Things you eat when you're alone - München Edition

I knew I would miss Asian food while being here. Not only because I don't know where to eat (and there's no Chinatown for me to follow my nose to what's *right*), but because recipes for making Asian food seems to result in quantities that need to be shared between Giant Asian Families or friend groups. However, the Italians ripped off a great Asian dish and happily converted it into one of the staples of meals for one. At some point during my day at work, I started thinking about what I had at home and how I could make it for dinner (okay, it might have been many points during my day at work). I also started thinking about how to make it more *Asian* to satisfy my cultural hunger. I settled on turning Pooey's Butter and Soy Pasta into something akin to Char Kway Teo.

Why didn't I just make myself char kway teo? Well for one, my place doesn't have a wok and I'll be damned if I go out and buy one due to the second reason. The second reason is that pretty much all European kitchens are kitted out with an electrical hotplate stove. The lack of flame licking at the pan means you don't get that slight burning and texture - aka Wok hei - and I think we can all agree that chaw kway teo is nothing without that slight burn on the noodle.

Knowing that I had spaghetti, butter, soy, onions, garlic, mushrooms (alas, not shiitake - better remedy that!), and chinese sausage at home, I decided to make a quick detour to an Asian grocery to get some bean shoots and springies for texure and to veggie it up. Then walking back home, I made a split second decision to go into Lidl and splurge on some frozen shrimp!

And here's how it ended up:

To quote Pooey, "It does look like Char Kway Teo!"

But it didn't really taste like char kway teo apart from the obvious deficiencies in noodle and wok use. It did however satisfy my desire for *Asian* flavours, which is all I can ask for until I get the urge to make roast duck for one.  I naturally made far too much for myself to eat in one sitting, so I did what char kway teo is also good for - eating the leftovers for lunch at work!