Glass Noodle Omelette soup 煎蛋冬粉汤, 妈妈家常菜 #15MinuteSuppers

Bi-lingual | 双语版

Today I am going to share a super simple childhood dish that my old ma always made for us, I am not sure if this is of Teoh Chew origin, or invented by my grandma, but it sure is one simple and delicious dish that our entire family likes.

This omelette has a chewy texture thanks to the presence of the glass noodle, which is actually a type of translucent noodle made of starch (green bean, yam or corn) and water. The original version only have glass noodles and eggs, I made some variation to make it more child friendly by adding some shredded carrots.

Hope your kiddos like this dish as much as my duo. :)

Preparation: 5 Minutes
Cooking: 10 Minutes 
Serving for: 3-4 little ones

Ingredients:
6 medium size eggs, lightly beaten 中型鸡蛋，六粒
50g of Glass Noodle (also known as tanghoon) 冬粉半包/50克

1/2 medium carrot, shredded 胡萝卜半棵，切幼丝
1 teaspoon of soy sauce 酱油，一茶匙
A pinch of salt & pepper to taste 盐，胡椒粉适量
6-10 stalks of baby choy-sam, washed 小菜心六-十棵，洗净

Some spring onions, roughly chopped 青葱两根，切细条
2 table spoon of olive oil 两大匙橄榄油
1 pot of stock (I boiled mine with some anchovies, carrots and pumpkins) 高汤1锅

The Making:

1. Soak glass noodles in water for about 2 minutes until softened, drain the excess water and set aside.

2. Lightly beaten the eggs, seasoned with some salt, pepper, soy sauce and add the shredded carrots. Pour the beaten eggs over the glass noodle. Make sure the glass noodles are all all covered with the eggs.

3. Heat up the olive oil in the pan, pour in the egg mixture and spread it around to form into circular shape. Cook both side for about 2 minutes each, the remove from heat. At the same time, bring the stock to boil.

4. Using a clean knife and chopping board, roughly cut the omelette into 10-12 square pieces. 

5. Drop the fried omelette and baby choy-sam into the boiling stock and let them simmer for few minutes, add some salt to taste (as per your liking) and sprinkle with some spring onions before serving.

I served ours as dinner by tossing in some flat noodles in step 5. Took only about 1 minute for the noodles to cook so you can precook the soup and add the leafy veggie and noodle when it's time for dinner. I also added some pumpkin cubes and carrots into the soup for added nutrition and sweetness but they are really optional if you are in a rush. 

Tips:

• When serving for my little ones, I cut the stems of the baby Choy Sam with a kitchen scissor so it's easier for them to chew.
• Personally I would not recommend  serving glass noodle to toddler below 2yo, who may find it difficult to chew and may not be able to digest properly. Let's wait till they have stronger teeth and digestion system.

煎蛋冬粉汤, 这是小时候我最爱的家常菜。我也不确定这是否潮州菜式或当年婆婆的自创，但肯定的是家中老少都喜爱的一道菜。浓浓蛋香夹着質地韌柔的冬粉丝，添加点青菜肉丸，好吃的家常菜只需十五分钟就可轻松上桌。

冬粉一般是由绿豆制作，也有些使用淀粉或薯粉制作，我个人不主张长期给小孩吃。一来冬粉面条较不易消化，二来两岁以下的小孩咀嚼能力可能还欠佳，所以建议在过两岁以后才煮给小朋友吃。

做法：

1. 把冬粉浸在水里约两分钟至松软，捞起备用。
2. 鸡蛋打散，加入盐，胡椒粉，酱油调味，和胡萝卜丝混合后倒入冬粉里。
3. 烧热两汤匙的橄榄油，把蛋液和冬粉倒入锅里用慢火煎熟至金黄色。每面约莫两分钟左右。
4. 在干净的案板上，把蛋饼切成10-12片方块。
5. 烧热一锅高汤，汤滚后把蛋饼和小菜心放进锅里煮两分钟，熄火，撒上一撮青葱即可上桌。也可以加点面条和青菜一起煮，当清汤面来吃也不错。

趁热吃咯！

{Quick Meal} Stir Fried Wanton Noodle 快炒三丝云吞面

The weather was crazily hot these days, with the continuous dry season, we are on the alert to conserve our water usage so I have been cooking really simple meal that requires minimal washing. For the weekend, I decided to cook this stir fried wanton noodle that both my kiddos love. Loaded with lots of vegetables (in fact there was more veggies than noodles), I can be assured they are getting the proper nutrition intake instead of ordering take away.

今天用了火腿丝，胡萝卜丝和大包菜丝, 快手的炒了这碟三丝云吞面。配合有咬劲的云吞面，容易好吃又健康。不需洗一大堆锅锅碟碟，就那么一锅煮，一家人也可以吃得开开心心。如果再撒上一些红辣椒丝那就更赏心悦目。

For the big ones..

For the little ones, I sprinkled some roasted anchovies, their favorite..

Preparation Time: 10 min
Cooking Time: 10 min
Serving for: 4 person

Ingredients  (材料):
2 clove garlic, smashed or finely chopped 蒜头两瓣，剁碎
1 medium size carrot, cut into thin strips 胡萝卜一根，切丝
2 sausages, cut into long strips 香肠两条，切长丝

1 1/2 cup cabbages, cut into long strips 大包菜，切丝 （大约一杯分量）

6 (organic) wanton noodles 有机干云吞面六粒

3 eggs, beaten and seasoned with salt & pepper 鸡蛋三粒，打散，加适量盐胡椒粉调味

Seasoning (调味料)：
1 table spoon Worcester sauce 一汤匙Worcester酱
2 table spoons soy sauce 两汤匙酱油
1 teaspoon sesame oil 一茶匙麻油
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (optional) 一茶匙黑酱油
a dash of salt  盐适量
a dash of pepper 胡椒粉适量


The Making (制作过程）:

1. Soak the noodles in a pot of hot water for 1 minutes. Drain and soak briefly in cool water to maintain the crunchiness of the noodle.

把云吞面团浸在烧水一分钟烫熟，捞起后过冷水让面条保持咬劲。

2. Beat the eggs, seasoned with some salt and pepper, heat up a table spoon of cooking oil and spread the egg liquid into a big circle. Cook for about a minute then roughly chop it up using the spatula. Set aside.

把鸡蛋打散，撒上适量的盐和胡椒粉，烧热一汤匙的油把蛋液煎成蛋饼，用煎匙把蛋饼切散。置放一旁待用。

3. Heat up 2 tablespoon of cooking oil, saute the garlic till fragrance and toss in the sausage strips, carrot strips, long beans and lastly the cabbages. Add about 2 table spoons of boiled water (at room temperature), close the lid and let the veggies simmer for about 2 minutes. Season with some salt, pepper and Worcester sauce.

在热锅里烧热两大汤匙的食油，把蒜头爆香后加入香肠片，胡萝卜丝，长豆，大包菜丝和大约半杯的水，上盖让杂菜煮大约两分钟左右，加入盐、胡椒粉和Worcester酱调味。

4. Toss the blanched noodle, add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sesame oil. Use a chopstick to ensure the sauces evenly spread over the noodles, cook for about 2 minutes and turn off the heat.

把烫熟的面条倒入锅内，加入酱油、黑酱油（可免）和芝麻酱调味，用长筷子把面条和配料搅拌均匀。大火煮大约两分钟后熄火。

Sprinkle the egg omelet over the noodles, mix roughly and your stir fried wanton noodles is ready to serve! Add some chili sauce, some roasted anchovies (ikan bilis), or just eat as-is. Simple home cook meal full of rich goodness of fresh vegetable.

把蛋散洒在煮好的面条上，加些烘江鱼仔或香葱即可上桌。趁热配上一点小辣椒大口大口的吃下肚，我最爱的吃法！

温馨叮咛：

给小朋友吃的时候，记得把面条剪短方便小朋友自己喂食，比较大的小孩则可以教他们用叉把面条卷成一团来吃，干脆把它当意大利面来吃。小孩吃的开心，妈咪放心。

Tips:
• I used the water for washing vegetables and noodles to water the plant, one good way of avoiding water wastage, especially when water supply is limited. 

• When serving for young toddlers, do remember to cut the noodles into smaller strips using a clean scissors. For older kids, teach them to eat properly either using a pair of chopsticks or swirl it up with a fork just like eating spaghetti.

Stir Fried Organic Soy Noodle

Ok, first of all let me clarify, this is not a new recipe, it's the exact same method with the stir fried spaghetti I posted last week but with different ingredients. I had only 30 minutes to prepare everything and serve before leaving the house, so this is a really quick serving but nonetheless healthy, as only fresh ingredients are used.

Here's the portion for my little boy, he finished the entire plate and asked for some to take away so he can eat more after his piano class. :)

The serving for 3 adults. My little girl was awake so I gave her a small bowl, she ate them all and kept saying "好吃" (delicious), well this is definitely more tasty compare to the salt-free porridge I usually serve her.

Refer to the recipe here,the only variation is I added fried omelette, replaced broccoli with French beans and added a small teaspoon of black soya sauce which is rather optional. Oh, and I sprinkles some garlic powder onto the noodle for added flavor too. 

Happy weekends everyone!

Vermicelli Soup with Minced Pork 肉碎米粉汤

Vermicelli (米粉) is a kind of traditional Chinese thin noodles made of rice, it is easy to digest and cook fast within few minutes. I  usually keep a package of vermicelli as it can be used to make soup or stir fried with meat or vegetables, always come in handy. 

When serving for my duo today, I served it with mixed vegetables soup and top with some minced meat. I used organic pork but you can replace it with minced chicken meat too.

Here's the serving for my 4 years old. My baby girl had the same but in smaller portion.

I made extra of the minced meat and served it with the blanched Bak Choy for me and my big guy. When cooking at home, I always try to cook dishes that are suitable for the entire family so I can keep my cooking time to the minimal, otherwise I may have a frustrated baby clinging onto my legs like a little koala.  :)

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serving for: 2 little ones


Ingredients: 
1 palm-ful of vermicelli (or adjust according to your little one's appetite)
1 palm size of minced meat
1 table spoon of olive oil
2 glove garlic, finely chopped
A dash of sesame oil

2 tea spoon of corn starch (to achieve  smoother texture)

For Marinate:
1/4 onion, finely chopped

A dash of salt

1 tea spoon of soy sauce

A dash of Shao Xin wine (I usually skip this when cooking for little one)

For Soup:

3 cups of water 

1 stalk of celery, chopped into small chunks 

1/2 medium carrot, chopped into cubes

1/2 onion, finely chopped 

20-30 anchovies (pre-washed) or 2 table spoon of anchovies powder

Step by Step Guide:

1. Marinate the minced meat in a bowl, set aside.
2. Boil a pot of water (about 3 cups), add the soup ingredient and boil for 5 minutes on high heat then switch to medium heat and let it shimmer for about 15 minutes. 
3. While the soup is boiling, stir fry the chopped garlic until fragrance, toss in the marinated minced meat and a dash of water, stir fry for 3 minutes. Once the gravy has thickened, add the corn starch and a dash of sesame oil, the meat is now ready.
4. Toss the vermicelli into the soup, cook for about 2 minutes and turn of the heat.

To serve, just put the minced meat on top of the vermicelli, or mix well if serving for young infant, and remember to cut the vermicelli into bite size using a clean kitchen scissors.

It's a really simple dish that is suitable for young infant and elder kids. The minced meat complements the vermicelli which is plaint in taste. You may choose to skip the sesame oil when serving for young  infant however elder kids usually like the aroma and taste of the sesame oil.

Bon appetite peeps!

Homemade Noodles, again 手工面条做法加食谱

The handmade noodles I made 2 weeks ago had ran out, so I thought its time to make a new batch, but using a pasta maker this time as I would prefer the noodle to be thinner.

It was a right decision, the noodles turned out way better this time.

I made different flavors this time:
Green noodles - Baby Kai Lan with egg
Orange noodles - Carrots
Yellow noodles - Pumpkin
Purple noodles - Red cabbages

This time, I let my little chef helped up since he was so interested with the pasta maker. In fact, he self invited himself when he saw me working on the dough. Pulled out the apron and washed the hands, then told me he's ready to help. He has certainly made significant progress! It requires quite some strength to turn the handle but he did a pretty good job.

Colorful Handmade Flat Noodles 手工蔬菜面条

Baby Claire is starting to get more adventurous with her food nowadays that she always want to eat our food when dining on the same table. As she has 8 teeth now and I can see another 2 more teeth coming out (and how she loves to chew my finger, ouch!), I have been introducing her to more staple food, like bread, Pao, noodles, pasta, cheese crackers, cereal etc, with principle of no or less salt, no sugar, no MSG, no artificial flavoring and no processed food where possible.

When I saw one lady posted a picture of the homemade noodles she made for her daughter on a Facebook group, I was instantly captivated and thought I can make the same for my baby too! Since there is no detail on measurements given, I decided to give it a try by making my own homemade noodles.

Look what I've made here.

Beautiful mixture of spinach noodles (dark green), pumpkin noodles (yellow), tomato noodles (pink) and red cabbage noodles (purple).

My duo absolutely loved their 4-colors noodles in anchovies soup.

Little Ethan had his with shredded cheese. He was so fascinated by the colors that he kept asking me what veggie I used. He went grocery shopping with me and I used this chance to teach him the various type of vegetables.

Baby Claire had hers cut into small bits. she was so fond of her noodles that she kept asking for more, so eventually I top up some from her (which was supposed to be my portion!)

Ready to make some yummy homemade noodles for your little ones? Lets read on.

Baby Food: Healthy Noodle Soup

Baby C has porridge most of the time, once in a while I'll cook some pasta or noodles for a change of texture and taste. Now that she has 8 teeth, I reduce the cooking time as she enjoys chewing with her tiny teeth.

This is a simple soup noodle cooked using no added flavoring other than the homemade anchovies powder. Method of preparation for the anchovies powder is available here.

For baby's early food I will avoid any article coloring/flavoring, additive and will go salt-free if possible. After 2 yo I shall go easy as their digestive systems are more mature.

Made these noodle soup for baby C lunch and brought the remaining out for second feeding, this way she can eat her noodle the same time we have our meal in restaurant. :)

Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 15 min
Serving for: 2 meals


Ingredients:
1 noodle (used unbleached, non-oil fried preferred)
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1/4 cup sweet potatoes, diced
1/4 cup cabbage, thinly sliced

For soup base:
2 rice bowls of water
1 teaspoon of anchovies powder

Step-by-Step Guides:
1. Boil the water in hot pot, add the anchovies powder, carrots and sweet potatoes.

2. Cook for 5 minutes with lid closed,
Then add the cabbage. Boil for another 5 minutes.

3. Add the noodle and cook for 5 minutes (or according to the time indicated on the packaging). I cook it a bit longer than the suggested timing as I wanted to ensure the noodle is easy to chew for my baby C.

4. Dish out the noodles, cut into short stripes of about 1cm each so it's easier for baby to eat.

You can serve the noodles immediately, or you may store them into a thermos for later feeding. When going out, I'll bring the noodles in separate food container and the soup in thermos to avoid the noodle from becoming soggy when served later.

Useful Reminder
You may substitute the vegetables according to your preference, but do ensure you cut them into chewable size.

If serving to younger baby please ensure you cook the vegetables for longer time until you can easily smashed the potatoes and carrots to avoid chocking.

This is the whole meal noodle I used today, the remaining was used to cook fried noodle for our dinner, it was nice and my little boy loved them too. :)

Pan Fried Teriyaki Salmon with Noodle in Dark Sauce 日酱三文鱼拌干捞面

Are you a noodle lover? I am, so is my little boy and my big guy. I stock up a few types of noodles for days when I crave for simple noodle meal at home. From All-Eggs noodle (全蛋面), Yang Chun noodle (阳春面) and dried scallop noodle (干瑶柱面), I seek for noodles that are non deep fried and if possible, are organic. In KL, stores like The Organic Farm, Village Grocers provides pretty good selection of organic noodles.

This is my version of dried noodle in dark sauce, or you can call this Gan-Lao Mian like how the locals call it. :)

Little one's portion, arranged to resemble Earth with all salmon flakes arranged in the middle.

Ethan loved his noodle. He gave me a thumb up upon first spoonful and happily ate up his portion.

On any other day. I would have served this noodle with barbecue pork loin, char siew, however since I was out of pork loin so salmon seem like a good nutritious substitute. I was also out of bak Choy (小白菜) so used broccoli and carrots instead. You may refer to the sautéed vegetables recipe here.


Preparation Time: 5 min
Cooking Time: 15 min
Serving for: 2 adult + 1 LO (little one)

Ingredients:
For the Noodle:
3 balls of noodles of your choice

Ingredient A (noodle's sauce):
1 table spoon of dark soya sauce 黑酱油
2 table spoon of light soya sauce 酱油
1 table spoon of sesame oil 芝麻油
1 tea spoon of white pepper 胡椒粉

For the Salmon:
200gm fresh salmon block, fully defrost, clean and rub with salt.

Ingredient B (salmon's marinate):
4 table spoon of Teriyaki sauce
1 garlic, finely chopped


Step-by-Step Guides:
1. Marinate the salmon with ingredient B in a deep bowl or a zip lock bag. Cover well and keep refrigerated for about 30 minutes.

2. In a non stick pan, heat up a small tea spoon of olive oil and spread it around the pan. Salmon produces a lot of oil during cooking so it's not necessary to use much oil. This is just to create a coating to ensure the fish will not stick to the pan.

3. Fry the salmon on medium heat fot about 3-5 minutes on each side, depending on thickness. Do not over cook or it may have a bitter after taste. Refrain yourself from flipping the salmon too early if you want it retain in one nice piece after cook.

4. Remove salmon from pan, keep warm.

4. Cook a pot of boiling water (just enough to cover the noodles). Add a dash of salt. Once water is boiled, toss in the noodles and cook for 2-3 minutes, based on the time indicated on the packaging. Spread out the noodle using a pair of chopsticks.

5. While the noodle is cooking, mix all ingredient A in a large bowl.

6. Once noodle is cooked, drain all excess water and add it into the sauce. Mix well.

7. Your food is ready, serve immediately.

Bon appetite! :)

This was the noodle I used for making today's dish...

Useful Tips!
For little ones, press the salmon into flakes using a fork and top onto the noodle. Besides, you may want to cut the noodles shorter so it is easier for little hands to handle.

Stir Fried Udon with Mixed Veggies 香丝炒乌东面

I tried cooking udon soup once and it was a disaster; the noodle turned out soggy and I had to threw it away. So I've learnt, udon, unlike any other noodles or pasta, need the shortest possible cooking time - 1 minute maximum.

So today I tried making fried udon noddles for lunch, it was a big relief that it turned out just nice and both my little boy and big guy loved it. Ethan came to me and said "mommy, I like the noodle, thank you for cooking!"

This is quite a quick meal, took me 30 minutes from chopping, cooking to serving. Will definitely make this again.

Stir Fried Udon with Mixed Veggies

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 8 minutes
Serving for: 3 persons

Ingredients:
2 packs of udon noddles (about 200gm per pack)
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
20 stalks of asparagus, cut into long strips
1 fresh carrots, cut into long strips
12 brown mushrooms, cleaned and halved
4 slices of hams, cut into long strips (skip this for a vegetarian fried udon)

Seasoning:
2 table spoons premium soya sauce
1 teaspoon thick soya sauce (optional)
Dash of black pepper (used sparingly if you are cooking for little ones)
Dash of sesame oils

Cooking Methods:
1. Heat up 2 spoons of cooking oil in a wok or a deep frying pan, sauté the garlic until golden brown. Set a side the garlic but leave the oil in the pan.
2. Add carrot strips, asparagus into the pan, stir fry for about 3 minutes, then add the mushrooms and stir fry for another 3 minutes. Drop in the ham slices and season with soya sauce and white pepper.
3. Add the udon into the hot pan. Season with the Seasoning (as above). Stir the udon for a minute to mix evenly, turn off the heat and serve immediately.

Serving for my little boy, he liked it!

Serving for my little boy, he set the table himself :)

Tips for serving:

Before serving, top with some shredded cucumbers or shredded fried eggs.

I rinse the udon with some boiled water before cooking although not its not necessary

Udon cooked very fast, so make sure you do not cook it more than a minute.

The fresh ingredients

Stir frying in action.. Looking delicious!

Served with chili and lime from our garden.. my favorite!