For our laboratory activity, we were tasked with making noodles from scratch, and of course, it made me excited! I once tried making a noodle from scratch. I tried it with my brother, and honestly, I forgot about how it was because it was a long time ago. So this time I prepared a lot for the task given. ‧₊˚ ⋅ 𓐐𓎩 ‧₊˚ ⋅
I researched a lot, I visited a lot of sites to find the perfect noodle recipe that could match my taste and a recipe that I think I could pull off easily. It took me so much time to find the perfect recipe because some noodles from Southeast Asia have rare ingredients here in the Philippines, and some are expensive. I had to choose a recipe that will not cost me a lot and is easy to learn. Luckily the hours I spent searching for a dish helped me find a simple Chinese chicken noodle soup.
Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup does not have a lot of ingredients and is not costly; therefore, it was easy for me to find the ingredients for this dish.
The ingredients are mainly spices; I bought star anise, black peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, and bay leaves. I was not able to buy cloves and fennel seeds because I couldn't find them in the market in our locality. Then I also bought the other ingredients, which are the chicken with bone, scallions, ginger, garlic cloves, soy sauce (light/regular), oyster sauce, sugar, salt, and oil. And for the noodles, I bought all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder.
After the preparations, the day has come for me to cook the dish I choose. We started doing mise en place first so that the cooking operation is smooth and fast; after that, I started working on the dough to make the noodles. And it was really tough for me. It took me so much time to make the standard dough for the noodle; my hands were already aching, and I was sweating (don't worry because my sweat did not drop to the dough I was making). ♡𓌉◯𓇋₊˚⊹♡
After I was done with the dough, I let it rest for a couple of minutes. While I was waiting for the dough to be ready, I cleaned up my space, and I started getting ready to cook the soup.
When the dough was ready I started flatting it until it was very thin, I sprinkled some cornstarch on the counter top where I was going to flatten my dough so my dough will not stick to the counter, then I fold it and cut it very thin to create the perfect size for a noodle.
Then I boiled the dough for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds to soften the dough but not totally so it won't get soggy. After boiling it, I strained it in my colander and washed it off with cold water to prevent it from sogging.
Then I worked on the soup. I heated some oil in a pot on a medium-low flame and fried the ginger, garlic, and white part of the scallions/spring onions until they were lightly browned to extract maximum flavor. Next I added the spices and stir-fried it for 30 seconds. Next I added the chicken and fried it until it was browned on both sides. Then I poured in 3 cups of hot water. Next, I added 4 tbsp soy sauce (light/regular), 1 tsp sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt. You can always adjust salt at the end, so don’t add too much now. Then I covered and simmered it until the chicken was cooked through. When the chicken was cooked through, I removed it and shredded it into bite-sized pieces.
When the soup was ready, I put the noodles directly into the serving bowl and poured in the piping hot soup. I topped it with shredded chicken, spring onions/scallions, and done!
ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
It took me a lot of effort to make the soup taste good because it did not really taste good when I tried it. I even asked for an opinion to my classmates about how the soup was, and they said it was salty, so I adjusted it and put in more sugar; then it was sweeter, and I didn't like the taste. Therefore, I adjusted the taste again and put in sugar and a bit of oyster sauce.
Honestly, the soup alone was still not good, but when we tried to eat it with the chicken, it was really good! It was better, and I couldn't help but have more of it. My classmate even liked it and told me it was really good. I was really happy because the result was good, and my effort and my exhaustion paid off greatly.
Plus, the experience was wholesome and fun because I really enjoyed the company of my classmates, who also helped me. I won't be able to get the result that I wanted without their help and support. Their support really meant a lot to me, and I really wanted to thank them for that. ˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
You should definitely try it too! I promise it tastes better than you expect, and it is better for a hangover. So try it now and tell me in the comments how it is for you! Love lots!
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧