Cooking with Vegemite, part 1: Bacon-vegetable stir-fry with noodles

I decided that I would make it a project this year to learn to cook with Vegemite, a food product peculiar to Australia.  Made from mixing the by-products beer-making with a lot of salt and vegetable extracts, it sounds as though it would not be very appetizing -- and it is an acquired taste.  It has the appearance and texture of Nutella, and so Americans often make the mistake of spreading it on like peanut butter, far too much!!  It is nutritious; with a lot of B vitamins, the combination of of a breakfast that includes a cup of coffee or tea along with toast and Vegemite probably has an effect similar to that of one of those 5-hour energy boost shots.

Australians do put it on toast, or make sandwiches -- but just as both Marmite and especially Bovril find other uses in the kitchen, it only makes sense that Vegemite could be used in the same way.  Indeed, there is a recipe from a Native school for a stew for the children that included a fair amount of Vegemite as seasoning.  And one can find several sites with recipes, so I am not flying totally blind.

So, here's the first one, a bacon-vegetable stir-fry with Ramen noodles:

Ingredients:

• 2-3 strips bacon
• carrot
• baby bok choy
• 1/4 cup peanuts
• 1 package Ramen noodles or other noodle (don't use seasoning)
• curry powder to taste
• 1 Tbsp Vegemite
• 1 pat butter (optional)

Procedure:

• Saute bacon until crisp.  Coarsely crumble and set aside.  Retain bacon fat in pan.  
• Stir-fry carrots and bok choy in same pan.  
• Add crumbled bacon and keep warm.  
• Cook noodles according to package directions.  
• Add noodles and about 1/4 cup of the cooking water to the stir-fry mixture; reduce heat somewhat.  
• Stir in the peanuts.
• Add Vegemite and curry powder, stir until smooth.  
• Top with a pat of butter and stir in to thicken the sauce a bit.  

What I made served me.

Critique:

• It was not bad, for a first attempt.  The dish was far less salty that I supposed it would be, considering it had bacon, Vegemite, and a pat of salted butter.  
• The butter was unnecessary.  The Vegemite thickened up nicely.  
• The sauce coated the vegetables well.  
• One could drain the bacon crumble and replace the bacon fat with a 'good' oil like olive or canola.  
• Ramen noodles were quick and convenient, but a heartier noodle would work better.  One could omit the noodles altogether and put this over rice.  
• I like curry powder, but this would be fine with a little garlic, ginger, something hot like a pepper, and perhaps some basal for a Thai overtone.  

So, we're off to a good start.

--Charlie J.