Homemade Chinese Egg Noodle Soup with Baby Bok Choy and Homemade Shrimp Egg Rolls

It all began with baby bok choy that had to be used.  I really enjoy this shrimp wonton noodle soup in Chinatown, but I didn't have the motivation to make homemade wontons.  In retrospect, I realize that I probably could have made the dough.  Instead, I ended up making two labor-intensive dishes.  First, I made egg noodles from scratch.  It was actually much easier than I expected:  flour, water, egg, salt.  Hand-mix, allow to sit for 30 min, then roll out into long ovals, tri-fold like a letter, cut into thin strips, and boil.  I kind of followed several recipes; but I really ended up winging it as usual.  I put the noodles and baby bok choy in a vegetarian broth with some tofu, mushrooms, and carrots.

Then, I made egg rolls with some wrappers and shrimp I found in the freezer.  The classic egg roll filling was employed:  green cabbage, mushrooms, carrot, scallion, shrimp chopped up, all mixed with some sesame seeds a bit of Chinese 5-spice and some fresh ginger and garlic.  Of course, I pan fried the egg rolls and kept them crispy on a baking cooling rack on top of a baking sheet in the oven.  This keeps the bottoms from getting soggy too because the cooling rack keeps the whole egg roll raised above the baking sheet and allows the entire surface to crisp up.  I served them with a sweet and spicy red chili and mustard dipping sauce.

This was my first time making a pasta from scratch:  spaetzle is the same ingredients, but the process is much easier.  The noodles were absolutely delicious and I'd highly encourage those who haven't tried making pasta to do so!
Preview

I've been remiss...

I've been so negligent, I don't even know where to begin.  The whole point of beginning a blog was my attempt at trying to document all that I make and write down any semblance of a "recipe" corresponding to whatever deliciousness I throw together.

I've failed!

Anyway, a few photos of what I've been up to since July...

July 4:  Red, white, and blue Sangria trio:

All-American Shrimp boil with Old Bay, corn, Yukon gold potatoes, all of course boiled in beer, served with melted butter: 

Blurry, I know; but oh-so-delicious white wine, sundried tomato, Cannellini bean, fresh home-grown parsley, and garlic steamed Maine mussels served with steamed Broccoli rabe and crusty wheat baguette:

Bouillabaisse-inspired Soup

Well, everyone knows by now the secret of the mega-wholesale-club seafood. That is, I should hope everyone does. Just like their cuts of meat, their salmon is usually some of the most fresh and delicious around town...unfortunately, this also accounts for the local seafood markets.

After battling the crazy parking lot for nearly 30 min, we went straight back to the seafood section to pick up the one and only item needed for tonight's craving: Salmon. Sadly, mega-wholesale-club disappointed, thus forcing creativity upon me while perusing the aisles of Harris Teeter.

Succulent sea scallops, cherry-stone clams, and catfish nuggets were all on sale, and that's when it hit me: Bouillabaisse! (well, okay, let's face it, I neither had time, money, or patience for a full-blown Bouillabaisse, but an April-ized version would work juuuust fine).

In a Dutch oven coated with EVOO and 2-3 TBS butter: 2 med sized onions roughly chopped, 3 cloves smashed garlic, ground with a mortar and pestle: celery seed, dried thyme, dried oregano; 1/2 tsp whole black peppercorn, pinch of saffron, and about 1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice (I didn't have any star anise or fresh fennel!) - until onions are translucent. I added the shells of about 1/2 lb shrimp and cooked this briefly until they turned pink. This was followed by a deglaze with 2 C white wine, 1 C clam juice (reserved from 2 cans minced clams--save the clams for later) and 3 C water. To this was added 5 bay leaves, a handful of fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, and the juice from one can of diced tomatoes (reserve the tomatoes for later). Lastly, I used an ingredient I just happened to have around the house, but I'm sure fish bouillon could be subbed: I used about 3 TBS Dashi (MSG-free) which is essentially a Japanese form of dried fish-stock. This all simmered nicely for about 45 minutes.

The "stock" was strained into a large bowl, and returned to the pot along with about 3/4 lb baby yellow Yukon potatoes cut into 1/8ths (skins on) and the reserved diced tomatoes. After allowing the potatoes to cook until firm yet tender, about 25 min, all of the seafood was added: 1 bag small cherry-stone clams (scrubbed/cleaned well). These were cooked until they began to open, about 7-8 min. This was followed by the addition of 1/2 lb peeled and deveined shrimp, 6-10 large sea scallops, the reserved minced clams, and about 1/3 lb catfish nuggets cut into bite-size pieces. All of this simmered until the scallops and fish cooked through, about 5-6 more min.

Serve with a nice piece of crusty French bread to soak up all of the goodness!