Umtendwe Beach Cottages, situated 1 hour from East London between Haga Haga and Double Mouth…. at Black Rock….

I cannot recall how we found this spot but it is a real gem. Black Rock consists of 5 houses on the beach, in a Private Nature Reserve one hour from East London, a bit of a bad gravel road, especially after the rain and with roads knee deep full of mud, but that was soon forgotten, it ensures that you go in and only come out once you are ready to go home, so pack and plan well as the shops are FAR away…..

One of the privately owned, holiday rental houses at Black Rock is called Umtendwe Beach Cottages, it consists out of two fully furnished and well equiped units that opens up in one unit if needed. With six on-suite bedrooms and two fully equipped kitchens it was the ideal place for four families to have a little bit of a winter holiday break.

We took turns cooking for all 15 of us during our five day stay, and I made Peanut Noodles for one of my Lunch turns.

For the Peanut Noodles you will need:(recipe for 4 portions)
4 free range chicken breast fillets – I use Elgin Freerange
6 cups of chicken stock – I use Ina Paarman chicken stock powder
200g (1 packet) of egg noodles – the red packet at Spar in the Chinese section
2 carrots, finely sliced
1/2 cucumber finely sliced
1/2 lettuce finely sliced
2 handfull’s of salted peanuts
2 x sprinkles of chilli flakes

For the dressing:
3/4 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup of sesame oil (a must)
1 tablespoon soya
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
One cup of the chicken stock used for poaching the chicken

The method of the Peanut Noodles is a bit strange, but it works and ensures really soft and tasty chicken fillets.

Bring 6 cups of chicken stock to the boil in a big saucepan.
Slice each chicken fillet in 5 flat smaller pieces.
Slide the cut chicken fillets into the boiling stock, make sure they are completely covered by the stock, bring back to the boil and immediately remove the saucepan from the heat, cover with a tight fitting lid and leave to cool for about 1 hour, keeping the lid on.

Make the peanut sauce by mixing together the peanut butter, sesame oil, soya sauce, honey and rice wine vinegar.

The Sesame oil and Rice wine vinegar is a must, it lasts for very long in your cupboard so please don’t attempt the recipe without these very important ingredients, believe me, once you’ve tasted these noodles you will make it quite often….

After poaching the chicken in the hot stock for about an hour, gently lift the chicken from the stock, but KEEP THE STOCK.

I usually slice the chicken pieces even smaller at this stage. Add ONE cup of the chicken stock to the peanut sauce to get a more liquid consistency. Bring the chicken stock to the boil once again and add the egg noodles, cook for about 5 minutes till “al dente” and drain.

Add the chicken pieces to the cooked noodles and mix with the peanut sauce.

Sprinkle with chilli flakes, even just a little bit if you don’t like chilli, it really works with the sweet peanut sauce.

Serve on a flat platter and add the thinly sliced carrots, cucumber and chopped salted peanuts….

These noodles works very well as leftovers for lunch the next day, also ideal for a packed picnic.

LAZY DAYS AT BLACK ROCK…

The last day, always a bit of a low point on any holiday….. we’ve decided to walk up the small riverbed next the Umtendwe Beach Cottages, looking for a picnic spot to braai the steak for our steak rolls, a very rocky riverbed with overgrown forest on both sides, carrying the braai, coolerboxes and chairs, well the riverbed just had to do for our braai….

I can really recommend Umtendwe Beach Cottages for a family and friends getaway, it is a bit of a “pack and plan” but really worth the relaxed atmosphere and close to nature holiday break…. we will return of Black Rock, with good friends for days filled with cooking and laughing….

1. Peanut noodles RECIPE CARD

(Double click on the above RECIPE CARD to open the short printable recipe, only available on MS Word)