Italian and Chinese are favourite cuisines of many. And the best of both worlds come together this time at the Masters of Food & Wine at Park Hyatt. To celebrate the cuisines, we bring you two recipes, and insights on how to make the perfect noodles at home
Tao CheawMear
Ingredients
Noodle dough (If you want to make noodles at home)
150 gm refine flour
2 eggs
5 gm salt
80 ml water
Noodle Sauce
50 gm chicken leg boneless diced
40 gm eggplant diced
30 gm bamboo shoot
10 gm spring onion
60 gm oyster sauce
Salt to taste
20 gm sugar
50 ml light soya sauce
10 ml sesame oil
30 gm potato starch
50 ml chicken broth
Method
Noodle dough
Mix everything together and knead the dough till soft. Rest it for 30 minutes. Fold the dough like a sheet and slice it with a sharp knife into a noodle shape. Boil in hot water for four minutes till noodles are well cooked. Remove and immediately place in ice water. Remove and set in the noodle bowl.
For the Sauce
Fry chicken, bamboo shoot and eggplant in the wok till they are half done. Add oyster sauce, soya sauce, sugar, sesame oil, salt and chicken broth and stir. Add potato starch in the last minute to thicken it. Pour the sauce on top of the cooked noodle.
Garnish with spring onions and serve.
Noodle master
Chef Xiang Bin Li from Sichuan has been making noodles for the past 13 years. The chef, who is in Hyderabad, talks about the art of noodle making and how he got into the cooking trade
Q. Tell us a little about yourself?
I come from a traditional Sichuan family in Chengdu province, China. I was fascinated about cooking since childhood.
Q. When did you start cooking? And how long has it been since you started making noodles?
It’s been 18 years since I started cooking, and I have 13 years of noodle making experience. I was 17 when I started making noodles. I used to observe other chefs practice this art and it always fascinated me.
Q. What is the one secret behind getting the perfect noodles?
The secret is to knead the dough by hand. Use only egg, salt and oil and knead by hand.
Q. What do you feel about the Indian fascination for Chinese food?
(Laughs) Indians love Chinese food but they don’t like authentic Chinese. Indians love Sichuan because it is very spicy and saucy.
Q. What is the advice you would give budding chefs who want to learn to make noodles?
Noodle-making is an art that requires a lot of practice, strength and concentration. I would advise them to be determined and be patient as it takes a lot of time to learn this art. I would also advise them to select the finest ingredients to also make the noodles uniform in shape and size.
Branzinoall'acquapazza by Italian chef Giovanni Parrella
Ingredients
180 gm sea bass
40 gm chopped onion
1 gm garlic clove
40 gm cherry tomato
30 gm kalamata olives
2 ml extra virgin olive oil
3 ml fish stock
4 gm fresh basil
5 gm capers
Method
Sear the fish in olive oil. Add onions, garlic, olives, cherry tomatoes, capers and fish stock. Bake for 20 minutes at 180ºC. Remove from oven and add fresh basil.
