SLIPPERY EGG, FORK ROAST, STIRFRY RIVER NOODLE

Sometimes all a man wants is whisky and dumplings. What with it being my Friday night. And dumplings, naturally, require a splash of hot sauce and lime juice to be fully wonderful.

What I actually thought of first was fried rice stick noodles with charsiu and velvety egg, with either some asparagus or yellow chive, plus cilantro (*).


滑蛋叉燒炒河粉


But I had all the fixings for dumplings with sambal and whisky. No charsiu, no asparagus, no yellow chives, no cilantro. This was an oversight, and would have sorely weighed upon me if I had no dumplings.

The key is to first panfry the pre-cooked rice stick, decant to a dish, then add the coarsely chunked charsiu to the pan, which after a few seconds to become fragrant should have cornstarch water and a little wine added, and when this has boiled and become milky, the chopped chive and beaten egg. After a short moment break up the egg, stir it all around, and slop onto the noodles. Altogether, if the noodles have been preboiled, the entire process takes about eight minutes, no fuss no muss and hardly any clean-up.

Whereas frozen dumplings need to be put in an oiled pan at extremely low temp for a while, covered, to crisp a bit on the bottom. Then you raise the heat and splash in some water or soup stock, remove the dumplings to a shallow bowl, add chilipaste and lime juice to the hot pan, and simmer till the sambal is the right consistency, twixt pourable and slightly soupy.
Drizzle this over the dumplings, take the bowl over to the teevee room.
Pour yourself a splash of Scotch and water (no ice), and go eat.

Dinner was exceptional. It was preceded by strong coffee.

It will be followed by a pipe and Virginia tobacco.


And a stroll around the neighborhood.



*gwat daan chaa siu chaau ho fan





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