Yoji and the Foodies

When the Hap Chan Las Pinas branch was opened to the public a couple years back, it was always packed with diners for a good 2 months.  Back then, the only restaurants worth visiting are those that have long been established, like Pancake House and Max’s Fried Chicken. People waited in anticipation for Hap Chan because it was far better than Chowking and Joe Kuan. The 2 fast food chains are not in the same league.

Every month, we’d go on Chinese food eating spree and Hap Chan is almost always the choice because of proximity to our place. Of course, if we have time to spare, we would go straight to Luk Yuen in Alabang.

After watching Harrison Ford eat noodles in the movie Blade Runner, I suddenly wanted a bowl of wanton noodles. This went on for 2 days. The craving just won’t go away. One cool Saturday afternoon, we decided to give in and eat noodles. So off to Hap Chan we went.

The noodles that haunted my days and nights:

We were kidding ourselves when we said we’d eat noodles only.

Sweet and sour fish fillet. Separate sauce  (I know it’s weird, but I really don’t like mixing in the sauce).

The appetizer came in late, not because of poor service, but because the fish fillet was gone too soon and we still have rice *lol*

Spareribs. Soo good.

Tea and Pepsi to end the glutton fest.

I have been buying this instant noodle brand for some time now. It’s a little expensive for a bowl of noodle, but it tastes better than the local brands we have. I remember surviving nights in a cramped studio-type apartment eating this noodle while watching TV. My TV back then was a National (now Panasonic) 14 inch TV with rabbit ears and it is one big brat. Sometimes it won’t turn on and sometimes it won’t turn off. It’s crazy. Anyway, the price of this instant noodle doubled in less than 5 years. Oh well…inflation and the  story of my dwindling purchasing power.

So, anyone knows what this noodle is called? (well, aside from Weiwei series instant noodle, beef flavour).

A friend from work called me up and asked for an alternative for Hoisin sauce. I could have told her to grab a bottle of barbecue sauce but that would be unforgivable. Instead, I told her to mix Oyster sauce, Kikkoman dark soy sauce, sugar, water and cornstarch. I heard silence at the other end. I assumed she just went to get pen and paper to write down the ingredients (though I thought I heard a little snicker here and there. I will never know…).  Perhaps it sounded more like a poison sauce rather than Hoisin. If she reports for work today, I can heave a sigh of relief. I just hope that the 2 other people at her place would be as lucky.

The pseudo Hoisin mixture that I have suggested is actually a normal sauce combination for Chinese cooking. I never paid too much attention at culinary school but I know that Chinese cuisine is so obssessed with balancing the sweet, salty, and spicy. Of course, Chinese cooking is also notoriously known for the liberal use of MSG and fat (mostly from chicken skin). Chinese cuisine is perhaps my least favorite, but my family prefers it over the Euro trash that I prepare for them. That’s why I have perfected the Chinese sauce mixture if and when the occasion calls for it.

That occasion is today. There’s a 1 week old dried egg noodles in the fridge and a can of mushroom in the cupboard. With the Chef Yoji magic Chinese sauce, an instant Chinese Mushroom Noodles was born.

Preparation+ Cooking Time: 5 minutes

Eating Time: 1 minute

Washing the dishes: 10 minutes

*Variation – add Lee Kum Kee Chi Chou Chili Sauce if you want tongue-numbing HOTness. Consequently, the eating time becomes 2.5 minutes.