We took a trip to the Asian shop at Wittenbergplatz in hopes of finding Bhutanese red rice for a recipe we had been wanting to make. Unfortunately, however, it seems that Bhutanese red rice just doesn’t want to be found anywhere in Berlin. Instead, we resorted to something else with an Asian palette.
Based on the ingredients on hand, the only real necessity was getting soba noodles, which are a weird consistency but totally delicious. I also bought a bottle of hoison sauce and it was my very first time cooking with it, and eating it as far as I know.
This meal came together surprisingly easily, but the taste? I really liked the idea of Lettuce Wraps with Hoisin-Mustard Tofu (page 153), and even though I used romaine instead of iceberg lettuce, the problem was with the aforementioned hoison sauce. I guess I wasn’t prepared for it, but it was way too salty. Neither of us were crazy about it, to be honest.
On the other hand, the Ginger Bok Choy & Soba (page 176) was quite nice. I wouldn’t say it is something I loved, but the flavors were good and subtle, and the soba noodles were definitely weird but fun.
All in all, this meal didn’t strike either of us as something we would make again, although maybe altering the flavors a bit could be worth the while.
Made: February 8, 2013