"Life on Lockdown: The Cooking Edition 1"

...or how to get your husband to forgive you for a horrible ECQ haircut because you insisted on using the electric clippers.

Life on Lockdown : The Cooking Edition 1

 

It has been over 6 weeks since we have gone on Enhanced Community Quarantine.  On the first 2 weeks, my life was insanely busy as part of a team working to ensure that our over 55,000 employees would be equipped to work from home.  Dealing with government, monitoring the news, managing the deployment of my team and working with the 10,000 little problems you never expected to be a problem kept me up and running 14 hours a day at times.  Our President's charming little rants about how so and so is the son of a biatch, how he is going to spit on the virus and other equally edifying remarks which unfortunately was part of my job  to monitor had me questioning what day of the week it was and when was the last time I drew on my eyebrows  (….because you know, kilay is life).

 

Things have settled down somewhat and 14 hour days have turned in 10 hours. Sometimes less when it is a slow day.  (Bites tongue as she realizes the last time she had that, all hell broke loose...)

 

So in between wondering who the President wants to kill next, whether or not it is legal to arrest someone for not wearing a mask while watering the plants in their yard and why the neighbor singing karaoke at 8:00 am would possibly think he has a nice voice, I decided to resuscitate my dusty cooking skills.

 

To appease my husband (whom I had..well..uh...may have accidentally shaved bald in certain spots) for a badly administered haircut, I decided to cook Hong Kong Style Beef Noodle Soup -- because if the husband can't go to Hong Kong, the girl will bring Hong Kong to her husband.  And hopefully, appease Baldy...err...the husband.

 

So without further ado...

 

 

Quarantine Beef Noodle Soup

 

(Because we cannot go to Hong Kong)

 

  

I tried this recipe for the first time today! This dish is usually the first thing we eat when we land in Hong Kong, but since no one can travel this year, I decided to bring Hong Kong to our house. 

 

 

Very easy recipe – the only challenge is the large number of ingredients.

 

Serve with Siopai or Siomai and imagine you are in Tsim Tsa Choi  --- with a large pile of shopping bags at your feet as you plan what to do drink in Lan Kwai Fong when the kids fall asleep and you are able to escape...

 

 

Ingredients: (Please note the proportions are rough estimates only as I never measure anything -- being of the persuasion that measuring cups just make more dishes for me to wash....)

  

½ Kg Beef Brisket (Bone In) ¼ kg Beef Tendon ½ Pack Sabhut (Chinese Herb Mixture) 1 tbs. Cinnamon 3  Bay Leaves 3  Cloves Star Anise 1  Whole Onion 1  Head Garlic crushed Ginger crushed Pepper 1 Cup Soy Sauce ½ Cup Brown Sugar ½ Cup Chinese Cooking Wine (which can only be drunk while cooking if you are desparate during the ECQ Liquor Ban)

1  Head Womboc or Pechay Baguio     (or whatever leafy vegetable you can     coerce your children to eat) Diced Scallions or Green Onion Egg Noodles

 

 How to do this without burning down the house:

In a large soup pot combine all the ingredients except for the Beef Tendon, vegetables and noodles

1. Marinate the meat for one hour, refrigerate
2. Add 8 cups of water or beef stock, adjust to taste.  For more concentrated flavor use less water
3. Tenderize the meat in the water and marinade mixture until fork tender.
4. When the Beef Brisket is semi-tender, add the Beef Tendon (Do not add the Tendon too early as it will dissolve).
5. Add chopped Womboc, Pechay Baguio (or your leafy vegetable of choice). Do not add the vegetables too early as they will wilt and come "icky" (according to Bobbi).
6. In a separate pot, boil water.
7. Blanch egg noodles in boiling water, immediately drain and cool.

 To Serve:

1. In bowl, arrange noodles
2. Add soup and beef
3. Garnish with diced scallions