Sunday, November 25, 2012

Portuguese flavoured Chow Mein / Chow Mein com sabor português

Ah, Sunday, lazy Sunday... Cold outside, big fireplace inside, a new pyjamas...
We wanted to go out for Chinese tonight, but we surrendered to the powers of our fireplace. What a great excuse to make a version of the comforting Chinese dish Chow Mein while you hear that beautiful crackling sound coming from the fire. 

These were the ingredients I used:

And this is how I did it:

I cooked the aletria (vermicelli) pasta first. Note: I'm not really a noodles fan.

I heated 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok and added the pork, cut into stripes. I stir fried it for about 3 minutes and added sliced vegetables: mushrooms, 1 carrot, 1 small onion, and added some Portuguese flavour with 1/2 a leek and 1/2 a red bell pepper. Then I let it cook for another minute.

Then I added a sachet of Blue Dragon's Chow Mein stir fry sauce (a mix of soy sauce with onion and spices) to the wok along with the drained pasta and stir fried everything for 1 minute.

I served it immediately, with a hibiscus flower confit.

When you do it, it will look something like this:

If it looks better, feel free to invite me over.
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Ah, Domingo, preguiçoso domingo... Frio lá fora, grande lareira cá dentro, pijama novo...
Queríamos ir jantar ao Chinês, mas rendemo-nos aos poderes da nossa lareira. Que grande desculpa para fazer uma versão do reconfortante prato chinês Chow Mein enquanto ouves aquele barulhinho da lenha a estalar. 

E eis como o fiz:

Cozinhei a aletria primeiro. Nota: não sou grande fã de noodles.

Aqueci uma colher de sopa de óleo num wok e adicionei o porco cortado em tiras. Fritei durante 3 minutos e juntei vegetais às tiras: cogumelos, 1 cenoura, 1 cebola pequena, e adicionei algum sabor português com 1/2 alho francês e 1/2 pimento vermelho. Depois deixei cozinhar por outro minuto.

Depois adicionei uma saqueta de Chow Mein stir fry sauce da Blue Dragon (uma mistura de molho de soja com cebola e especiarias) ao wok juntamente com a massa escorrida e fritei rapidamente durante 1 minuto.

Servi imediatamente, com confit de flor de hibisco.

Idealmente, quando o fizeres, irá ficar algo semelhante a isto: [ver foto acima].

Se parecer melhor, estás à vontade para me convidar a ir comer aí a casa.

14 comments:

  1. Obrigada. Só fiquei com pena de se ter acabado a mistura da Blue Dragon. Para a próxima preguicite não é desculpa e invento uma mistura caseira. :) Bom fim de semana!

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  2. I love cooking during wintery weather... The heat warms up the house and the delicious food warms up our tummies too.

    Your fusion style of chow mein looks wonderful.

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    1. You're right. Comforting food is so addictive - but it's quite understandable. :P

      Thank you for your words, Zoe. Have a great week.

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  3. That looks so comfortingly good! I must admit that I love noodles-my favourite pasta is spaghetti too! :P

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    1. Or maybe I just haven't had/made a good noodles dish yet. ;) Aletria may sound like an odd combination, at least for us Portuguese (we use it 99% of the time in a sweet dessert), but there's something about this combination that tempts me.

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  4. Replies
    1. Thank you, Mich. I really have to try more noodles. Maybe I haven't had/made a good dish yet. ;)

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  5. This looks great! I love cooking Chinese. Assembling all the ingredients is the hard part, but once you have everything you need, most dishes come together pretty quickly. This is perfect to enjoy in front of the fireplace!

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    1. That was exactly what I wanted: something warm to have by the fireplace! :))

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  6. I love chow mein. This dish looks delicious.

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    1. I know I should be repeting to myself "I have to create my own sauce, I have to create my own sauce", but the truth is: wow; what a pity I can't find this Blue Dragon sauce here.

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  7. Your chowmein looks fantastic my friend :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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    1. Thank you :) This was such a nice meal. I should do it more often. And Friday is almost here! :)

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  8. Mas que aspecto delicioso!!! Adoro estes pratinhos :)
    beijinhos

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