The Kitchen of Belis

I was very excited to find this recipe as it did not require the presence of fish sauce and oyster sauce which are ubiquitous ingredients of Asian noodle dishes. Don't take me wrong. I love to eat fish - or anything that comes out of the sea, but just don't like the idea of fish being liquidated or pasted (e.g., anchovy paste).

One interesting thing that separates Asian noodles from that of Italian is cooking style and time. Asian noodles are often drained, rinsed well to wash off the starch, then added to the dish and reheated. Italian pastas are best added directly from the cooking pot to the sauce. Also it is better to cook Asian noodles until they are tender, while Italian pastas work well aldente.

Because Asian noodles are cooked tender, it is better to use fresh noodles as they soak up the sauces and all its rich flavors. In this recipe I used whole wheat fettuccine, but you can try one of the hundreds of different Asian noodles which are widely available at supermarkets.



Curry Paste:

Burmese Noodles:


Ingredients for the Curry Paste

1/2 onion chopped
2 large garlic cloves
2 1/2 inch rounds of fresh ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (Turkish Translation: Hint Safrani)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Using a food processor work all the curry paste ingredients into a rough paste and set aside.

Ingredients for the Noodles and Vegetables

5 sun dried tomatoes
8 ounces of fettuccine (or Chinese egg noodles (or mein))
1/3 cup chopped roasted peanuts
2 table spoon coconut oil
1 large tomato, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 can lit coconut milk
1 handful of peas
2 carrots cut in julienne style
2 scallions cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Cilantro, basil and mint leaves to garnish

Soak the sun dried tomatoes in warm water in a small bowl for 15 minutes or longer. Prepare peanuts.

Heat the oil in a wok over high heat, add curry paste and move it around the pan for 30 seconds. Add carrots. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequents and adding water from time to time - to keep it from sticking. When it begins to release some of the oil, add the tomato, raise the heat, and add the sun dried tomato liquid and coconut milk. Simmer for a minute, then add the sun dried tomatoes, peas, scallions, and soy. Turn off the heat.

In the meantime cook noodles in plenty of boiling water until tender. Drain the water and add noodles into the wok and mix with the curry paste. Garnish with herbs and peanuts. It is ready to be served!

Note: This recipe is adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone Cookbook.