Anyone who has asked my mom for her recipes knows it leads to a complete dead end. She has some great recipes but is really unclear when it comes to specific instructions—she just doesn’t understand that most people really do need to know how many tablespoons of soy sauce or how long to cook.
It always funny to see the confused faces of parents when they ask her for recipes; my mom really just gives you a list of ingredients and a few stirring or frying motions. I suppose it’s understandable—she tailors a lot of her recipes to the specific tastes of friends or students. If it’s for her Chinese friends, flavors are more subtle—less sugar in cakes, less soy sauce in stir-fries. When it’s for her American students, she typically adds a tad bit more sugar.
I’ve taken it upon myself to make some of her meals and record the specifics that mom doesn’t care for. A lot of our parents have been asking for these recipes—they’re healthy, very kid-friendly, and relatively easy to make.
First up: home-made kale noodles with home-made noodle sauce.
If you’ve been to our house, you know that my mom’s a big gardener. One of the most abundant greens we have in our yard is kale—grows like a weed, tastes like dark green, bitter construction paper, and is undeniably full of essential vitamins and nutrients.
I typically don’t like kale, but it’s what we have in excess (my mom loves it) and I’m too lazy/poor to do my own grocery shopping. I begrudgingly eat it. I really only tolerate it in three recipes (which I will post in time). The first of which is kale noodles.
There’s really only two components to this dish: kale dough and the noodle sauce.
Makes 3-5 servings.
INGREDIENTS
Dough for Noodles
4 cups ripped kale leaves
1/2 cup water
4 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
Noodle Sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark (Chinese) vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon granulated chicken-flavored bouillon (optional)
garlic powder to taste (optional)
ginger powder to taste (optional)
Supplies
blender or food processor (optional, though highly recommended)
pot
large mixing bowl
cutting board
rolling pin (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
1. We took several leaves of kale and ripped them into small pieces—about 4 cups, moderately packed.
2. We take the first two cups and put them in a blender with the 1/2 cup of water. Blend well—it shouldn’t be super chunky and it shouldn’t be just juice. It should look like a watery pesto without the cheese. Make sure chunks aren’t too large.
3. Add the remaining two cups of ripped kale, four teaspoons of sugar, and two teaspoons of salt. We separate the cups because adding all four cups makes blending a little more difficult.
4. Pour your kale soup out in a large bowl—it’s time for the dough!
5. Slowly stir in the three cups of all-purpose flour. Mix well and knead the dough. It should not be too moist. If it’s really sticky and you’re having trouble kneading it, that means it’s too moist. Add some flour if this is so.
A good tip is to first pour in two cups of flour, then add the third cup little by little—just in case it’s too dry. It’s better to have dough that’s too moist than too dry.
6. Set aside, it’s time for the sauce!
7. In a small bowl, stir all the sauce ingredients together.
8. On a cutting board, roll out some dough and make noodles. This part is really up to you. I’m pretty lazy when it comes to cooking so I roll noodles with my fingers. Another way is to roll out some dough with a rolling pin–about 1/4 inch thick–and slicing it into 1/4 to 1/2 wide strips.
Advice: Try to make your noodles the same thickness. Don’t make your noodles more than 1/3 inch thick—it won’t cook as well.
9. In a pot, boil water and add a pinch of salt.
10. Add noodles and cook. The amount of time really depends on how you like your noodles and how thick they are. I made about a cup of noodles for just myself and cooked it for only about three to four minutes—I like my noodles chewy and not too soggy.
11. Drain water and add noodle sauce to taste.
Photos are also on my Flickr.
MORE IDEAS
-Instead of garlic and ginger powder, substitute with minced garlic and ginger.
-Substitute sugar with honey.
-For a lower calorie meal, use light soy sauce and less sugar, salt, and sesame oil.
-Go organic!
