Chicken And Shrimp Yakisoba

 

Song:  Ivo

Group:  Cocteau Twins

I made a very large dish of Chicken and Shrimp Yakisoba

because I like to batch cook... 

as I can then eat many meals without having to cook each one separately.

I used 4.5 lbs of Chicken

4 lbs of shrimp

12 servings of Yakisoba noodles and sauce packets

For me...

as I love to eat...

I can get a good 4 meals out of this one cooking session.

I had first defrosted the chicken.

I then began boiling water in the steamer.

I soon realized that I would need another 3 pack of Yakisoba for this dish.

I had set aside the shrimp in preparation to defrost them.

Once the steamer was ready...

I loaded in all of the chicken.

I then began defrosting the shrimp right in its own packaging

by putting in hot water.

I also began rehydrating a bunch of green onions.

This is the last bag of my dehydrated green onions.

I had dehydrated 30 bunches of green onions last year.

I will soon have to buy many more bunches of green onions so I may dehydrate

a large batch to last me another year.

After the shrimp were defrosted...

I de-tailed them.

I then added some sesame oil to the shrimp in a wok and began searing them as the chicken steamed.

After a little while...

the chicken was ready.

I transferred them to a large mixing bowl to cool down 

before I hand shredded them.

When cooking shrimp that had been freshly defrosted...

a lot of water gathers in the wok while being cooked...

so...

halfway through the cooking process...

I drain the shrimp and then continue cooking them.

I shredded the chicken over the shrimp...

and I then divided them into two woks and cooked them a bit.

After some light searing...

I then placed the contents of both woks into the large mixing bowl...

as I would need both woks to cook up the noodles.

I then began the noodle cooking process.

Now...

I made one mistake.

I should have waited to add the sauce until after I added the meat...

as it would have more deeply flavored the shrimp and chicken.

After adding the meat to each wok...

I fried up the whole mixture for a bit.

I had plated my serving in preparation to put on the toppings of Nori and green onions.

I love Nori and green onion toppings on many of my Japanese dishes.

This is a delicious and hearty meal...

and when made in large batches...

it can feed a large family...

or just one person with a large appetite for another 3-4 meals.  :)

This was the leftovers for my subsequent meals...

which I then placed into the fridge.

It will easily keep for several days.

It warms up easily...

but remember to not place on the toppings until after the main dish had been reheated.

---------------

After having eaten my fill...

I just felt so satisfied that I got sleepy and took a nap.

I didn't wake up until almost 10 PM.

---------------

Tomorrow...

I will most probably go into Woodland Park to do some bulk shopping at Walmart.

They have my favorite brand of live bacillus sauerkraut there

(I ran out a few days ago).

I hope to bulk buy enough to last me at least another six months...

and hopefully more.

They don't always have enough in stock...

so I may have to buy more over several trips.

I also wish to secure at least 50 bunches of green onions to dehydrate...

but I don't think they will have that many there.

I will most likely have to revisit the Asian market to get that many bunches 

of green onions all at once.

If so...

it can wait for a while.

But...

when I do go back to the Asian market...

 on the way there...

I plan to visit that Middle Eastern restaurant near the noodle place I had gone to last time...

 Heart of Jerusalem.

  -----------

Food plays such a large part in life satisfaction.

It is one of the great daily carrots that adds so much to daily enjoyment.

Your appetite should be something that gives a feeling of gnawing anticipation...

a fundamental drive in life that demands nothing less from you

than that of a tiger on the stalk

(my appetite is finally returning).

To devour each meal...

to tear into and wolf down your food...

to feel your body heat up as you stoke the great fires within with each bite...

this is to truly eat...

and so...

to truly live.

Always remember...

all of life is about the artful buildup of anticipation...

and the masterful release of it

(in the short term as well as in the long).

This is one of the main reasons I eat but once a day.

I want the desire to build in anticipation of its great satisfaction.

I want each meal to send a continuing surge of energy through my body

as the food digests...

and for me to relive that first bite through the ultimate satisfaction of a full belly...

with a then quieted soul which revels in lingering serenity...

until the desire once again...

awakens.

To live each day in great anticipation of what is to come

by doing without until the right time comes...

applies to eating as well as it does to life itself.

Just as you make your sacrifice throughout the day until your meal...

so must you make your early sacrifices in life until your retirement.

The greater your daily sacrifice...

as is so with your early life sacrifices...

the greater your satisfaction in your meal...

and so, in your retirement...

as well as the serenity felt in the aftermath of both.

For meals...

it is for but a day.

But for retirement...

it is for the rest of your life.

This is not only the cycle of the appetite...

but the cycle of life.

----------

It has been over three months since I had first gotten ill.

While I had been ill many times in life before...

never before did I lose my appetite for so long.

Only when I no longer felt like eating at all did I realize that 

my situation had become serious enough to see a doctor.

I was little more than a zombie...

for without an appetite...

I had no energy...

and so...

I mostly stayed in bed.

I feel so much better now...

as my appetite has been steadily improving.

My inner tiger is now licking his muzzle in great anticipation

of his next meal once again.  :)

Although it is now just after midnight...

I am already thinking of eating some Gyros at Arby's on my way to Walmart 

later today after I awaken.

Mmm...

I can just taste them now  :)