Passport & Plate - Mines Frites de l'île Maurice
Mauritius | Monday, February 24, 2014 | 5 photos
Ingredients
• 200 grams of fresh egg noodles
• 1 chicken breast
• 100 grams of peeled shrimps
• 1/8 cabbage
• 1 carrot
• 2 eggs
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 bunch of spring onion
• 4 tablespoon of oil
• 4 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
How to prepare this recipe1. First of all, I boil water in a pot and add a little bit of salt. I put noodles inside, cook them for 5 minutes, then, drain and rinse under cold water.
2. I wash shrimps, marinate them with 1 crushed garlic, salt and pepper.
3. Now it’s time to wash and cut the chicken into long thin strips and marinate them with salt and pepper.
4. I crack the eggs in a bowl, add salt and beat them very well.
5. I heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pot and then add the eggs, cook for 2 minutes on one side and turn on the other side. The best option is to choose a wok but since I didn’t have it, I took a pot which shape resembles the shape of wok.
6. When the omelette becomes cool, I take it out of the pot and cut into long thin stripes.
7. In this pot I put 2 tablespoons of oil and stir fry the chicken until it ready. Then I take the chicken out.
8. Finally, I put 1 tablespoon of oil and then shrimps in the pot for 3 minutes.
9. I shred cabbage – prefer not too small pieces but it depends on taste.
10. I cut a carrot into juliens.
11. Almost ready! I carefully put egg noodles to the shrimps in the pot, then add the chicken, cabbage, carrot, omelette and the remaining garlic which I have pounded before, and mix the ingredients.
12. The last step is to cut spring onion and add it to the dish together with 4 tablespoons of dark soy sauce. Bon Appétit!
The story behind this recipeIn summer 2013 I got a serious trauma. After 2 months of recovering, I realized that I needed to bring some bright colours and emotions to my life. That is why when I knew that I had been selected to represent my country in the International Youth Forum (IYF) in Mauritius, I was extremely happy to take up this challenge. After over 8594 kilometres of flight, I found myself on a beautiful island in the heart of Indian Ocean.
To be honest, I have never experienced such a broad mix of cultures before: in traditions, languages, and, of course, cuisine, since it has been influenced by Creole, European, Indian and Chinese cultures. The first dish I tried was a taste sensation, and the name of this sensation was Mines Frites de l'île Maurice. If you manage to imagine golden sun rays and light breeze with the smell of fresh vegetables and Eastern spices in the air served on a plate, you will be close to understanding the taste of this food masterpiece.
Although Mines Frites de l'île Maurice was really delicious, I wouldn't remember it so well if something unpredictable hadn't happened. I got much more bright colours and emotions than expected: I met my love. While I was a delegate, my future boyfriend worked as an official photographer of the Forum. Since I am also interested in photography, we started to talk about it during the breaks between IYF's sessions. The more time passed, the more we realized that art was not the only thing which attracted us in each other. Maybe it sounds unbelievable but the short period of time (2 weeks) was enough for two people from different parts of the world to understand that they want to be together in the future. It has been about 5 months since we saw each other for the first and last time. This summer we plan to move to India in order we will never have to say goodbye again.
When I discovered that the favourite dish of my boyfriend is Mines Frites, it left me with no choice: today this receipt occupies a special place in my menu.
