"Singapore" Curry Noodles

Today is Thanksgiving Day and I have been binge-watching Parts Unknown. My friend Nino just came back from his week-long adventure in Tokyo, and lately, there has been a lot of talks about travel among my friends. And I just couldn't help but think about where my place is. I have been uprooted from Manila in 2001 and I've been living in California ever since. For 15 years my family has been trying to establish a ground; grow new roots. But I don't think 15 years is sufficient enough to call this place home, especially when I learned that half of America want people who look like me, or darker, to go back to where we came from.

I have been thinking about my personal relationship and personal history with food as well. I am dumb in Philippine cuisine, and only learned very basic information about food from other cultures when I attended cooking school. And watching Anthony Bourdain talk to people who have been making regional, land-specific food for decades made me sulk over my knowledge and skills. Envy is an understatement.

Growing up in Los Angeles, I was exposed to several types of cuisines; I have countless vivid memories of bests and worsts and first-times... I had the best sushi from Urasawa - a two Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant that requires months in advance for reservations - I ate there without actually sitting in the restaurant (and paying for the meal). An old room mate used to work for free for Chef Hiroyuki, and he took home fresh fish and superb sushi rice as his wage. I went to Wat Thai Buddhist Temple in North Hollywood and exchanged my cash for tokens to get food at the stalls - papaya salad, pad Thai, mangoes and sticky rice, fritters dipped in several kinds of nam prik... One night I had dinner with a Mexican friend's family - there I ate pozole for the first time, then had coffee brewed with cinnamon right after. I had the fanciest 9-course meal at Providence - discounted because I worked there. My most memorable dish there: Santa Barbara spot prawns cooked table side, and custard cooked in the egg shell itself topped with uni, caviar and lobster paired with Taittinger bubbles. Meanwhile on the nights when I worked at Providence, I would drive to Leo's Tacos after my shift and order cabeza, lengua, and buche tacos, then drive to the nearest 7-11 and buy a six-pack of Victoria and just eat and drink in the parking lot. Samosa House is my go-to for vegetarian Punjabi and Gujarati food. I had (what I think is) the best godeungeo-mujorim when a group of Korean chefs visited my culinary school to promote their cuisine. Pho from Phorage. Khao Soi Gai from Night Market + Song. Laksa and Mee Goreng from Singapore's Banana Leaf. Otak Otak and Beef Rendang from Ramayani. Etc. Etc. Etc.

It is of no surprise then that my palate is highly confused - no mastery of taste and smell from a specific cuisine from a specific region, just dabbled in everything else. Which is why I ended up making a dish that is just as confused as my palate. Singapore Curry Noodles is apparently not at all Singaporean, it's Cantonese. I first encountered this dish when I was a little more ignorant - when I thought the dish was actually Singaporean - at this pan-Asian restaurant called Buddha's Belly. It is typically with rice vermicelli, stir-fried with shellfish and chicken with curry powder and chili. I wanted to make mine creamy and not stir-fried. So I made a thick sauce from caramelized onions, turmeric, toasted coriander seeds, Madras curry powder and coconut milk. This sauce, by the way, is also a good marinade for satay.

To make the sauce:

2 large onions, small dice
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
1/2 can of coconut milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Heat the coconut oil and the butter in a large sautoir on medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook slowly, stirring frequently. Caramelizing onions in this manner takes a while. It's important to not become impatient - do not turn the heat on high. Once the onions have become golden, or the halfway point to full caramelization, add the garlic and keep stirring frequently. Once you've hit the golden brown point, add in the turmeric, coriander and curry powder. Stir for about 30 seconds then pour in coconut milk. Cook until thick. Transfer to a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth. Set aside.

To make the noodles:

10-12 pieces of tiger shrimp, peeled and de-veined
10-12 pieces of New Zealand mussels, taken off the shells
5 large pieces of scallops, cut in half
1/2 teaspoon Madras curry powder
3 stalks green onion, cut into one-inch pieces
4-6 portions of egg noodles, cooked according to package directions
1 tablespoon kecap manis Indonesian sweet soy sauce
curry sauce (full recipe)
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable oil

Heat vegetable oil in a sautoir over medium heat. Add in all the shellfish and cook until shrimp starts turning pink, about 30 seconds. Add salt and pepper to taste then sprinkle curry powder. Stir until curry powder is well distributed and toss in the noodles. Stir to coat the noodles with the shellfish juices then pour in the curry sauce. Mix noodles using tongs until sauce is well incorporated, season with salt to taste. Add in the sweet soy sauce and green onions. Cook until green onions are slightly wilted. Serve hot. If the sauce gets too thick, loosen it a bit with a little coconut milk. This version is quite heavy, good for dinner. I know I wrote 4-6 portions of egg noodles but it can really feed 8.