Samurai Viking Noodles

I love noodles, but there aren't any good noodle shops around here. I virtually lived on a diet of spaghetti and penne for about 2 years in Spain and then I wanted other noodles....any kind of noodles. In fact I was looking at the list of Ramen shops in Los Angeles today in We Know More Than Zagat and being envious, but hey when the going gets tough the tough get going right?

So despite the difficulties I have in purchasing good quality Asian ingredients in this part of Spain I had to do something, and after some trial and error, and a nice measure of desperation I finally came-up with this - and since I don't know what the heck this is, I've decided to call it: Samurai Viking Noodles.

In fact there's nothing Samurai or Viking about these noodles except for the fact that it has Japanese soy sauce in it and has 'meatballs' in it which are decidely not Swedish, but you'll just have to forgive me for this lapse in logic and take them for what they are.

I promise you that if you have a general liking for South East Asian flavorings such as cilantro, ginger, garlic, peanuts, chili and so on...you might even love Samurai Viking Noodles...and if you don't, Ronny does anyway.

Ingredients for the Soup

4 Cups Leftover Broth from Shui Jiao*

2 Star Anise

3 - 5 Tbsp Japanese Soy Sauce (depending on how salty your original broth is you may need to add more)

3 Slices of Ginger

1/4 Leek

1 Tsp Sugar

Salt

Black Pepper

Hot Chili Powder

2 - 3 Tbsp Dry Sherry

Ingredients for the Meatballs

250 g Ground Pork (makes 15 - 17 meatballs)

1 Clove Garlic (crushed)

1/2 Leek (chopped finely)

1 Knob Grated Ginger

3 Tsp Sweet Chili Pepper (heaping teaspoons)

Hot Chili Pepper Powder (to taste)

1 Tbsp Japanese Soy Sauce

Pinch of Salt

A Dash of Freshly Grated Black Pepper

1 Tsp Dark Sesame Seed Oil <---If the pork is lean use 1 Tbsp

1 Tsp Dry Sherry

Noodles & Garnish

125 g (1 Bundle) Rice Vermicelli Noodles

Chopped Cilantro

1/4 Leek (thinly sliced)

2 Tbsp Chopped Peanuts

Serves 2

Step 1: Put the rice vermicelli noodles in a bowl and pour boiling water on them. After 2 minutes drain them and put them into 2 noodle bowls.

Step 2: Put the leftover dumpling broth into a soup pan with 2 star anise, the ginger and 2 Tsp chopped leeks and let it come to a boil for 10 minutes.

Step 3: Remove the star anise and bits of ginger, then season the broth with soy sauce, salt, hot chili powder, black pepper and dry sherry.

Step 4: In a bowl mix the ingredients for the pork meatballs, roll them up into bite sized balls and simmer then inside the soup broth for 15 minutes or until cooked.

Step 5: Put some chopped peanuts and hot chili powder on top of the noodles in the bowls, then pour the soup and meatballs on top of this. Garnish with a generous amount of cilantro...and you're ready to go!

Serves 2

*Leftover broth from Shui Jiao is the water in which you have boiled your home made dumplings. The more dumplings you've boiled in this water the richer tasting your broth will be. Depending on the kind of pork you've used, the broth can vary from being very fatty or low fat on the border of being bland. Depending on the variety of ingredients you've used - your broth can be more complex tasting or quite simple. This is where I urge you to exercise your own judgment in flavoring the broth when making Samurai Viking Noodles. My recipe is more like a guideline because I haven't given you any directions on how to make the perfect leftover Sui Jiao broth have I, i.e. how many dumplings do you have to boil in how many liters of water and what ingredients have you used to make your dumplings?

Note 1: I hate this photograph. I vow to change it someday when I learn how to take better photos.

Note 2: I make my wrappers from scratch. Not sure if this is a good idea if you've made your Shui Jiao with readymade wrappers from the store. For home made dumpling wrappers click here.

Note 3: I used rice vermicelli noodles but you can probably use other types of noodles.

Note 4: This is now version 2.1 of my attempts at photographing the noodles and there's still a glaring flaw in it but what the heck.