Sunday, January 29, 2006

IMBB 22 - Cold Marinated Angelhair Pasta with Abalone



I love noodles so when I saw Cooking with Amy's IMBB's announcement, I was ecstatic. However with the Chinese New Year celebrations falling on the same weekend, I knew I had little time to produce an extensive noodley menu since I would have one million last minute things to complete before the festive season starts.

I decided then to incorporate part of my IMBB entry into the mini reunion dinner I had with Splashie Boy on Chinese New Year eve. (My family is rarely ever in town during Chinese New Year and we always have reunion dinner in advance i.e. last Saturday) Since Chinese New Year is all about the little luxuries you have once a year, we decided abalone was the way to go since it meant "Pao Yue" in Cantonese which means guaranteed abundance. It must have worked because after buying our can of abalone last weekend, we received a gift of two more abalone cans from my sister. Now I really have an abundance of abalone at home.

I reproduced Jimmy Chok's Cold Marinated Angelhair Pasta with Abalone from his Simple cookbook. Believe me, Jimmy Chok's recipes are just as simple as the title of his cookbook. Not only are they easy to make, they are stunning to look at too. The original recipe uses daikon cress and tobiko but I have improvised it to suit what we have in the local markets. Daikon cress is replaced with alfafa sprouts while ebiko was used instead since tobiko is difficult to obtain. Although the recipe asks for Australian abalone which is the top grade variety, I have used New Zealand's abalone instead which is slightly cheaper.

How was the taste? Excellent! Splashie Boy loved it that he had seconds and I was surprised how nice the combination was after I mixed it as everything went well together. Give it a try and serve it in martini glasses as it will definitely wow your guests!

Cold Marinated Angelhair Pasta with Abalone (Serves One)

100 grams angelhair pasta, cooked in salted water
10 ml canola oil
10 grams Japanese mayonnaise
20 ml mirin
Salt to taste
Black ground pepper to taste
20 grams tobiko
80 grams abalone, thinly sliced
Daikon cress
Chopped spring onion

Marinate cooked angelhair pasta with mirin, canola oil and Japanese mayonnaise. Do this preferably one day in advance so the flavours will be fully absorbed. Season the pasta with salt and pepper to taste when ready to serve. Mix the tobiko and arrange on plate with sliced abalone. Garnish with spring onion and daikon cress to serve.


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Updated: The IMBB Round-Up is up and running on Cooking with Amy. Do visit all the yummy and fantastic noodley entries.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

such an interesting medley of tastes and yes, the picture does look very appetizing!

boo_licious said...

Cath - it looks good and tastes great. Amazed that such simple stuff can taste so great.

tempo dulu said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
boo_licious said...

indcoup - coffee from a furry creature's butt? Sounds like the famous viet coffee. Been to Jakarta and Medan before - Jakarta was a bit of a dicey food experience as a lot of us got sick on hotel food.

Elizabeth said...

How does Japanese mayonnaise differ from other mayonnaise?

boo_licious said...

ejm - I think Japanese mayonnaise is less rich tasting. It's also thinner than the thick mayonnaise we get from the jar. Hope that helps.

Stephanie said...

That looks totally yummy - I might try it next Chinese New Year. Or sooner! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Jane Kaylor said...

Thanks for the recipe!!! Love it. Fresh or frozen local abalone is cheaper but will never give the same taste, flavor and texture as canned abalone. I love the flavor and taste of canned abalone and one day I want to eat abalone like 'abalone kings' do: braised in sauce and served whole, like a steak, washed down with a good white wine. Cut with a knife and fork of course. Meantime, it's still cheaper to slice abalone thinly and share with the family. I love this dish. It's such a special treat

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