Fresh herb in Chinese cooking -- Omelet

Herbs are easy to grow. My herb bed was always over producing that I tried to give away as much herbs as I can. The problem is most people don't know what to do with fresh herbs.
I have been asked a few times, what herb do Chinese use? Chinese has a long history on using herbal medicine. But that was used by certified Chinese medical doctor. Most people don't know the use of all the Chinese herbs for medicine. For everyday cooking, Chinese use ginger, garlic, Oriental chive(flat leave chive), green onion, basil(similar to Thai basil), cilantro, Chinese celery. (a small version of celery, with stronger flavor) The list is not too long compare to western cuisine.
Here is a easy Chinese dish that my mom used to make when she felt there were not enough stuffs on the table or when we had unexpected guest. The cheapest version is made with green onion. (Which you can get them free when you buy vegetable at the traditional market in Taiwan.)

Chinese Omelet

Eggs 2~4
Green onion a bunch (or other veggie/herb)
salt

All you need to do is mix everything together. Use a little bit oil on the frying pan. Make sure the pan is hot enough before you pour the mixture in. Fry it until golden on both side.

Here the green onion can be replaced with different kind of fresh herb and vegetable. The common one I have at home are green onion, grated carrots, sliced onion, salted dry Dikon radish, basil(normally with sesame oil), oriental chive. Here I have been cooking it also with spinach, beet leaves, regular chive.
When the herb was over producing in the garden, sometimes I put in too much chive that the omelet became very hard to flip. Well, that's the small price to pay.

Cold noodles

Cold noodles is something you can easily get in Taiwan. Every 7-eleven or convenience store sells them. It is a perfect meal for the hot summer day. I was so used to the convenience of getting it that I never try to figure out how to make it.
Until few years ago, one day, I suddenly feel like to have cold noodles. Well, living in the mid-west which means there is no way for me to find them any where near by. Even if I can find them, they might not taste right any way. So I got on the internet and searched for the recipe. It turns out to be very simple to make. As long as you can find the good noodle to go with.
Since I don't really cook with measurements. This recipe would include some measurements, but only for reference. Feel free to adjust it to your own taste.


Cold noodle sauce


Sesame paste 4 tbsp
Peanut butter 4 tbsp(or any nut butter)
Chinese black vinegar 1 tbsp(or lemon/lime juice)
Soy sauce 1 tbsp
Water - some for consistency

**All the quantities are for suggestion, not absolute.**


Mix the sesame paste and nut butter with a little bit of water to make it mix-able. Add enough vinegar and soy sauce to taste. Add a bit more water to make the consistency of egg yoke.
If you like, you can also add a little bit of chili pepper(Chili sauce), garlic, or satey sauce(Chinese BBQ sauce). Which will give the sauce more depth in flavor.

As I was saying, this recipe can be adjusted to any way you like. If I am making for people with nut allergy, I would only use the sesame paste. (I got the black sesame paste from the Chinese store, but you can use the regular one.) For the gluten free diet people, you can get the gluten free soy sauce and replace regular noodle with rice noodles or mung bean noodles.

For the noodle, I prefer home-made noodles. (Chinese noodle recipe is simply 3 cup flour with 1 cup water with a pinch of salt.) If you want the authentic Chinese style, you can find the 'oil noodle'(some sort of yellow noodle) from the Chinese store. I don't like the fact they put food coloring in it. Or you can use spaghetti to substitute. Make sure you don’t over cook it. Use ice-bath or a fan to cool the noodle when you get them out of hot water to stop the cooking process. “Al dente” is the key to tasty cold noodles for Chinese just like pasta for Italians.


This dish is commonly topped with some vegetables. Some people would even put cooked meat or egg on it. Just make sure everything is in thin strips. Vegetable can be cucumber, bell pepper, carrot, zucchini, lettuce, celery...... You can also use cilantro, basil, or Chinese celery on it. For the meat eater, some cook chicken breast broken into strips or sliced cooked egg might work as well. If you want to add some herb, cilantro and green onion would be the Chinese choice. But I don't see anything wrong with it if you add some Thai basil on it.


This sauce is also very good for dipping for the vegetables and rice paper spring rolls. Well the possibility is endless. Maybe you can come up with your own way of using it.