Monday, April 23, 2012

GTTC: asparagus and soba noodles in XO sauce

Welcome to Week 3 of the Garden to Table Challenge!!


This week's GTTC entry was super freaking yummy. First I made a big batch of a classic Hong Kong style XO sauce - (dried scallops, dried shrimp, country ham, last fall's ground red chili peppers, garlic, ginger, shallots, oil - all cooked down slowly till golden and fragrant, then seasoned with a dash of sugar). It's an expensive and delicious condiment that adds a slightly spicy umami flavor to any food. For lunch, I simply sauteed the asparagus, and then added the cooked soba noodles with a generous spoonful of XO sauce. I made this using my purple asparagus - which is foolproof for cooking with - when they turn green, they're done!

This week, Liz from Suburban Tomato has won the second of four sets of Chinese vegetable seeds. Liz, please email me with your mailing address. I've got 2 more "starter packs" left to send out in the next 2 weeks. See here for more details about the GTTC. See you for the next GTTC every Monday!

9 comments:

  1. That looks very delicious indeed. Thanks for recipe for XO sauce. I've been searching for bottled XO sauce at the stores but still can't it yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. XO sauce sounds delicious!! Your quick lunch also looks good!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Woo hoo, I did asparagus, too! Mine is way simpler and plainer though... and cheaper. LOL Would love to try xo sauce sometime, the ingredients sound delish.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have asparagus in your garden? WOw!
    Delicious meal!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow - thats exciting about the seeds - thankyou. I'll drop you an email - I completely forgot to put my link up earlier than today but better late than never I guess. Your dish looks lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wendy, I just had a quick look and our quarantine laws mean you can't send seeds to Australia - a shame as I would have loved them but oh well. Another opportunity for your other readers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Homemade XO sauce - cool! I've seen it in the grocery stores, but I always thought it was something like ketchup or hoisin sauce, meaning I thought not many people make it at home.

    ReplyDelete
  8. seems legit.. I like soba noodles, but I never ate them with asparagus.. maybe I'll just try that..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wendy that meal looks fabulous! I can see you're still in your element, even though I've been away. :) Hope all is well.

    ReplyDelete

My awesome gardening friends...thanks for leaving a comment! I don't typically repond here, but I love knowing who you are so I can visit your blog as well.

btw - if you're trying to show me nude Miley Cyrus photos, sell me nikes or viagra or antibiotics, or encourage my lovely garden readers to visit your site on solar panel construction, or seo-whatevers, sorry, but I'm not publishing your comment. If you want to moderate my blog - well, I can't keep you too busy, and the pay would be horrible. And lastly, no. I'm not interested in Club Penguin cheat codes. Thanks anyway.

Related Posts with Thumbnails