It has taken me so long to write about the time we spent in Hong Kong last winter. I’m not entirely sure why. Perhaps because we were there for long enough to feel like it wasn’t a trip, so there’s no clear narrative, but not long enough to make it feel routine. I’m not sure how best to structure our stories and experiences to share with you, but at the end, it’s probably best to just start writing.

We had a wonderful time in Hong Kong, and I’d go back in a heartbeat. Hong Kong is this vibrant, slightly chaotic, proud, country full of contrasts. It is at times loud and bustling and wonderfully modern and at times ancient and mystical and steeped in tradition. Pristine luxury shopping malls smelling of expensive perfume bump up against Buddhist temples filled with incense smoke. Michelin stars are awarded to French tasting menus and hole-in-the-wall dim sum joints. You can spend $30 on a cocktail or $2 for a bowl of noodles, and both will be delicious. The iconic skyscrapers packed together in Central fade suddenly and without warning into green mountains, blanketed with hiking trails.

A friend who visited several months after we’d left told me afterwards “I wasn’t expecting it to be so Chinese.” And he’s right. The international image of Hong Kong is of a massive, modern, high-tech city, full of expats and expensive clothes and big business. And it is that, in parts, but it’s also old, and pungent, and a little run-down, and very traditional. The international glitz is fun, but for us, the real draw was outside of the glamorous neighborhoods: the hole-in-the-wall dumpling restaurants and the sleepy seaside island towns. In five weeks we barely scratched the surface – for a small country there’s a lot to explore.

Hong Kong is a food-lover’s dream travel destination. Everything is good, and you can find pretty much anything, for a price. There’s an amazing hipster coffee scene (if you’re willing to spend $7 on a latte), 61 Michelin-starred restaurants (more than London and Chicago and Madrid), wet markets where you can buy any meat or seafood you can think of, and incredible local Cantonese cuisine. I tried things I never thought I would – abalone and shark fin and literal birds’ nests – and had some of the most memorable meals of my life.

When we got back from Asia I wrote down all the recipes I wanted to eventually share here – noodles and dumplings and soups. The other night I was reading through that list and when I got to “Shanghai Noodles with Pork, Mushrooms, and Cabbage” I had the most visceral food memory. Those noodles – fat as a pencil and utterly slurpable and chewy and coated in an addictive, salty-sweet brown sauce – were unbelievable. I struggled to recreate them at home – that sauce! Those fat noodles! – but after several rounds of trial-and-error I finally have a reasonable approximation.

The first recipe I tried wasn’t saucy enough and the second was far too salty. I ended up ditching the pork because it wasn’t adding anything, and experimenting with my own sauce. Ideally I would use thick fresh egg noodles but I couldn’t find any, so I made do with fresh udon. Now that I know how to make them, these are actually very easy. Once you have the sauce ingredients, you could whip them up on a weeknight with no problem.

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Shanghai Noodles with Mushrooms and Cabbage

Thick, eggy Shanghai Noodles covered in a slurpable, sweet-salty sauce and stir-fried with mushrooms and cabbage. Inspired by an extended trip to Hong Kong.

Adapted loosely from The Daring Gourmet, with sauce inspiration from BBC Good Food. 

• Author: Katie at the Kitchen Door
• Yield: 4-6

Ingredients

• 4 TBS dark soy sauce (don’t substitute regular soy sauce!)
• 2 TBS peanut butter
• 2 TBS honey
• 1 TBS sugar
• 2 TBS rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp hot sauce
• 2 TBS plus 2 tsp sesame oil, divided
• 1 TBS fish sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 TBS canola oil
• 2 portobello mushroom cups, cleaned and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
• 1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, caps cut into thin slices
• sea salt
• 5 cups shredded napa cabbage
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 3/4 lb. thick fresh egg noodles or fresh udon noodles
• 2 fresh scallions, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, combine dark soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, sugar, rice wine vinegar, hot sauce, 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil and the fish sauce. Whisk until very smooth.
2. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the chicken stock and the cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
3. Heat half of the remaining sesame oil and half of the canola oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the sliced mushrooms and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook until golden brown on both sides and tender, about 5-6 minutes, stirring often. Transfer the cooked mushrooms to a plate. Add the remaining sesame oil and canola oil to the walk along with the shredded cabbage and the minced garlic. Cook quickly, just until wilted, stirring frequently.
4. Add the sauce and the noodles to the pan with the cabbage. Use tongs to coat the noodles in the sauce, then add the chicken stock with the cornstarch. Continuously toss the noodles in the sauce until the sauce is glossy and thickly coats the noodles. Add the mushrooms back to the pan and toss a few more times, then remove from the heat. Serve immediately, topped with chopped scallions.

The post Hong Kong // Shanghai Noodles with Mushrooms and Cabbage appeared first on Katie at the Kitchen Door.

The Book: Although I somehow missed Sprouted Kitchen’s eponymous first book (so many cookbooks, so little time!), after the rave reviews I saw for it all over my favorite blogs, I wasn’t about to make the same mistake with their newest book, Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon. If you’re not familiar with Sara and Hugh’s lovely blog, please take a few minutes to go check it out – it’s full of warmth, love, and healthy, wholesome meals. In their newest book, which is a seamless continuation of their blog, they take the somewhat trendy idea of “bounty bowls” (see also “earth bowl,” “broth bowl,” etc… even Panera now sells “broth bowls” of quinoa, lentils, and kale, although to be honest, I’m not sure how a broth bowl is different from soup) and explore it to the fullest. They’ve managed to turn everything from breakfast (cabbage, fennel, and apple slaw with smoked salmon) to dessert (key lime eton mess) into a “bowl” meal. Perhaps the best description of what qualifies as a “bowl” is that it should be a hearty but healthy mixture of grains, beans, vegetables, fruits, eggs, lean meats, and flavorful sauces, served together in a big bowl but with each element maintaining it’s own flavors and integrity. The recipes that Sara and Hugh have included are not particularly innovative or particularly classic – what they are is well-loved, tried and true meals that a family that loves to cook and eat has come to rely on. I love that the recipes are healthy without being restrictive – they won’t deny you eggs, a little cheese, or a few spoonfuls of maple syrup. They are also simple – nothing in this book should overwhelm you, even if you’re a tentative cook. Everything is simple to prepare, simple to serve, and simple to eat, the sort of food you’d happily whip up and pack for a picnic, but with smart, bright flavors throughout.

The Food: In my last post, I lamented my recent (poor) eating habits, driven largely by my nutty travel schedule (I have another week-long trip starting tomorrow, and I’m planning to be a lot more diligent about what goes into my body this time!). Coming home to a copy of Bowl + Spoon waiting for me in the mail was exactly what I needed – it’s full of inspiration for healthy, nourishing, and simple meals to fuel you through a busy day. The first recipe I turned to was the Tahini Kale Slaw and Roasted Tamari Portobello Bowl, because it was exactly to my tastes without even a small tweak (although I did skip the carrots as Trevor is allergic). The base of the bowl is a hearty scoop of brown rice, which is then topped with a raw kale slaw dressed in a sweet and savory tahini and citrus sauce. The crowning elements are sesame and soy roasted portobello mushrooms, and perfectly ripe avocado. The beauty of this recipe, besides that it’s filling, healthy, and super simple to prepare, is that each element has a distinct flavor – they don’t run together and end up tasting like a stirfry. I made this two nights in a row, and my body and tastebuds were both grateful.

Recipe Shortlist: Burrata with Figs and Crostini; Golden Quinoa and Butternut Breakfast Bowl; Caribbean Bowl with Jerk-Seasoned White Fish and Tropical Fruit Salsa; Lentil and Rice Bowls with Summer Vegetable Kebabs; Curried Sweet Potato Soup with Crispy Lentils; Lentil and Mushroom Stuffed Peppers over Goat Cheese Butternut Mash; Coconut Sorbet with Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce; Key Lime Eton Mess

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Disclaimer: I received a review copy of Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon from Ten Speed Press, but I was not otherwise compensated and all thought and opinions are my own.

Tahini Kale Slaw and Roasted Tamari Portobello Bowl

Recipe from Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon. Serves 2.

For the Tahini Citrus Miso Dressing:

• 1/2 c. tahini
• 2 TBS white or yellow miso
• 2 TBS honey
• 1 TBS toasted sesame oil
• 2 tsp Sriracha or hot sauce
• 1 TBS rice wine vinegar
• 1/3 c. orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Lemon juice, to taste

1. In a mixing bowl or mason jar, whisk together the tahini, miso, honey, sesame oil, Sriracha, vinegar, and orange juice until smooth and evenly combined. Thin with water or lemon juice, 1 TBS at a time, if needed. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. The dressing will keep, covered, in the fridge for two weeks.

For the Tahini Kale Slaw and Roasted Tamari Portobello Bowl:

• 2 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed
• 2 TBS toasted sesame oil
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 TBS tamari or soy sauce
• 1 bunch lacinato (tuscan) kale, central stems removed
• 1 carrot, peeled and grated
• 3 scallions, white and green parts, chopped
• 1/2 c. sunflower sprouts or microgreens
• 1 c. cooked brown rice
• 1 large avocado, peeled, pitted and cubed
• 1/3 c. roasted and salted sunflower seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a small roasting pan with tinfoil and place the portobello mushrooms in it. Rub both sides with the sesame oil and with sea salt and black pepper. Place them gill side up on the roasting pan and drizzle with the soy sauce. Roast until soft and collapsing, about 15-18 minutes. Remove from the pan and thinly slice.
2. While the mushrooms are roasting, prepare the kale slaw. Finely chop the kale into slivers, then toss with the carrot and scallions. Dress with the tahini citrus dressing to taste, rubbing the dressing into the kale to help tenderize it. Add the sprouts to the salad just before serving.
3. To assemble the bowls, divide the brown rice between two bowls. Top with a generous portion of the kale slow, 1 of the sliced portobellos, and half the cubed avocado. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds and serve.

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