I was in the mood for something Thai or some sort of cold rolls & I happened to have some duck handy (this happens a lot in France). I searched online for Thai Duck salads and the general theory was that it should have chilli, fresh coriander, mint and some sort of tropical fruit. Well, I didn't quite have all that available. However, I did have this. This is a recipe for two (hungry) people. Sauce (made ahead in a small bowl): Coriander leaves (chopped) Mint leaves (chopped) Chilli (minced) (teaspoon) Honey (teaspoon) Sugar (teaspoon) Lemongrass (teaspoon) Fish sauce (not too much - unless you know what you're doing) Little bit of white wine Little bit of water The Salad: Cucumber Lettuce Carrot Plain noodles (boiled and drained) Duck breast (roasted) How to do it: Make the sauce ahead so all the flavours have a chance to blend. Nothing fancy, just chop the herbs and put everything in a small bowl. Stir to mix. Roast the duck while you make the noodles and salad. Roast the duck for about 20 mins at 180 degrees. Boil up some plain noodles for a few minutes and drain. Finely slice (into fingers) the cucumber, carrot and lettuce. If you want, put a little oil on the noodles so that the noodles don't stick together. If you like, mix noodles and salad in a bowl. Put the noodles and salad on plates and drizzle with some (but not all) of the sauce. Carefully cut the skin off the duck (and keep roasting the skin a little longer for crunchy snacks later!). Slice the duck and rest on top of the salad and noodles. Top with the rest of the sauce. Notes: Essentially this recipe is half way between larp and inside-out cold rolls. Doesn't matter what you call it - it's tasty. :) I only had a jar of lemongrass, but since it's not being cooked that might be the best option. I also only had dried coriander and it worked okay. Fresh would definitely be better. Fresh chilli could be nice, but the minced chilli flavoured the sauce really well. Maybe a little of each? I really would have liked to try a little mango or pineapple in this. Some red capsicum would be a nice addition too. I didn't pre-mix the noodles and salad, but I think it might be a good idea to stop the noodles sticking together.

Rice may be China's most important staple food, but noodles are often served as a single-dish meal for lunch, or as part of a multicourse dinner. In the northern regions, where wheat is grown, noodles play an important role. They often replace rice in a meal. Hand-pulled noodles, called ''la mian" in Chinese, originated in Lanzhou, a city in northwest China. The technique of hand-pulling soon spread to other parts of China. There are other ways to prepare fresh noodles, including slicing sheets of dough, but hand-pulling is an advanced technique that requires years of intensive training. Zhang says he learned how to ''coax the dough when the air is too wet or dry." He does all his work in a galley-size space in the front of the restaurant, where there are two counters and a large pot of boiling water on a burner. To make a fresh batch of noodles, the noodle master starts with a lump of wheat flour dough about the size of a loaf of bread. He kneads the dough for a few moments to make it pliable, then pats flour on the dough to prevent it from sticking when he twists. Next, he pulls it out to arm's length, then folds the dough and pulls again and again. The noodles multiply and become thinner with each fold and pull; a theatric swing -- in which the noodles are tossed in the air -- keeps them twisted. As many as 4,000 strands can be made from a lump of dough. As orders come in, Zhang dunks handfuls of uncut fresh noodles into the boiling water and cooks them for three to five minutes. In large soup bowls, he adds broth to the noodles, along with vegetables, and roast duck, pork, beef brisket, or other meats. For diners new to fresh noodles, the long strands seem endless and require some patience. The noodles might also appear in a fried dish, in which case they are tossed in a wok in the back kitchen and returned with chicken, seafood, or vegetables on top.