HOW TO COOK OYSTER VERMICELLI (ô-á mi-sòan)

How to Cook Oyter Vermicelli (ô-á mi-sòan) –this dish is one many ways of cooking oysters by the Taiwanese. I am not sure if it is Taiwanese traditional food because I know a recipe of this dish which is actually a Chinese version but one thing is for sure, this Oyster Vermicelli is an Asian dish. Since the Taiwanese is very good in cooking noodles like vermicelli, this dish is made out of their very skillful ways of making noodle soup dishes. I admire them because I can’t remember any of their vermicelli dishes that I didn’t like to eat and in fact I like all of them. You can experiment using this recipe to make your very own version of it. I would like to suggest that since there are many brands of vermicelli noodles, it is good to use the Mariposa brand because I find it firm enough for this recipe. Here is how to cook Oyster Vermicelli (ô-á mi-sòan):

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds small size oysters

1 tablespoon rice wine

½ teaspoon salt  

6 tablespoon cornstarch

2 small packs of Mariposa vermicelli, or ½ pound of any vermicelli (cooked)

¼ cup oil

4 cloves garlic (minced)

4 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce

4 tablespoon cognac (traditionally it has no cognac)

8 cups chicken broth

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon ground pepper

3 tablespoon cornstarch

COOKING PROCEDURE

1. Clean the oysters with running water.

2. In a pot, boil water then cooked oyster for 1 minute.

3. Remove from the pot and drain then set aside.

4. In a bowl, combine rice wine, salt and cornstarch. Mix well.

5. Marinate the oysters for 30 minutes

6. In a wok, heat oil.

7. Add the garlic and saute until the garlic turns brown.

8. Add soy sauce, cognac, broth, salt, pepper cornstarch.

9. Stir until the starch is perfectly dispersed.

10. Boil until the soup is thick.

11. Put the cooked vermicelli in a serving bowl.

12. Pour sauce into the bowl and serve.

HOW TO COOK OYSTER VERMICELLI (ô-á mi-sòan)

HOW TO COOK OYSTER OMELET (ô-á-chian)

How to Cook Oyster Omelet (ô-á-chian) –here is another dish cooked with egg. Omelet is very popular dish but it has tons of variations and ways of cooking. This Asian omelet originally came from China and Taiwan. Because of modern living, this delicious egg dish has reached many parts of the world and now it is recognized as one of the international dishes served in many hotels and restaurants all over the world. This Oyster Omelet thing is not tricky to prepare and cook. Just basic knowledge in making omelet will do and of course it won’t be named Omelet if it doe not have the key ingredient- the eggs. In this recipe, we are not just using eggs and oyster but we are going to add leafy vegetable. You can choose your vegetable to use like chard, spinach or bok choy and even jute will be ok. Here is how to cook Oyster Omelet (ô-á-chian):

 

INGREDIENTS

4 ½ tablespoon of cassava starch

½ cup chicken broth (cold)

¼ tablespoon rock salt (iodized salt is fine)

A pinch of freshly ground pepper

1 stalk spring onion (chopped)

2 tablespoon oil

1 cup of spinach, chopped (or any leafy vegetable you want to use)

2 eggs (whisked)

Hot chili sauce

1 ½ cup of small Oysters

COOKING PROCEDURE

1. In a bowl, combine oysters, broth, starch pepper, salt and sping onion and spinach.

2. Mix well until uniformed in texture.

3. In a wok, heat cooking oil.

4. Stir the mixture while pouring it into the wok.

5. Let the mixture spread to form an omelet.

6. Fold the omelet into half then pour half of the egg into the half bottom of the wok that is exposed. Cook for two minutes.

7. Do the same process for another half of the egg on the other half of the wok.

8. Then turn upside down the omelet with the eggs facing up

9. Cook for another two minutes.

10. And serve with hot chili sauce.

HOW TO COOK OYSTER OMELET (ô-á-chian)

HOW TO COOK YI MIAN (E-FU NOODLES)

How to Cook Yi Mian (E-fu Noodles) –I think this E-fu noodle is the most expensive noodle in Taiwanese cuisine because the preparation of this noodle take some time longer than the preparation of ordinary noodles. I didn’t know how to cook this Yi Mian noodles before so I looked it up in the internet. It took a bit longer because Yi Mian is not as popular as the famous and ordinary noodle dishes we know. Cooking and preparation for this dish is not as hard as I thought unless you are going to make E-fu noodles yourself. Thanks to the manufacturers of this noodle because they made it possible for us to cook Yi Mian way easier and quicker. I tried this recipe with some experiment. I used oyster sauce and another without it. It turned out, they have the same level of taste but each one has its own unique taste. So in this recipe I am going to share with you, using oyster sauce is optional. Here is how to cook Yi Mian (E-fu Noodles): 

INGREDIENTS

2 small packs of E-fu noodles or 24 oz. pack

4 tablespoon of corn oil

6 cloves garlic (minced)

2 cups Shiitake mushroom, stemmed and sliced into strips (cooked)

3 cups chicken broth

4 tablespoon soy sauce

2 tablespoon oyster sauce (optional)

2 tablespoon mushroom soy sauce

Water for boiling noodles

COOKING PROCEDURE

1. In a pot, bring water to a boil.

2. Add E-fu noodles and simmer for 6 minutes.

3. Remove noodles from the water and drain. Set aside.

4. In a wok, heat oil. Saute garlic until brown.

5. Add mushroom and stir-fry not more than two minutes.

6. Add broth and the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 2 minutes.

7. And serve while hot.

HOW TO COOK YI MIAN (E-FU NOODLES)

HOW TO COOK TAIWANESE DAN ZAI NOODLES (DA A MI)

How to Cook Taiwanese Dan Zai Noodles (Da A Mi) –as we know, Asian people are the best when it comes to cooking noodles. They have almost infinite number of noodle dishes and almost all of them taste good. Dan Zai noodle is one of them and it is very easy to cook. In this recipe, we are not going to use the dried noodle but instead the fresh one what they call Miki. Miki is the best in easy and quick cooking of Taiwanese mein and it doesn’t take much time when cooking because it is already cooked. All you have to do is rinse it with hot water and boil it for as fast as half a minute. If you can’t find fresh noodle in a supermarket, just look for it in the Asian market because I am pretty sure they have it. Here is how to cook Taiwanese Dan Zai noodles (Da A Mi):

INGREDIENTS

1 whole pack of fresh noodles or Miki

1 pound pork tenderloin (minced or ground)

6 cloves garlic (minced)

1 medium size red onion (thinly sliced)

500ml chicken broth (optional)

½ stalk spring onions

Oil

COOKING PROCEDURE

1. In a pot, boil water. Add noodles and simmer for half a minute.

2. Remove the noodles and drain then set aside.

3. In a pan, heat oil and add red onion and garlic. Stir-fry until the garlic turns brown.

4. Add the meat and stir-fry until the meat is almost cooked.

5. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

6. Add the noodles and simmer for 1 minute.

7. You may want to check the saltiness because Miki is already salty. Add some salt according to your taste.

8. Top with spring onions when serving.

HOW TO COOK TAIWANESE DAN ZAI NOODLES (DA A MI)

HOW TO COOK SQUID GENG (CUTTLEFISH)

How to Cook Squid Geng (Cuttlefish) –I can’t get enough of the Taiwanese recipes so here we are again talking about one of the delicious Asian seafood that you will surely love. Squid or Cuttlefish is one of the sea creatures you can find in the restaurants sold expensive because squid has great taste and you can make tons of dishes using it as ingredient. Squid is a bit expensive than other kinds of fish so to make it more economical, I suggest that you use smaller squid because they are cheaper in the market. Cooking this dish does not mean spending extra dollars more than you are ought to spend for your meals. So this recipe is for the frugal moms out there. You may want to remove other ingredients to but before doing that, make sure that you are not going to ruin the taste of your Squid Geng because some the ingredients are the key to make it delicious. Here is how to cook Squid Geng (Cuttlefish) 

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs of fresh squid (cleaned)

½ cup black vinegar

3 cups cilantro (chopped)

                                                           

For the stock

10 cups water

10 cups chicken broth

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoon sesame oil

6 tablespoon sugar

½ cup cornstarch + 1 cup water mixture

10 dried Shiitake mushrooms (thinly sliced)

2 cups dried wood ear fungus (shredded)

½ cup cornstarch

2 carrots (cut into thin strips)

1 can bamboo shoots (cut into thin strips)

COOKING PROCEDURE

1. In a pot, combine all the ingredients for the stock. Stir well.

2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.

3. Add the squid and simmer for ten minutes.

4. Add the black vinegar.

5. And serve. Top with fresh cilantro when serving.

HOW TO COOK SQUID GENG (CUTTLEFISH)