12 ounces udon noodles
1 medium leek, sliced
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups chicken broth
4 eggs
water

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the noodles. Return to a boil and cook until nearly done. Drain and rinse under cold water to prevent further cooking.
3. Meanwhile, combine half the sliced leek, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sugar and chicken broth in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce slightly.
4. Toss cooked noodles with remaining leek and divide into 4 oven proof bowls. Pour prepared broth over top.
5. Crack an egg into the center of each individual bowls and bake until the egg just sets, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings

1 pound green beans, trimmed
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger puree
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
water

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and steam green beans until bright green and still crisp. Run under cold water to prevent further cooking.
2. Meanwhile, heat sesame and vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant and golden.
3. Raise heat to high and add the beans, red pepper flakes and soy sauce to the skillet. Stir-fry until coated in the sauce, then transfer to a serving dish and garnish with sesame seeds.

Makes 4 servings

Some dishes are just as much about their looks as they are about flavor. I assume that food that doesn't look good isn't going to taste good, and vice versa. It's funny to me that I chose this recipe for Full Moon Udon knowing full well that I don't own the proper cookware to make it live up to its name. The dish is supposed to be prepared and placed in a round oven proof bowl that is baked just long enough to set the egg. I made it in a square baking dish. It's just not the same, but I wanted to make it anyway.

The only part that makes this dish special is the presentation. The full moon effect does not work in a spaced out square of noodles. It has to be round. The sauce is a basic blend of soy sauce and chicken stock and there is little substance with just the noodles and leeks. It is a basic, sort of bland noodle dish. Of course this matters little to me because I drowned it in rooster sauce.

To go along with it I made Green Beans with Sesame Sauce. This lacked a little bit of punch, which I think could have been easily remedied with a bit more ginger and some sort of thickener. Other than that, these were good both hot and cold and make a decent snack. They also helped to add some textural contrast to the noodles and helped to liven them up a bit since I had to stir in the egg yolk when transferring the noodles to a bowl. I'm willing to give this one another shot once I get some earthenware dishes and with a recipe with a bit more pizazz, or whatever the Chinese word for pizazz might be. Zng?