, Sydney

December is generally a festive month and truly the time when we have many gatherings and catch up sessions going on. Not just for Christmas celebrations, but there is also the end of year, then my husband’s birthday, also my sister in law’s birthday. And yesterday, we had dinner at Maenam Lao & Thai for my sister-in-law’s birthday. It’s the first time we branched out from our usual Green Peppercorn for Laos/Thai meal. Apparently, Maenam means mother river that divides as well as connects Laos and Thai.

Maenam is located in the main strip of Strathfield, few doors next to the Strathfield Plaza on The Boulevard entrance. The restaurant is semi open air, where the front part of the restaurant is totally open. There are plenty of seating, however the walkway in-between chairs are narrow so there could be awkward moments when you bump into other chairs when walking in/out.

The menu itself is quite extensive, with choices of salads, stir fries, curries, noodles, desserts, and drinks. And these are the food that we ordered last night:

So, the verdict? The food were delicious and tasty, love the ox tongue and crispy noodle most! The ox tongue is very tender without any chewiness at all, seasoned well and goes perfectly with the dipping sauce. The crispy noodle is tasty with that goodness thick gravy, and the noodle texture is lovely. This is something we have never ordered at Green Peppercorn, in fact I am not even sure they have it. I think their red duck curry is creamier and very slightly less sweet than Green Peppercorn. We prefer the Green Peppercorn’s version of deep-fried snapper with mango and green apple salad, mainly because the fish has been filleted and de-boned for easier eating plus the salad/sauce is more refreshing. Crispy pork belly is deliciously seasoned, cut in generous chunks which may be why some pieces are not as crispy as others, nonetheless tasted very yummy.

In general we’d still prefer Green Peppercorn, however if for any reasons we don’t feel like going to city for a Laos/Thai meals, this definitely be a great substitute. Price wise is in similar range and taste almost on par anyway. Just maybe, a reservation ahead will save you troubles waiting for a table if you coming in bigger group.

Maenam Lao & Thai Restaurant

31 The Boulevarde, Strathfield NSW 2135

Phone: (02) 9746 5882

http://maenamlaothai.com.au/

October 3, 2016October 2, 2016

Hakata Gensuke Ramen Professional, Melbourne

It had been raining on and off and windy since we arrived at Melbourne that day, actually the weather was also like that in Sydney as we left. And such weather usually calls for hearty meals right? As for us, we chose ramen and there is one in CBD that I have recommended to, Hakata Gensuke Ramen Professional. There are also plenty of positive reviews on the web, so hubby was really keen to try.

We walked through the little lanes from City Tempo, passed china town towards Russell St. There are so many temptations (read: other restaurants) on the way that we have to keep remind ourselves that we want Hakata Gensu ramen (ง’̀-‘́)ง

We arrived at the restaurant around 5.15 pm thinking that we might be their first customers since they will only be serving dinner 15 minutes ago. But voila, the restaurant was near full! Alright, that was not expected, but nonetheless a good sign.

The friendly waitress prompted us to our seats, left us a menu and two sheets of forms to fill in our order. On the form, you can choose which broth you’d like, texture of the noodle, how strong the taste, with our without spring onions, and any additional toppings needed.

Our food came not long after the waitress collected our forms. The ramen appeared similar to other ramen we have elsewhere, minus the egg (as we didn’t opt for extra topping). Don’t let the appearance fooled you, it tasted really good! The broth is delicious, not too salty or heavily seasoned with MSG. We have never been to
Japan, but I’d like to think this is how the real ramen tastes like 🙂 We also shared a plate of gyoza, which tastes just as fabulous.

It is most certainly not the cheapest ramen around and they don’t even come with egg (like most others do). But, we think it totally worth the hypes – very hearty and delicious broth. We both would absolutely love to come back here next time we are in town!

Hakata Gensuke Melbourne CBD

168 Russell Street, Melbourne 3000 VIC

(03) 9663 6342

info@gensuke.com.au

www.gensuke.com.au

March 5, 2016

Mi Ayam Jamur

Mi ayam jamur is another very common dish served in Indonesia. You can find numerous street vendors selling dish, mainly in gerobak style (going around in a cart). There are also a lot of restaurants that are specializing in this noodle dish. It is basically egg noodle with chicken and mushroom topping, then you have a bowl of clear broth as a side, sometimes it may come with dumplings or meat balls. Is is essentially a typical meal that can be found probably in every island of Indonesia – note that I said “probably” because I have never been to every single island of Indonesia 🙂 Each area might have a different variation of bakmi (noodle), adapted to suit local cultures, taste preference or produces. For example in my hometown, the topping used in the bakmi is pork with various shredded chicken and crab pieces or even crab claws for extra special; the taste is more towards savory.

I suddenly had a craving for mi ayam jamur so we made this on the weekend. It tasted really good, shame we didn’t have the crispy wonton to go with it, it would have been perfect 🙂 But nonetheless, it is a good satisfying meal.

I don’t use any measurement while cooking for this, but here are the ingredients I used:

egg noodle, either fresh or dried
chicken fillet, cut into small cubes
mushroom (tinned straw mushroom, button mushroom, or even fresh ones)
soy sauce
sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
fish sauce
sesame oil
garlic
thinly sliced green onion (daun bawang)
salt, sugar and pepper to taste
oil
green vegetable (ie. bak choy, choy sum, or even kailan) – blanched
Optional: dumpling and meatball for broth; crispy wonton

Marinate the chicken pieces with soy sauce and salt and pepper – let it aside for at least 30 minutes

Stir fry chopped garlic and green onion until fragrant, then toss in the marinated chicken pieces. Add more sweet soy sauce and season well to your taste preference, it should be sweet with a hint of savory. Then add in the mushroom, stir until all is well cooked. Feel free to add some water if it is too dry – the sauce will add more flavor to the noodle.

Prepare the egg noodle as per package instructions.

Seasoning for the noodle: generous amount of sesame oil, soy sauce, and fish sauce. Toss the noodle with the seasoning making sure it is distributed evenly.

Serve the noodle in a bowl, place some chicken mushroom mixture on top of the noodle. Then garnish with blanched vegetables and crispy wonton. As a side. serve a small bowl of broth with dumplings and/or meatballs.

Ready to enjoy! 🙂