Why I Still Bite Off More Chilli than I Can Chew - Recipe: Black Pepper Udon with Chicken

This post is dedicated to the kid in all of us.  In Malaysia, as with elsewhere in Southeast Asia, where spice is king, local culture celebrates the ability to take spiciness as a form of machismo.  Both my parents absolutely love chillies – a bowl of sliced chilli padi in soy sauce always accompanies our meals at home. I still marvel at how my father dumps dollops and dollops of sambal belacan into his bowl of laksa as if it is an ice cream topping, or snacks on the pickled green chilli at the table at Chinese restaurants while waiting for the food to arrive. 

As a child, I was terribly ambitious. I wanted to be able to do all the things that adults could, which in my family meant, cranking up the heat level in my food. KLites might remember the old Raintree Club, one of the first private country clubs in the Klang Valley. Weekends in the eighties for us meant tennis for the parents, swimming for the kids, coconut juice by the pool, to be followed by yong tau foo or curry laksa. On this particular occasion, this author decided that she wanted to have her laksa just like the adults did. Although my sister warned me, I piled on the belacan and in addition, sprinkled chilli  padi all over the noodles. And even though my mouth was burning, my nose was running and my eyes were tearing almost unbearably, I ate the whole thing, including greedily drinking all the gravy. While it’s safe to say that I survived the experience, very soon I found my lips puffing up. A red, angry circle of inflamed skin enclosed my lips. If memory serves me correctly, my sister would have gotten quite a kick out of making fun of me, except she too had decided to follow in my footsteps so we both returned home, tail between our legs, with our very swollen lips that evening.

I was reminded of this episode from my childhood the other day when G and I were tucking into the Black Pepper Udon that I had prepared:

G: Pass me the chilli, can?
Me: Mad, ah, you? It’s pretty spicy as it is.
G: I know, but cannot resistlah.
Me: Hehe...same here...aiyo, die, die, die.... damn hot!
(Chomp, chomp, coupled with “ssss” and “ooh” and “aahhh”)

There are only three things that I know that can cut the burning sensation if you’ve had too much heat: i) white bread, ii) a spoonful of rice and iii) a glass of milk. I’m convinced that water actually makes it worse. Seeing as I had none of those things on hand, I gravitated toward my trusty sauvignon blanc to do the trick. What can I say? There’s something about the simultaneously pleasurable and painful experience of biting off more chilli than you can chew that is just too good to resist. As they say in Singapore, so shiok!

Most Asian noodle dishes are pretty flexible so you can substitute the vegetables according to what you have handy – the only thing I would insist upon is grinding the black pepper in your mortar and pestle or spice grinder specially for this dish.

Ingredients:

100 g chicken fillet
Dash Maggi seasoning
1-2 tsp soy sauce
Pinch of salt, sugar and white pepper
1 tsp Shao Xing rice wine
1 tsp cornflour

In a bowl, marinate chicken fillet with Maggi seasoning, soy sauce, salt, sugar, pepper and rice wine to taste. Add cornflour and mix well. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients for the noodles.

Sauce:
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
½-1 tsp dark soy sauce for colour
¾ tsp sugar
½ tbsp Shao Xing rice wine
2-3 tbsp water

In a bowl mix together sauce ingredients and set aside.

Noodles:
2 x 200g packets fresh udon noodles, at room temperature
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp sesame oil
3-4 thin slices young ginger, peeled
3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ head (about 100 g) of a medium round cabbage, tough centre core removed, leaves sliced thinly
1 medium carrot, sliced into desired shapes
4 dried shitake mushrooms, soaked until soft, and sliced thinly
80 g button mushrooms, sliced
½ red capsicum, sliced thinly
½ green capsicum, sliced thinly
Handful of small bean sprouts (optional)
10-15 black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
Chopped coriander leaves and chilli strips to garnish

Heat wok or non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. First prepare chicken. Add about 1 tbsp of oil and swirl to coat the pan.  Mix chicken in the bowl and add to the pan. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes or until just cooked. Dish up and set aside. Add additional 2 tbsp of oil and sesame oil to the pan. Add garlic and ginger and fry for thirty seconds or until fragrant. Add carrot, shitake mushrooms and button mushrooms and stir-fry briskly for a minute. Add capsicum and fry for an additional minute. Add cabbage and udon noodles. Scatter pepper over and pour sauce ingredients into the pan. Lower heat, and toss well. Add  chicken and bean sprouts if using and fry noodles for an additional 3-4 minutes or until just done. Garnish with coriander leaves and chilli strips. Serve hot.