Trying to get wasted on drunken noodles ...

Pad Kee Mao.

Three magic words that can make me skip around in circles. Easily my favourite Thai food, I'm pretty much the informal PKM taster of the city. In fact, there are so many joints that dish up a killer PKM that I've hardly felt the need for attempting a recreation at home.

Until today. We had this hankering for chef-fin' it out. We wanted to be the masters of our own Pad Kee Mao destiny. For some reason, hitting Typhoon or Thin Pan just did not seem enough. So, we embarked on this PKM journey. It was our first time working with those crazy wide rice noodles. When we first saw this dense package in the refrigerated section of Uwajimaya, we weren't quite sure if that was what we wanted - where were the ribbons or pieces of noodles? This just looked like a giant brick! Well, guess we'd have to figure it out. We loaded up on thai basil, a slew of vegetables and sauces and got to work! :)

The insanely delicious drunken noodles is a multi-step dish - with a fascinating assortment of sauces and spice - tamari, soy sauce, oyster sauce, white soy sauce (or fish sauce), red chillies, thai bird chillies, the list goes on!

So, we have to talk about our pitfalls upfront here. For some bizarre reason, we decided to try some additional seasoning here and went for a spoon of chili bean paste. *bad* idea. Don't even try it. I mean, this might work well with other szechuan dishes, but it is not a thai flavour by any means. And the bean bits add a weird flavour to drunken noodles. So, don't do it. Don't.

(Which is why I've excluded it from the recipe.)

Pad Kee Mao
*hic*

Servings: 4

7-8 oz wide rice noodles (sen-yai)
1/2 cup firm tofu - cubed
3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 small onion - sliced long
3 T white rice vinegar
3 T white soy sauce (See-yew Khaaw)
4 T palm sugar
3 T lime juice
2 T tamari
4-5 T vegetarian oyster sauce
2 T ground dried red chillies
2 green jalapenos - finely chopped
1 small thai chilli - chopped (Prik Kee Nuu Suan)
7-8 broccoli florets
7-8 cauliflower florets
2 small carrots - sliced
1 tomato - cut into eighths
1 baby bok choy - chopped
1 cup fresh thai basil leaves
2 T peanut oil
1/2 cup egg whites

Soak sen-yai noodles in water for 15 mins. Place soaking sen-yai noodles on the stove and bring to very slow boil, removing the sen-yai noodles while they are still firm (after about 10 minutes). Drain with cold water and set aside.

Spray the tofu chunks with oil spray and stick them under a broiler till browned.

Blanch the broccoli, cauliflower and carrots in a pot of boiling water for 3-4 minutes till al dente.

Heat the oil in a wok and saute the garlic till it starts to brown.
Throw in the onions along with the jalapenos and saute briefly.
Add the scrambled egg whites and saute a bit longer.
Now throw in the rice vinegar, dried chillies, lime juice, sugar and white soy sauce
Turn the heat to high and let the sauce thicken.
Once the sauce reduces, add the thai basil leaves along with bok choy, oyster sauce and tamari.
Saute for a couple more minutes before adding the blanched vegetables.
Add the cooked noodles and tofu and saute for 4-5 minutes on medium heat. Keep tossing the ingredients to mix the sauce completely with the noodles and vegetables.

Top with the tomatoes and cilantro before serving. Maybe even garnish with sliced green onions or chopped garlic or jalapenos.


Opinion?

*mediocre*. Firstly, we killed the drunken high by adding that damn chili bean paste. That was a serious mistake. It'll never happen again! But the main issue here was that we're so damn stuffed from the flu that plagued us for the past week that our sense of smell is still on vacation. And that in turn is still greatly hampering our taste buds. *grr*. Even a nice dose of spicy thai chillies couldn't quite fix it! Another thing we did, as odd as it may sound - we used too many vegetables! Next time around, we're only going with broccoli and some carrots, no cauliflower - that's a bit of an overkill in our PKM.

So, we didn't end up being the Iron Chef of PKM. We barely got drunk on our noodles! But we learned our lessons. And the PKM flame burns bright now - we're itching to try it again :)

Some more noodlin'

This pic goes to Bee & Jai of Jugalbandi for Click!

Details:
Camera: Nikon D70
Lens: Nikon AF 28-105mm

It has been a while since I cooked noodles of any kind - some sort of (bad) record given how much I love wheat in general - noodles, pasta, rotis, upma ... mmm! They all make me quite happy :) Everytime I read about diets, especially those carb-phobic ones like Atkins and South Beach - I cringe in pain. How can life exist without wheat? I could live without rice, but without wheat?! I would probably shrivel and die, my cells would wilt in despair. Hmm ... I'm getting a little insecure now - maybe I should be making some rotis right away so I know that tomorrow will be a wheat day! :)

So, why am I on this triticum eulogy? It all started when I realized last night that I hadn't Clicked yet. Eeek! One of the coolest events of the food blogosphere and I hadn't gotten in on yet. I decided cook and click and eat wheat - could life get any better? :)

(Noodles cobweb - should this be a Click submission?)

I had just returned from a successful PCC trip, armed with a fabulous brussel sprouts tree - don't you love those? It is such a cathartic experience plucking those sprouts off the branch. I'm a cabbage freak, so I can easily get excited about these mini-cabbage-like vegetables. After poking through a few cookbooks, I hit jackpot with this simple, yet elegant brussel sprouts stir-fry recipe from an all-time favorite The Complete Encyclopedia of Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking - not a great vegan cookbook, but definitely close to the Moosewood and Field of Greens cookbooks in terms of diversity of recipes.

I upped the zing in the recipe by adding quite a bit of ginger, used onions instead of leeks and added spicy marinated tofu to rework this recipe with noodles.

Noodles dressed up with Brussel Sprouts Stir Fry
and ginger, almonds and onions too!

Servings: 4

8 oz Whole wheat egg noodles
12-14 brussel sprouts - cut into 1/3" wide slices
1 small red onion - sliced long
a handful of slivered almonds
1.5" ginger
1 T peanut oil
salt
8 oz extra firm tofu

Marinade:
1 T sambal oelek (I made this, but you can get it at any asian store)
2 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
1/2 t safflower oil

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Mix the marinade in a baking pan (maybe a loaf pan).
Dice up the tofu and soak the bits in the marinade.
Stick the baking pan in the oven for about 12-15 minutes (the tofu should start browning about now).
Cook the noodles per instructions - typically 4-5 minutes in water heated to a roiling boil.
Heat the peanut oil in a wok and saute the onions and almonds.
Add the minced ginger and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
Now add the brussel sprouts and saute for a few more minutes.
Add about 2/3 cup of water or vegetable stock - I just used the water left from cooking the noodles - starchy, but good!
Cook partially covered with occasional stirring for about 6-8 minutes.
Add a dash of soy sauce, salt to taste and some red pepper flakes.
Add the tofu and saute for another minute.
Take off the stove and toss the veggies with the noodles before serving.

Opinion?

*really* good.

A few years ago, I took on the challenge of trying to cook brussel sprouts for a couple of brussel-haters. Well, I succeeded - they ate what I cooked and liked it to boot, but always insisted that I had taken the BS flavor out of it - I had reworked the sprouts to act as mere carriers for the spices, which is what made them eat it all :)

Well, this time - the brussel sprouts kept their identity. And yet, they tasted good. And gladly danced with the noodles! But I guess the litmus test would be when I make it for the Pupp - guess I'll have an update on this post sometime soon :)

Tofu heaven!

My current favorite veggie cookbook is New Vegetarian by Celia Brooks Brown - I think she, along with Rose Elliott are among the best authors of vegetarian cookbooks. Total aside: Celia's book has one of the best gazpacho recipes I've ever seen, too bad I'll have to wait till warm weather comes around again before I try it out! :)

Sometimes, a noodle dish bursting with flavor and topped with marinated tofu just does the trick. And the New Vegetarian has what seemed like the perfect recipe - egg noodles with glazed green vegetables, topped with teriyaki tofu steaks. I decided to go with a few changes - just soba noodles instead of egg noodles seemed like a good option, 400 calories per serving (that's egg noodles for you!) sounded too heavy for dinner today. Besides, PCC carries some awesome soba noodles that pick up teriyaki flavors really well, we decided it was time to try those again. We ended up cutting the tofu into smaller chunks instead of the giant steak-like slabs since it makes for easier eating with chopsticks :) Also, we had to settle for regular bok choy instead of baby bok choy, and scallions instead of leeks. All close enough to make for a fabulous dish!

The ingredients look marginally exotic, but this was really straightforward and quick to make and a treat to eat :)

Roasted teriyaki tofu chunks with glazed greens and soba noodles

Servings: 2 giant servings

3/4 lb firm tofu cut into 2" long pieces
3-4 shiitake mushrooms
4 pieces of chanterelle mushrooms
8 oz soba noodles

Teriyaki marinade
----------------------------
1/3 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup of japanese plum wine
1/2 cup of sake
1 T sugar

Green veggies
---------------------------
1 t safflower oil
3 garlic cloves - sliced
1.5 cups broccoli florets
4 scallions - chopped
3 leaves of bok choy - chopped
2 T fresh fennel
1 t coconut powder (we used this instead of cornstarch for thickening)

Garnish
-----------------
1 T sesame seeds - toasted golden brown
a few snipped chives

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a saucepan and heat till the sugar is dissolved. Add the tofu and mushrooms and simmer for about 15 minutes, turning the tofu every few minutes. Move the tofu into a greased baking pan along with some of the sauce and bake at 425 F for 10-15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the sauce and slice them. Reserve the sauce for later.

Cook the noodles according to instructions - usually 7-9 minutes.

In the meantime, heat the safflower oil in a wok and throw in all the veggies (garlic, broccoli, scallions, bok choy, mushrooms). Saute for a few minutes before adding the fresh fennel. Now toss the reserved sauce and 1/4 cup of water. Simmer covered for a few more minutes. Finally, move the veggies to the side of the wok and add the coconut powder into the sauce and stir quickly before it begins clumping.

Place a nest of noodles on a warm plate, add a bunch of the veggies and sauce, finally top with the tofu pieces (shiny side up :)) and garnish with the toasted sesame seeds'n'chives. Yum!


Ooo ... this might just have to be my entry for Presto Pasta Nights!

Noodlin' time!

Every once in a while, I get this intense craving for indo-chinese food, good stuff like what we get at Cascade in Madras, not like what one finds at Bamboo Garden in Redmond!

In honor of those good times, I embarked on making hakka noodles a couple of nights ago. I was a little apprehensive about how it would turn out, nostalgic flavors sometimes lead to disappointment! But this one turned out ok :) Obviously, I'll still take Cascade's noodles over mine, but this was good enough to keep me going till the next visit to Madras happens!


I started off cooking a bag of hakka noodles (flat noodles found at indian and chinese stores) in boiling water for about 10 -12 minutes. In the meantime, the veggies got prepped: 1 red onion, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 2" ginger (finely chopped), 4-5 thai red chillies, a handful of peanuts sauteed in 1 T of sesame oil. I added julienned carrots and red bell peppers and sauteed till they were cooked. The seasoning was pretty simple - a few spoons of soy sauce, some sweet and sour sauce, a few spoons of rice vinegar and a dash of green chilli sauce. *smile*!