September 2024 favourites list

If, like me, you work in education, this month has brought with it the new academic year. Since I teach on a one year course, it has also brought the new, keen, fresh faces of the new student cohort. Welcoming them is always exciting and fun, even after all of these years working in the law school. 

 

I had wanted to share more cultural picks in this month’s list, but being busy at this time has meant I have not had the same time to devote to film, TV, or Music.

This month’s photos are from Taro Catford, a new Japanese restaurant from Mr Taro, who has succeeded in bringing casual Japanese dining to London in 8 locations. Mr Taro wanted his restaurants to be Taishu shokudo or everyday dining rooms. The atmosphere is relaxed and jovial, and the food is authentic with good value for money. I think I may have found my new favourite local restaurant!

Food writing

Margaret Eby has written a cookbook with a unique angle – that maybe sometimes you don’t have the time or inclination to cook, but still need to feed yourself. This interview with the author is very thought provoking for those of us who share or write recipes. https://www.eater.com/24228934/you-gotta-eat-cookbook-margaret-eby-interview

MSG has long been maligned. But attitudes are changing. Food writer MiMi Aye (whose Burmese cookbook Mandalay is unmissable) has championed this hero ingredient for years. Get some umami in your life! https://web.archive.org/web/20240905180745/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/msg-is-no-longer-a-guilty-secret-how-to-cook-with-it/

Food advice and kitchen tips

Squishy and slimy mushrooms are an insult to the noble funghi kingdom. Here are some useful tips on getting your mushrooms restaurant style – this would make a great topping for a mushroom risotto. https://www.mashed.com/1574123/why-restaurant-mushrooms-taste-better/

I’m always looking out for new kitchen tips and hacks – the freezing food as “tiles” both to save space and allow for taking small amounts without thawing in this collection seems like a useful, free tip! https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/kitchen-hacks-that-will-change-your-life

Non paywalled version: https://archive.ph/ABv6j

Want to give making your own pickled cucumbers or fine green beans? Here is how, with quantities of brine for the most common sized jars: https://lifehacker.com/food-drink/how-to-make-the-best-shelf-stable-pickles

 

Recipes

Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for Soy chicken and mushroom biryani and Cinnamon and lemon rice pudding with blackberries: https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/aug/31/yotam-ottolenghi-comforting-rice-recipes-blackberry-rice-pudding-and-soy-chicken-biryani

Sweetcorn is still in season, and there are many versions of sweetcorn cakes and fritters around the world. Here is a recipe for an Indonesian version with chilli and tomato sambal, taken from Petty Pandean-Elliot's book “The Indonesian Table”:  https://www.olivemagazine.com/recipes/entertain/indonesian-sweetcorn-fritters-with-chilli-and-tomato-sambal/

A wedge salad, made of iceberg lettuce with bacon and cream cheese sauce, is a classic American side dish. Here is a novel innovation, where Napa cabbage (aka Chinese cabbage) is used with a miso dressing.  https://smittenkitchen.com/2024/08/napa-cabbage-wedge-with-miso-dressing/

Nine one-pan recipes for simple midweek meals - Curried Paneer, Courgette, Coconut and Quinoa Stew; Spiced Cherry Tomato Rice; One-Tray Greek Style Chicken Orzo with Feta; One-Pan Chicken Fajita Gnocchi; One-Pan Beef Enchiladas; One Pan Cheat’s Cottage Pie; Halloumi, Chorizo and Quinoa Traybake; Mushroom Goulash One-Pot Pasta; Chicken Feta Saag Pie: https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/food-and-drink/one-pan-recipes-simple-midweek-meals-3262847

 

Bringing the taste of Iran/Persia to your table – a recipe for Shirazi salad, with tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions dressed in olive oil and lemon juice: https://www.eater.com/24220450/shirazi-salad-recipe-persian-feasts

Tuna salads are a great thrifty packed lunch if you are trying to save money on workplace lunches. But avoiding them getting boring can be a problem. This article is a helpful “no recipe” approach to putting the crunch into your tuna salad: https://www.thetakeout.com/1654489/ingredients-give-tuna-salad-crunch/

What you might have missed at Snig’s Kitchen

If you follow my blog, you will know I have started to review instant noodle products. Here is my review of a “fusion” Korean product, Nongshim brands “Chapagetti” noodle: https://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/09/nongshim-chapagetti-noodle-review.html

Music

Air's 1998 album Moon Safari is one of my favourite albums and I'd go as far as to say it's one of the best albums of the 90s. Here is a unique concert from London's Royal Albert Hall, as shown on French TV. Merveilleux!

https://youtu.be/uQauaVbPEAA

TV

Sherwood – Series 1

Sherwood is a fictional murder mystery series with its roots in the very real tension and acrimony of the Miners’ Strikes of the 1980s. This first series combines not only an excellent cast, effective storytelling and tension, but it demonstrates how the problems of the present can be caused by the problems of the past. Series 2 is also available on BBC iPlayer, but this first series feels like it has a more fulfilling and realistic story.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0c725bc/sherwood-series-1-episode-1

Please note: as with every monthly Favourites List, all of these items have been selected by me simply because I love them. I do not receive any money, benefits in kind or other incentive for posting these links or recommendations

Nongshim Chapagetti noodle review

Nongshim (which means farmer’s heart in Korean) are a huge South Korean company well known for making instant noodles and snacks. I personally love their spicy shrimp crackers, but I’m here today to write about noodles. Nongshim are probably most famous in Europe for Shin Ramyun, which is the best selling instant noodle brand in South Korea, renowned for its intensely spicy heat. However, the product I am reviewing here is not a hot and spicy one. (Spicy Chapagetti exists, with a chilli oil sachet provided, as opposed to the blend of vegetable oils in this product, but that is not for today.) Please note that this product is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans because of the shrimp extract in the sauce mix.

 

Nongshim Chapagetti noodle review

The product

Nongshim’s Chapagetti is their Korean “spaghetti” (a thick wheat based noodle with potato starch). The noodles are intended to be served with roasted chajang sauce. The whole thing is an instant noodle version of the popular Korean dish Jajangmyeon noodles. Chajang sauce is a rich roasted black bean sauce, which comes from a Korean-Chinese tradition. This is not a noodle soup product; it is intended to be noodles with sauce, which will effect how it is made (see below). This time, I bought a packet of Chapagetti, although a pot version also exists. I paid £1.15 for a 140g packet, bought at Longdan in Lewisham, south east London.

What’s Inside

The noodles themselves are made from wheat flour and potato starch, and have added flavourings including soy, salt and green tea extract. When you open the pack you find a large circular cake of noodles, which are not too tightly packed. They’re thicker than most instant ramen noodles and thinner than udon noodles. 

The Chajang sauce is made up from a powder base. It is meant to be intensely savoury with a touch of sweetness. The ingredients include soybean paste, onion, shrimp extract, sugar and caramel powder. I have no problem with eating Monosodium glutamate (it is a demonised ingredient which has suffered from the worst of bad science and racism), but there is no MSG in the sauce. 

The flavour oil packet has a blend of vegetable oil, olive oil, corn oil, sesame oil and mustard oil. As you will see from the packet, it prides itself on the presence of the olive oil, no doubt to emphasise this an equivalent of spaghetti. As stated above, the spicy version substitutes this for chilli oil, which means you could add your own chilli oil or chilli crisp if you want some heat.

The packet of dried vegetables contains some interesting items; cabbage, fried potato, onion and carrot and some veggie protein chunks.

The Chapagetti instant noodle are intended to be made on the hob. I am guessing that the thickness of the noodle means you can’t just soak them in boiling water and leave them alone. I have read that some people make the noodles in the microwave, but the possibility of any plastic container boiling over if your are boiling water for any length of time put me off. Cleaning up starchy mess in the microwave isn’t fun, and the whole point of occasionally eating instant noodles is to save on hassle.

Therefore I followed the packet instructions this time. I brought 600ml of water to the boil, added the noodles and the vegetable packet and set my timer for 5 minutes. 

 

This is what it looked like at the end of the 5 minutes... 

 

After 5 minutes, I reserved 60ml (4 tablespoons of the cooking water), drained carefully to avoid losing my new rehydrated veggies.

Then I put the noodles, reserved water and the sauce packet and flavoured oils into a bowl...

 

I then mixed everything up thoroughly. 

[I have read about a variation of this; the noodles, reserved water, sauce packet and flavoured oils are returned to the pan on a low heat, mixed together and cooked on low for a further minute. Only then are the noodles served up in a bowl. This is meant to make a richer, stickier sauce. I would like to try this technique in the future. Other recommended tweaks are to serve with a fried egg and toasted sesame seeds on top, or to serve some kimchi on top.]

What does it taste like

The noodles themselves are soft and chewy, with a good bite to them, thanks to their thickness. They are not, however, heavy, which I suppose is because they are made of both wheat flour and potato starch. 

The sauce clings well to the noodles, but I am guessing that if I use the variation of the cooking technique above (thickening the sauce in a pan with the noodles for a minute) the results will be even more thick and rich. There’s a lot of rich soy and onion flavour, and it is hard to believe this was a freeze dried powdered sauce. If you want taste but want to skip on chilli heat, these are for you!

The little rehydrated veggies give some little surprises every few mouthfuls, with little bits of “bite” alternating between onion, and carrot. The little round protein balls almost taste meaty (although they are not meat!).

This is a very nice instant noodle product to make at home as you need to be able to cook on the hob, but not suited to eating at work. I wouldn’t risk cooking this in the workplace microwave!

I use Gingey Bites’ rating system for my noodles. For Alex’s scoring method and an index of all of her instant noodle reviews, please see: https://gingeybites.com/guide-to-instant-noodles

Ratings

Texture 9/10

Flavour 8/10

Ease of making 6/10 (the method is more complicated than most instant noodles, as explained above).

Would I buy them again: Yes

You can read my review of Nissin brand’s collaboration Cup Noodle with Shoryu) here: https://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/01/nissin-x-shoryu-ramen-masters-cup.html

You can read my review of Maruchan spicy chicken and prawn noodles here: https://snigskitchen.blogspot.com/2024/05/maruchan-spicy-chicken-and-prawn.html

If you follow my instant noodle reviews, you will know I love to add ingredients and flavours to instant noodles. Here, at Kavey Eats blog (run by the brilliant food, travel and cooking enthusiast Kavita – AKA Kavey) is a new spin on modifying Korean instant noodles from Su Scott’s new cookbook Pocha: https://www.kaveyeats.com/tomato-kimchi-ramyun-instant-noodle

This review represents the genuine opinions of Snigdha, who has received no incentive to write this review, and who purchased the product with her own money.