The Christian cold storages of Bandra have a concept called scrap meat. This is essentially a mix of cuts of bacon, sausages and salami. Pork of course. I have used this to make pastas and noodles. I wanted to do the same when we had guests this weekend. Couldn’t got hold of any scrap though. So I bought separate packets of sausages and bacon. The net result was pretty interesting. Sausages give you chunky bites of meat and make for a primordial food experience. Bacon however has a different role in my kitchen. I use it for flavouring dishes. In fact I often make a bacon Hakka noodles where I don’t use any oil at all. Oil free? Yes. Fat free? Er, no. The fat of the bacon dissolves to form a very very wicked base to the dish. And makes for a heady flavour which should come with an A for Adults rating. This is the Monica Bellucci of taste and sensory experiences.
This weekend I decided to marry the two, the meatiness of sausage and the ethereal flavour of bacon. The result was quite satisfying. I normally cook Hakka for two. I made it for 4 for the first time on Saturday night. And then for six on Sunday afternoon. Demolished with apparent glee on both occasions
Here’s the recipe (for 4):
Prep:
- Boil water in a pan, add 400 g noodles to the boiling. Keep prodding the noodles with a fork. Drain the water out the moment the noodles looses its stiffness. Run the noodles under cold water. This is your only hope for firm noodles
- 200 g finely chopped sausage, cut into rings
- 200 g bacon – tear out strips of rind with fat. Finely chop the rest
Cook:
- Heat two tablespoons of olive oil
- Add some chopped garlic, slivers of ginger
- Add the rinds of bacon, reduce the flame. Slowly stir. The fat will dissolve a bit and join the oil. This form the taste foundation of the dish
- Add a tablespoon each of dark soy sauce and chilly sauce to the oil. The oil will slowly take on the colour of the sauces
- Now add the sausages and the rest of the bacon bits. Stir till the skin of the meat become a bit crinkled. Always add the meat in the beginning as it takes time to cook. Plus adding it in the beginning ensures that the taste and flavour of meat spreads all through
- Now move the meat to a side of the pan. Add half the noodles at the base of the pan.
- Add a tablespoon of salt, half a teaspoon of ajino moto and a teaspoon of black pepper on the noodles.
- Slowly shift the meat to the top of the noodles
- Place the rest of the noodles on top of the meat. This sandwich-like arrangement ensures that the flavours of the condiments, meats and sauces spread all through
- Toss the noodles till the colours of the meat and sauce have spread all through
- Add finely chopped veggies – juliennes of carrots, bell peppers, cabbage, sprouts, split green chillies
- Mix it through the noodles and the meat. The vegetables should be cooked to the point where they retain their crunch. Add a bit more of the sauces if the noodles look two pale
- Pour a tablespoon of vinegar and stir
- Top with a pre-fried beaten egg and serve
The following pictures were taken by Jyotika Purwar of Follow My Recipe while I cooked. A fantastic photographer. I wish i could have her around whenever I cook. She make stuff look so celestial
