Recommended #HomeCooking Blog: “How to Make Crispy Fried Noodles (Kata Yakisoba)”
At Recommended #HomeCooking, I often enjoy one of my favorite dishes, crispy fried noodles (kata yakisoba).
Usually, I make it using a supermarket kit that comes with crispy noodles and a packet of ready-made thick sauce. This time, however, I decided to try a different approach.
I bought only the crispy noodles from a local udon shop in my neighborhood shopping street and made the thick sauce from scratch. I was a little nervous because I thought adjusting the seasoning and getting the right consistency for the sauce might be difficult.
The photo above shows the result.
One thing I would improve is that the sauce wasn’t quite thick enough. However, the flavor turned out very well.
I think the delicious taste came from the combination of mushrooms, cabbage, onion, egg, pork, naruto fish cake, green pepper, and bean sprouts.
I first stir-fried the pork and vegetables in sesame oil, then poured in water mixed with potato starch, soy sauce, and chicken stock powder to create the thick sauce.
Next time, I plan to use a little more potato starch to make the sauce thicker.
In terms of cost, the supermarket kit is less expensive.
However, the noodles from the udon shop are more generous in portion size and taste even better. I’ll decide which one to use depending on my mood at the time.
Recommended #HomeCooking Blog: “Shopping for My Favorite Foods at the Butcher’s”
As I’ve mentioned before on Recommended #HomeCooking, there’s a local butcher shop that I absolutely love.
My favorite item there is their roast pork (chashu), but I’m also a big fan of their fried squid.
Yesterday was my weekly roast pork day, so I went shopping there.
The last time I went to buy roast pork, the pork belly—which is my favorite—had already sold out, so I bought pork loin instead. This time, however, they had pork belly in stock.
I usually buy it as a whole block, but it’s difficult to slice it thinly at home. It always ends up being cut into thick slices, but that also means each serving is very hearty and satisfying.
Yesterday, I also bought some croquettes and fried squid. By the time I finished eating, I was completely full.
On Osusume #OuchiGohan, I had a mushroom, pork, napa cabbage, and egg soup yesterday.
As shown above, the soup had a very nice balance of different flavors, and I really enjoyed it. However, after I added rice to the soup, that delicious balance of flavors was ruined, and unfortunately, the taste became disappointing.
When a delicious balance of flavors is lost, it feels like such a waste.
It would have been better to eat the rice separately.