Tonight I cooked garlic Udon noodles, coconut cream, pork belly, prawns, and choy sum for dinner.
During the week, Lorraine from Not Quite Nigella posted a recipe for quick garlic prawns and spaghetti recipe, and it got me thinking that garlic prawns would be nice on the weekend.
In my refrigerator, I also had some strips of pork belly, which needed eating too, so I combined everything into a meal for Saturday night.
Ingredients
- Udon noodles
- Coconut cream
- Garlic
- Choy sum
- Pork belly
- Fresh prawns
Instructions
- Dry the skin of the pork belly strips and place into a hot (200 °C) oven for 45 minutes to get the crackling crispy.
- Cook the Udon noodles in boiling water for about 7 minutes and then with 2 minutes to go, toss in the choy sum.
- Rinse the noodles and choy sum in cold water and drain.
- Heat a skillet with the leftover fat from the pork belly and sautée the garlic gently.
- Add the noodles and choy sum.
- Pour in some coconut cream and bring it to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Add in the prawns and cook through.
- Cut the pork belly into small pieces and add to the skillet.
- Transfer everything to a bowl and eat with chopsticks.
The meal was delicious. The question is, is this Asian or Italian?
I have no idea anymore what sort of food I cook. I take what I have bought and put it together into a meal I think will work. More often than not, the meal tastes okay. I don’t know that anyone else would like to eat it, but it keeps me going, and it keeps my imagination ticking over. In my mind, that’s the important thing.
Over many years of living alone, I’ve worked out what I like and what I don’t like. The trick is keeping the things I want in a list that also aligns with keeping in good health.
The trick mentioned above is not a unique problem. I know other people struggle with it. It’s one of the advantages of the Internet and various cooking forums that we can get ideas from people from all over the world.
I’m not sure cooking with coconut cream is necessarily healthful though. It’s certainly delicious.
I did buy some spaghetti instead of Udon noodles this week so that I can transition from Asian pasta to Italian pasta. 😉
This looks amazing, Gaz. Garlic anything always tastes great. Like you, I like to cook and eat what I like. Doesn’t necessarily taste like a 5-star meal but simple and tasty enough to enjoy. I avoid coconut cream at all costs though I love it 😀
Thanks, Mabel. Why do you avoid coconut cream at all costs?
Coconut cream is high in calories in fat. Even in small quantities, it adds up so I do avoid coconut cream and coconut milk as much as possible.
This might explain my high cholesterol
Gary, that looks incredible!!!!!! I love how you use your imagination to make things to eat. How often do your creations turn out inedible? I recall a fish soup mum made once. Instead of evaporated milk, she accidentally used sweetened. Not sure how, they are VERY different. But, no one ate it. My dad, who was a stickler on not wasting food said to us kids, ‘not to bother.’ Not even the dog liked it!!!
That’s a great story. I’ve made some very ordinary meals. The only inedible ones are the burnt ones when I get distracted.
Coconut and garlic shrimp go together so well. Adding the other ingredients put it over the top. Great recipe.
Thanks, Geri. I appreciate your comment.
Gary you’ve put some of my very favourite ingredients together in one dish! In fact what’s not to love about everything in this recipe. And thank you for the shout out too 😀
Always a pleasure Lorraine. You’re a regular inspiration.
This looks decadent–yum!
Thanks 😊
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thank you
Lush! I love coconut in savoury dishes; it’s awesome. I use creamed coconut to make either coconut cream or coconut milk as it’s dead cheap, lasts longer and you can make as much as you need.
Thanks, Emma. I’m lazy and by a small tin of coconut cream for <$AUD1.