Wok with Froggie

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Ever since she saw the episode of Wok with Nana where Nana was making her Taiwanese beef noodles, our Resident Froggie's been asking me about sourcing the proper noodles for it. On my last trip back to Taipei, mom was kind enough to buy a bunch of hand-pulled noodles (拉麵) for me to bring back to Hong Kong.  I think Froggie was pretty happy.

In return, I was invited to a "Wok with Froggie" lunch today where she tried to follow Nana's recipe for the beef noodles.  Coincidentally, I got to try Nana's stewed beef shank at her Teakha session yesterday.  It's not a very traditional recipe, and was a little on the sweet side, but I happily munched on the delicious beef.

We nibbled on some jamón ibérico, which were deliciously fatty while the lean meat retained a good amount of bite.  There was also some lovely aged Manchego.  Yum yum...

2006 Domaine A Pinot Noir - nose of grilled meats, mint and kinda alcoholic. Sweet on the palate, and worked well with the cheese and jamón.

Moving on to the main event... this was very different from what I expected.  The noodles were portioned and dropped into our bowls, then Froggie brought out two big pots instead of one.

The beef shank, tomatoes and onions were made into a "wet" stew with plenty of sauce.  This was spooned on top of the noodles first. Then Froggie spooned the milky-white oxtail soup into my bowl, which mixed with the stew sauce and combined to make the soup of the noodle soup.

I have to say that Froggie did a pretty good job, as this tasted a lot like what I had yesterday from Nana.  I don't mind the sweetness one bit, and I happily slurped away.  I do think, though, that Froggie gave me a wee bit too much in terms of noodles, as I could barely move after finishing my bowl...

In the middle of the afternoon and after a few hours of digestion, more guests arrived at the Froggie Residence just in time for dessert... and more alcohol.

Knowing full well what was for dessert today, I took the opportunity to order the same item at La Crêperie yesterday.  Froggie seems to have the same issue of uneven baking temperature with her oven this time, so her far Breton didn't look as pretty as she expected.  It was very yummy, though...  The texture was a little more creamy and gooey compared to the one at La Crêperie, and it wasn't stuffed full of prunes.  The browned edged reminded me of my favorite canelés...

One must have the right drink to go with something like far, and what could be better than some cidre doux from Val de Rance?  When we ran out of cider, it was time to raid the wine fridge again...

2009 Boekenhoutskloof The Chocolate Block - I've never had this wine and was kinda blown away by it. An eclectic mix of Syrah, Grenache, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cinsault and Viognier. The nose reminds me of Côte-Rôtie thanks to the Syrah plus Viognier. Smoky, grilled meats, alcoholic, floral, sweet and yes, chocolate! Very nice!

Many thanks to Resident Froggie for feeding me, and for a lovely Sunday.