My mother's forte: Sauteed vermicelli（母の得意料理：春雨炒め）

My mother's forte: Sauteed vermicelli Vocabulary: forte-tokui,とくい：得意,specialidad); ryouri-cooking(noun):料理, lutuin; vermicelli-
                   harusame,はるさめ：春雨,sotanghon; sauteed-itame いため：炒め

   Yes, my mother, of course, for me, cooks the best sauteed  mungbean vermicelli noodles.  There was a time that I brought some in my laboratory as a pot-luck meal and then, my former boss (an American) teased me to sell the recipe to a popular fastfood chain in our locality.  Of course that was just a joke. After a few years, the fastfood chain has come up with its own version of the dish! (Just a coincidence? I don't know but he knew the manager of that fastfood.  Oh well, that was past.  No regrets, though.)  Anybody could prepare sauteed mungbean vermicelli  noodles. However, its taste differs somehow from one cook to another.   Sauteed vermicelli noodles are very popular in Asian countries, most especially in my country.  



2012131 lan

    Here, I am showing you my version of sauteed vermicelli based upon my mother's recipe.  The dried noodles were f irst rehydrated by soaking in water for 20-30 minutes and then boiled in a soup stock until soft; it is flavored with salt and soy sauce .  Then, chicken strips are sauteed in garlic and onions then added with finely diced carrots, and sprinkled with black pepper. The flavoring is fish sauce ("patis" or "nampla" or  "nuoc mam").  The noodles and sauteed ingredients are mixed then topped with bits of boiled egg,  and cut spring onions. I put fried Chinese cabbage as a topping, too. My family and I enjoy this food either as an indoor meal or as a snack for a picnic.  The dish shown here was intended for an event outside of our home so it was packed in (heat-resistant) plastic containers.  Carrots were manually shaped into flowers (one can use a cutter for better shapes) and placed on top of the dish.

   We love its simple taste.

 

Close-up: 2012131  lan