Restaurant Review: Mulan, Leeds, UK

Its location on the 1st floor next door to the Crown Buffet is perhaps a little more exclusive than you imagine they would prefer. Being that once you have scaled the flight of stairs you are faced with a bell you must ring to enter only heightens the expectations you have for the delights found inside and the feeling that you are experiencing something new. Having only been open for 2-3 months very few people outside the Chinese population of Leeds know about this place. This is confirmed to me from the fact that I'm the only western face in the room.

Mulan is an extension to the oriental food academy(http://www.academyoforientalcuisine.co.uk/) that has been running here since 1995. Providing NVQ's for budding chefs and ensuring licensing laws are adhered for all who attend this establishment they really have been bringing about quality in a corner of the industry which may have been falling short in the past.

Where this restaurant really sets itself apart though is in its promise of freshly made dragging noodles on the menu. A quiet word with those on the front and they will happily open the display window to the kitchen for the chef to do a quick demonstration of the preparation of noodles. The speed at which a lump of dough is transformed into 4 different recognisable shapes of noodles is incredible and its here that you realise the ingenuity and the skills required to truly master oriental cuisine.


My partner and I ordered Beef la mian (swinging noodles) and Chicken dao xiao mian (flat knife noodles). Both dishes came as soupy dishes, a reflection of the Northern Chinese cuisine this food originates from. The flavours were complementary mostly of the meat accompanying the dishes but the real treat was the noodles themselves. It's a refreshing change to the standard dry stuff us Brits are used to. Its almost like having your eyes opened for the first time tasting freshly made noodles. Moreish is an understatement.


What Mulan really offers is an experience that you can't find elsewhere in Leeds. It's the combination of the delicious food, the personal service, the visual expertise of the chefs on hand and the insight into Northern Chinese food. One thing is for sure is that I'm going back to try another flavour of noodles.

Tom Yum Tiger Prawns

Tom Yum paste is traditionally used as a base for a spicy, thin Thai soup. We found we had some left (about a teaspoon's worth) and decided to experiment with using it in a stir fry.

Ingredients
20 Tiger Prawns (with the skins but without heads)
1 carrot (thinly sliced)
1 leek (1 to 2cm chunks)
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp finely chopped ginger
1 green chilli (chopped)
75g green beans (halved)
1 tsp Tom Yum paste
1/4 cup water
2 tsps dark soy sauce
2-3 portions of vermicelli
olive oil (splash of)

Step 1
Cook the vermicelli and set aside.

Step 2
Heat the olive oil in a large wok/frying pan. Fry the garlic, chilli and ginger until the garlic just starts to turn brown (less than 30 seconds). Then add the rest of the vegetables (green beans, carrots & leeks) and continue to fry for another 3-4 minutes.

Step 3
Add the prawns and 1/4 cup of water (if the prawns are frozen there is no need to add the extra water). Fry the prawns until they are pink all over and then add the Tom Yum paste. If the pan seems a little dry at this point add some more water, if not don't worry. Stir the paste in thoroughly.

Step 4
Once all ingredients are cooked through take the vermicelli noodles set aside earlier and add to the wok. Mix noodles in thoroughly and add the dark soy sauce.

Serve.

Deep Fried Aubergines and Noodles

This is the perfect vegetarian recipe to use with the homemade noodles below.

Ingredients
Large handful of homemade noodles
1 aubergine (eggplant) chopped into large (3cm square) chunks
water (enough to just cover the noodles.)
3 spring onions chopped
Vegetable oil for deep frying.

Seasoning:
Light soy sauce (3 tsp)
Dark soy sauce (3 tsp)
chinese vinegar (1 tsp)
sugar (1 tsp)
chicken powder (1 tsp)
salt & pepper (to taste)
chilli powder (1 tsp or less)
sesame oil (1 tsp)


Step 1
In a small pan (or deep fat fryer) heat the vegetable oil until hot. Then deep fry the aubergine chunks until lightly browned. Its best to do them in batches and setting them aside when done on some kitchen towel to soak up some of the oil.


Step 2
In a small bowl mix all the seasoning together and add the spring onions. Set aside to marinate for a short while.

Step 3
In a large pan or wok heat the water until boiling then add the noodles. Boil for 2 minutes. Then add the aubergine, boil for a further 3 minutes.


Step 4
When the noodles are cooked add in the marinade mix together and serve immediately.

Homemade Noodles

Here's a little recipe to help you make noodles from scratch. By just adding an egg in at the start you can use this same recipe to make pasta. But today we make noodles.
Ingredients
1kg plain flour
water
salt & pepper

Step 1
In a suitably large bowl put most of the bag of flour into it. Save some for dusting the table and dough later on. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Then start adding water bit by bit and mixing and kneading the flour and water together. Keep adding the water but stop just before it turns sticky then. Carry on kneading the dough in the bowl and add a sprinkle more flour. The ideal ball of dough will be quite dry.

Step 2
Dust a dry, flat table with flour and place the ball of dough on it. Carry on kneading the dough for another 3-5 minutes. When you are happy with the dough you can get your rolling pin out and start flattening it. As you are rolling the dough keep turning it over and changing your direction. When it starts getting thinner you can stretch the dough by hand making sure not to rip it. Your aim is to make a 'roughly' squarish flat dough about 1-2mm thick.

Step 3
Dust the dough again on BOTH sides with flour. This will help you later when you're separating the noodles. Then carefully lift the dough and fold it on top of each other in a concertina effect. Making each fold about 10-15cm wide. Carry on until the dough is stacked neatly.

Step 4
Take a sharp knife, place a chopping board underneath the dough and start cutting 1cm strips from the dough perpendicular to the fold. Every ten or so slices lift the noodles and shake them through your fingers to separate them. Its at this point that you will be glad of dusting both sides of the flat dough earlier. If you don't dust well enough its a complete nightmare separating the noodles - trust me. Anyway, carry on cutting noodles until they are all completely separated.

Voila. Homemade noodles ready for cooking. Recipe to follow. If you have too many to cook in one sitting don't worry. Simply spread the out on a plate and place freeze them. They'll keep for a while.