So, did you at least taste the seitan? What are starch noodles like? This is all fascinating, but details, please! Congratulations on the adventure!

They also have a YouTube channel that is good. Nice through site, especially the shopping hints and links. Kenji and others give them credit all the time.

I've made the starch/rice flour noodles. A slurry poured onto a fine mesh in a steamer basket. Some use the starch that settles, then add rice flour...yes, very interesting. Must be similar.

I've been making and keeping chili oil and chili crisp for a few years. At our local International market I had a few dozen brands of chili flake to choose from. Noticed a heat level index and chose one that was mild and one a bit hot. I like the mild so we can add heat by preference at the table.

Also enjoying your journey😀

Ok I made a few batches of a similar rice flour noodle a few years ago. They are both fairly neutral in flavor. I think it is more about texture and taking on the flavor of whatever sauce. I haven’t quite rigged up the right system for steaming them yet so I think they were a bit thick. They have a great soft springy chewy texture which goes great with crisp veggies. I make a quick crunchy onion/carrot/radish/ginger pickle often - so I had the noodles with the pickles, microgreens and a chili oil dressing. I use the chili oil often but used way too much last night. I think I am at the hottest part at the bottom of the bottle.

With the seitan I made my classic mistake of going off script and mish mashing several recipes - some flour based and some vwg/chickpea flour based. Which is just a terrible idea with a food type or recipe I am unfamiliar with - but I keep having to relearn that lesson. I ended up with small chunks of chewy seitan with a sort of chick pea gravy. The flavor was lovely and I ate a bit right away. I saved the rest to try in a stir fry.

I am enjoying this experiment so far. I am less interested in say recreating chicken than having an easy additional protein source. I am a hippie kid and I still loath carob - it is not chocolate.,

I've not made chili oil, but I might want to try it. However, I would want to use the chilies of my own choice and keep it rather simple and omit some aromatics (particularly star anise and cinnamon), except perhaps the garlic and black cardamom. I do have Sichuan peppercorns that I need to use, however, but I would want to make chili oil with dried cayenne or chile de arbol chilies. I grew and dried the cayenne myself, and I also have dried chocolate Habanero chilies, which I think might make good chili oil - I have not used any of them yet, but I plan to cook with them when (if it ever happens) I do not have other chilies to use.

I would be interested in seeing recipes for chili oils other than the Chinese versions, even though I have all the ingredients to make the Chinese versions. I buy garlic sesame chili oil at a Japanese market, and I keep it in the fridge, since it is made with sesame oil, and I use this frequently, but it is not very spicy. I don't think I've ever bought Chinese chili oil, although I've had it in restaurants. I'm not close to a Chinese neighborhood (Chinatown is at least half an hour away), and where I live Japanese markets are more common. There is also an Indonesian market fairly close, and even Koreatown is closer than Chinatown. Thai Town is closer than Koreatown. Anyway, it is easier for me to go to Japanese, Thai, Korean, and Indonesian markets than Chinese markets. The majority of Chinese markets are in Monterey Park, which is 35-50 minutes from here (depending on traffic). I've been there for dim sum, as it is much better in MP than in Chinatown. Some of the Japanese markets here are quite large, and some of the Korean markets are huge.

Later this month, I will be more bold about venturing out for more shopping, as my vaccination will be in full effect by March 22.

Hi Lars - I grow and use my own peppers. I dry some and have some fresh to make my take on this recipe. And I tend to use a mix of several pepper varieties. So I am not particularly authentic.

This is more of a spicy garlicky paste at least how I make it. And while it is technically a Chinese recipe I would consider it a bit more neutral than the next. I really like this.

https://thewoksoflife.com/homemade-chiu-chow-sauce/

Last year I made this one as well. I think I used it even more than the first. I really liked the aromatics more than I thought I would. It came out more as an oil with a layer that settles and needs to be stirred back in...

https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-make-chili-oil/

As far non-Chinese chili

oils - I haven’t really made any or bought any myself. I would be curious what you come up with...

I keep buying chilis to make enchilada sauce and then something happens... I should make a chili oil next time to salvage them. :)

Thanks for the reports!

Garbanzo beans are among the very lowest protein beans--they compensate with fat--so I don't know why people would use them to make seitan. I'd think the protein would be sticky enough on its own. I'm going to have to look this stuff up.

I totally get the alternative protein source. I can't eat fish, shouldn't eat seafood, don't care for non-charcuterie pork and eat too much cheese. Seitan is a good alternative. I really should get some, since I'm not brave enough to try to make it.

I have an idea for you what to do with your rice flour noodles.

First I have to try it out myself to see if it works.

Give me some time.

dcarch

This is from 2014. My hard copy has notes. One is to add a pinch of salt. The cup of rice can include quinoa, chia, lentils...any number of grains. Soaking overnight works best.

I suppose if you don't have enough starch, this would help.

LINK, Kway Teow. (includes a short video)

I should add that soaking seeds and beans like mung beans will wake up the endosperm and start the plant process. Digests easier. Going further than overnight, like 18-24 hours, just rinse them a few times. Cold water. Young micro greens even better. (add to the blender)

For some reason I like to give larger seeds/beans a head start cooking for 20 minutes in water. Not sure if it is necessary.

A steamer basket is not necessary. Any steamer will work as long as any pan sits flat inside. I have a square cake/brownie/lasagna pan that fits in my wok. The 4 corners sit in the wok far enough up the sides that does not affect cooking. Steaming is just 5-6 minutes depending how thick. I've done double thick...one layer, steam one minute, toss in some chives, add another layer....cut 1/4 inch and I get a square udon type noodle.

Agmss, I am going to start with this Chile de Arbol Salsa recipe and revise it slightly. At the end of the recipe, I will add sesame oil on top, and I will fry the garlic and chilies in grape seed oil - probably less than what the recipe calls for, and then make it up with sesame oil.

I think that chile de arbol is a good substitute for Korean chili flakes, which I have seen used in some other recipes. I will start with half a recipe, as I do not think I need to use a whole cup of oil.

Lara - I look forward to ‘seeing’ if not tasting your results. I generally like spicy food although I am considerably wimpier than my younger self. Right now I am still avoiding my chili oil. I really irritated my stomach last week. That rarely happens.

As soon as I get some seedling mix I need to start peppers. A friend who works at a local seed company gifted me a LOT of different chili seeds - unlike her husband or me she had no tolerance. I hope I have some old sweet pepper seeds as well.

This is not quite a year ago as I was switching from winter crops to spring.