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Japanese Style Linguine with Clams

1/4/2022

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This is a "laterpost" (haha, instead of latergram 🤣) that I had started writing last year when the hubby and I went clamming for the first time and got a little over 2 dozen clams! Life got in the way and I completely forgot to publish it, but now that I am living in Illinois and it's hard to find "fresh" seafood, I find myself really missing the days we went crabbing and clamming in New Jersey.

It was such a fun time and also a bit of a workout
--who knew raking for clams would be so tiring! My muscles were so sore the next day, but I didn't feel tired at all while digging! (Maybe that's the best kind of workout? Hahaha) We dug for clams in the shallows of New Jersey's Barnegat Bay. The water is relatively clear in the shallows and we used little gardening rakes from Home Depot. You basically rake through the sand and if you hit something, you dig it out with your hands! Sometimes it might be a rock, but if you're lucky, you get a clam! It's really a hit and miss but it's so exciting to find them, especially if you find a huge one! After the first time we went, we fell in love with clamming and went back a couple more times--and would come back with upwards of 60+ clams! They were always so sweet and fresh, and I would make dishes like stuffed clams, pasta with clams, steamed clams in wine sauce, or clam chowder with the big clams. 💗💗💗
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Clamming was also a great to be away from our phones for a few hours and spend some quality time together. My family never understood why we liked to go catch our own crabs and I'm sure it's the same when it comes to clamming—they always say, "Why don't you just go buy them from the market? Less work!" But there's something that is just so satisfying and fun to be able to cook the food that you hunt for yourself. (For me, only seafood though, I could never hunt mammals in the wild like deer. To each their own I guess!) 😁
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Once we started eating, we removed the shells and mixed the pasta with the clam meat ?
We purged the clams overnight to get rid of the sand and then enjoyed them as linguine with white wine clam sauce! Nothing like cooking your own catch! This recipe is a Japanese style recipe based on the Italian clams with white wine sauce over linguine. Of course you can always do the original Italian version, but in our house, I always like to put a little Asian spin on things 😎 Instead of white wine, I use Japanese sake and topped it with nori furikake (seaweed seasoning typically used for white rice). I found the Japanese sake to add an inherent sweetness to the dish that regular white wine doesn't provide, which also enhanced the sweet, fresh clam flavor. I also found that the clams had plenty of their own natural salty flavor (as did the bacon) and that I didn't need to add much salt if at all to the dish when cooking!

I hope that one day we can go back and go clamming and crabbing again 💗 I hope you get a chance to as well, and if not, at least enjoy this yummy clams and linguine dish 😊
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JAPANESE STYLE LINGUINE WITH CLAMS
Makes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 dozen clams
  • 1 cup Japanese sake or dry white wine (avoid cooking wines as they can be salty)
  • 1/4 cup parsley (chopped)
  • 3 shallots or 1/4 onion
  • 6 cloves garlic (chopped or sliced)
  • 1 lb pasta
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 strips of bacon or pancetta, chopped into small pieces
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • salt (as needed, taste as you go)
  • black pepper (as needed)
  • seaweed furikake (optional)
  • 1/4 lemon wedge (optional)


DIRECTIONS
  1. Scrub the clams clean with a stiff brush and rinse under cold running water. Then, purge the clams of sand for at least 1 hour (we let them purge overnight)--this is an important step because you don't want to eat gritty clams! Add 1/3 cup salt to 1 gallon water and let the clams sit in it overnight to get rid of all the sand. Never let them sit only in fresh water because it will kill the clams!
  2. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, usually about 8 minutes. Drain and reserve about 1/4 cup water to use for cooking later.
  3. Cook the chopped bacon to render the fat, but don't let it get overly crisp. Remove the bacon and cook the shallots (or onions) until translucent. Add the garlic, clams, red pepper flakes and Japanese sake and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until all the clams are open. Discard any clams that didn't open.
  4. Add the pasta to the pan of clams and add white wine, olive oil, mix well, season as needed with salt and pepper (taste as you go). If you want the sauce to thicken, add some of the reserved pasta cooking liquid. Let it cook until the pasta is al dente and has absorbed some of the liquid, then serve.
  5. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and seaweed furikake (a seaweed topping usually put on rice) and enjoy!

Until next time,
​Jenny
If you love noodles and pasta as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorite noodle recipes, like:
​Air Fryer Beef Chow Mein
Dan Dan Noodles
Lobster Garlic Noodles
Braised Beef Noodle Soup
Korean Jap Chae Noodles
Handmade Noodles
Shrimp Cheung Fun
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Air Fryer Beef Chow Mein

12/15/2021

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Cantonese style chow mein is characterized by a bed of crispy pan fried noodles topped with a delicious brown sauce with stirfried meat and veggies—it could be seafood, beef, chicken, etc. The brown sauce is usually a base of soy sauce and oyster sauce thickened by a cornstarch slurry.

Chow mein was often a dish we ordered when we went to a Cantonese restaurant or dim sum place and got as an "add on" dish (because for us, when we went for dim sum, we ate dim sum, and any other "entree" is really just in case you aren't full, or you want to bring it home as leftovers, haha). My dad would often order the chicken chow mein for us to eat and it is a memory I often associate with whenever I see it on the menu. I love the way the pan fried noodles would crackle and crunch when you cut into them, and how tender and moist the protein always was, regardless of whether it was chicken, beef, or pork.

The reason for this is due to the marinade used for the protein and then cooking it on high heat—this is a process called 'velveting' and it locks in all the juices, making even chicken breast tender and yummy.
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Since we've been craving childhood favorites lately, and because there is truly a shortage of good, authentic Asian eats where I live, I found our local mini Asian market sold chow mein in their freezer, I decided to make this restaurant favorite at home! I air fried the noodles rather than frying the noodles pan or wok of oil so it is just mildly healthier than the restaurant version! It was so crispehhhhhh 😍

The package of chow mein noodles we got had 4 servings, so we just used half and saved the other half to make again later in the week. You can always make as much as you want, but we have a small airfryer so it wouldn't have fit all of it in one go anyway, haha. Be sure to get the thin chow mein noodles--thick noodles won't crisp up the same way.
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AIR FRYER BEEF CHOW MEIN
Makes 2 servings

INGREDIENTS:
Air Fryer Chow Mein
- 1/2 package Chow mein noodles
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- salt* optional

Marinade for Beef
- 6 oz beef, sliced into bite sized pieces
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar

Other
-1/2 onion
- 3 stalks of scallions
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup water or low sodium chicken broth

​DIRECTIONS:
1. Marinate your sliced beef in 1 tbsp cornstarch, a sprinkling of salt, black pepper, sugar, oyster sauce, and 2 tbsp water. Mix well and let marinate for 10 minutes.

2. Boil the chow mein noodles briefly, about 1-2 minutes. Then drain and run through cold water to remove any excess starch, and get rid of as much liquid as possible in the strainer. Use paper towels to dry if needed.

3. Add the olive oil and sesame oil to the chow mein in a large mixing bowl and mix well to ensure the noodles are coated. You can add a pinch of salt and mix in as well, but optional.

4. Lay the noodles flat in your air fryer rack with a piece of parchment paper underneath the noodles. Airfry at 380°F for 10 minutes. Then flip the noodles and move the noodles around so that all the crispy edges are under and the non crispy noodles are exposed. Airfry again at 380°F for 7 minutes. At this point, check to see if it is crispy throughout, and if not, mix the noodles and make sure the non crispy noodles are exposed and airfry again, 3 minutes at a time until it reaches desired crispness. The time may differ based on how dry you were able to get your noodles.

5. While the noodles are airfrying, add a little oil to your fry pan and cook your beef until seared brown on all sides. Remove from the pan and cook your onions in the remaining oil until onions are brown and translucent.

6. Make your sauce mixture with cornstarch, water (or low sodium chicken broth), oyster sauce, light soy sauce, sugar, and black pepper. Add your beef back in, add scallions, and add the sauce mixture and mix. Cook until the sauce thickens and taste—add salt if needed, but if you use chicken broth, most likely do not need extra salt. Once the sauce is thickened to your desired consistency, shut off the heat.

7. Once airfried chow mein noodles reach the desired crispness, put onto a large plate and spoon the beef and onions sauce on top. Garnish with more scallions if desired and enjoy!

Until next time,
Jenny

If you love noodles as much as I do, be sure to check out some of my other favorite noodle recipes, like:
Dan Dan Noodles
Lobster Garlic Noodles
Braised Beef Noodle Soup
Korean Jap Chae Noodles
Handmade Noodles
​
Shrimp Cheung Fun
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Silky Dim Sum Shrimp Cheung Fun (蝦腸 Ha Cheung)

1/18/2021

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Shrimp Cheung Fun
So while being at home during this pandemic, we've been craving dim sum like crazy. Dim Sum is a Cantonese tradition of breakfast or brunch food, and might be compared to Spanish tapas where all the dishes are small dishes meant to be shared. "Dim Sum" literally translates to 'dim' - to touch, and 'sum' - heart" or "to touch the heart" or "order to your heart's content". Traditionally, dim sum places involve restaurant staff, usually elderly Chinese Aunties, pushing hot steaming carts with steamers piled high and calling out what they have in their carts. (various dumplings, bao buns, mini steamed dishes of cheung fun noodles, siu mai, pork ribs and more.) You'll often hear classics like, "Ha gow! (shrimp dumplings) Siu mai! (pork dumplings), Fung Zhao! (braised chicken feet)" 

Waiters will walk around with trays of freshly fried foods or fresh out of the kitchen dishes like salt and pepper shrimp, calamari, fried bacon wontons, fried taro nests, stir fried clams and dear lord my mouth is watering!! Going for dim sum is an experience--it's loud, crowded, full of families and kids running around, adults gossiping and chatting, plenty of laughter and mountains of good food to stuff your face with. 

One of my favorite dishes is the Cheung Fun (Steamed Rice Noodle) with Shrimp, also known as "Ha Cheung" in Cantonese. After some research and trying out quite a few recipes from different sources, I finally found a recipe for shrimp cheung fun that tastes like restaurant quality cheung fun!​
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This recipe is adapted from Shashira, owner of the My Lovely Recipes food blog. Her Instagram is @my.lovelyrecipes so definitely give her a follow! This is so good! 👌👌👌 My hubby and I will now be able to enjoy our beloved cheung fun at home whenever we want 😁

Here's the link to her blog recipe for chee cheong fun: https://www.mylovelyrecipes.com/recipes/chinese-cuisine/chee-cheong-fun/

For this recipe, I use a wok and a metal rack to hold up my 8x8 metal tray to make the cheung fun. You basically make a slurry, steam it, add your raw shrimp, steam again, then fold it up! Keep the cheung fun rolls warm in a separate steamer so it's all hot when you're ready to eat. (Or microwave them all at once for about 30 seconds before eating). Best enjoyed with sweet soy sauce and chili oil or sriracha!

Now I just gotta learn the 383747483829 other dim sum recipes so we can have a real homemade dim sum brunch at home! Now, when we do dim sum at home, we steam up some ready made shrimp dumplings and siu mai, pan fry some pork & chive dumplings or make some crispy beef rolls with scallion pancakes...and of course, some tea! 😁
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Silky Dim Sum Shrimp Cheung Fun
Servings: approx. 10 Cheung Fun Rolls
I use an 8x8 square metal pan and steam in a wok

Cheung fun mixture:
3 cups water
1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup wheat starch
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame oil

Shrimp:
About 1/2 lb shrimp, deveined and shells removed (you can use small shrimp or you can use larger shrimp and cut them into bite sized pieces)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp white pepper

Equipment:
8x8 metal pan
Small metal stand/rack to place pan on top in wok
Wok

Sauce:
Sweet soy sauce
(Can do regular soy sauce + sugar and water)
Cilantro, Scallion (optional)

DIRECTIONS: 
  1. Mix the ingredients together for the cheung fun mixture until smooth. Mix every once in a while throughout the process as the flour settles and separates from the water.
  2. Prepare the steamer or wok and fill with water. Place the metal rack in and the 8x8 pan to begin heating. Spray the pan with oil until evenly coated inside. (Or brush with oil)
  3. Use a ladle and ladle enough of the mixture to cover the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. Be careful not to make too thick!
  4. Steam for 1 minute. You will see it begin to show air bubbles as it steams and lifts from the pan.
  5. After 1 minute, add shrimp. Cover and steam another 2 minutes.
  6. Remove the pan with gloves or a clamp, and use a flat scraper to fold the noodle over the shrimp into a roll. Remove the cheung fun noodle from the pan and place on a plate.
  7. Repeat this process until you are done (you can always keep the batter in a Tupperware and finish the rest for another meal), or keep making until all the batter and shrimp is done. (You can keep the plate of completed cheung fun in either a separate steamer to keep warm or just microwave for about 30 seconds to warm it all up right before you eat).
  8. Drizzle sweet soy sauce and spicy sauce or chili oil as you see fit, and enjoy!

Until next time,
Jenny
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