Chicken for Dan

08/16/09

Apparently, Soba noodles don't exist in regular grocery stores here in Chapel Hill, NC. Not even Trader Joe's has them.

After attempting Trader's and leaving with some porto, sake, a bottle of German white wine, and some beer, I decided to travel across the street to the Food Lion. I wandered around the store amlessly (I blame the Trader's guy with the wine samples, as he knew nothing about the wine and I was identifying the grapes for him and telling customers what to pair it with. I should have been paid...) in search of anything that wasn't white pasta. I asked a nice sales clerk, and he showed me the Ramen noodles before informing me that we should check the Mexican section, because sometimes they get mixed up. The Mexican section had Manichevitz Egg Noodles (for Passover), and I had to inform the poor kid that those were neither Oriental or Mexican, but Israeli. He was very confused. As was I.

So I made do with what Food Lion had, and will save any serious Asian cooking for a day I have time to travel to a Whole Foods.

Here is what I did:

Marinated 2 bnls/sknls chicken breasts in minced garlic and ginger soy sauce for a few hours. It doesn't need to be all day, as the stuff really gets in there.

Boil some water for 3 packs of ramen. Don't use the horrid packets.

Once the water is boiling add the noodles and put the chicken on a grill. Steam some brocolli to al dente.
Drain tne noodles well, and put in a big bowl. Toss with peanut satay sauce. Take chicken off grill and let it sit for a minute or two, to firm up and suck in the juices. It makes me sad when people overcook bird because they don't let it sit and think it is raw, so they toss it back on the grill or never give it a chance.
Add the brocolli to the big bowl. Taste the noodles and see if they need more sauce. Ramen is a weird sponge.
Cut the chicken up and add to the bowl. Top with toasted sesame seeds or diced peanuts. Serve with peanut sauce on the side. (Dan couldn't get enough on his, it seemed.) Enjoy!