Ambitious Delicious(ness)

We had torrential downpour of rain and high winds for about three days straight. I thought I was going to lose it. I’ve realized that it’s not good to be so weather dependent, but I reaaaally need sun! It’s been 60′s and sunny for the past two days though. YES!

I’ve always enjoyed ordering Thai iced tea at restaurants. Thai tea is black tea mixed with orange blossom water, star anise, crushed tamarind seed or red and yellow food coloring. It is usually mixed with condensed milk, giving it a sweet, milky contrast to the bitterness of the tea.

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Pad Thai, as you know, is quite a popular dish when it comes to Thai food. The spices in this dish is a melodious combination of tartness, sweetness, and saltiness. I’ve always wondered what ingredients went into making a delicious plate of pan fried noodle goodness. Have you?

I recall going into a Thai restaurant with my friend S about 5 years ago. Like any other smart New Yorker, she looked up a Thai place in Manhattan. We ordered Pad Thai there and I distinctly remember being disgusted at our noodles! We both swear that the major ingredient was ketchup. Major fail!

Interestingly, when I asked her if she remembered the name of the place, she said it was Topaz. I was so surprised because they have such good noodle dishes now! I never would have imagined that a place could turn themselves around like that. It’s a good lesson in not banning a restaurant forever based on one experience.

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Happy Friday, everyone!

Continuing with my Thai meal from my last post, I’m going share a recipe for chicken satay with peanut dipping sauce. K did a great job putting the skewers on and grilling the chicken while I was running around making the entree . It made me happy that everyone seemed to enjoy the meal!

A while back, long before I started blogging, my friend J gave me this cookbook called Kao’s Thai Cuisine for my birthday. It contains some really easy to follow and delicious recipes. I finally got to use a recipe from the book. Thanks again, J!

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[Thanks to everyone for your support in helping me raise funds for Haiti. I can't thank you enough! Please keep clicking!]

Last time I made green curry, I added too many bamboo shoots, causing the curry to be extra sour (gross). This time, I got rid of bamboo shoots altogether and focused on slow cooking a flavorful curry. I achieved this goal by slow cooking the curry for about 3 hours total. The end result was a thick, hearty, harmoniously flavored curry that I am super excited to share about!

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What to do and what not to do when following this green curry recipe:

Do buy Maesari canned brand of green curry. It is cheap and you only need a small can to make a whole batch!

Do not dump the entire 12 oz. can of bamboo shoots into the pot even though the recipe doesn’t call for any of it. (Even more points if you don’t rinse out the acidic juice that is in the can.)

Do pat yourself on the back for finding a way to incorporate not one, but two of your CSA ingredients (potatoes and eggplant) into a dish.

Do not add Yukon gold potatoes to your curry. Why? What does this remind you of?

It has a striking resemblance to mangoes. D’oh.

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I’m baaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Did you miss me? Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! Now, onto the recipe!

After having green papaya salad at a Thai restaurant, I thought it might be fun to try making it at home. And it also made sense to pair it as the appetizer to go with the noodles. The chopping took a while, but it was well worth the effort. The crunchy, refreshing papaya + jicama was refreshing against the fresh cilantro and fresh mint. Sprinkling of chopped peanuts on top added a good layer of contrast in texture!

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What you see here, is Pad See Ew, a Thai dish made with dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, garlic, broad rice noodles, Chinese broccoli, egg, and some form of thinly sliced meat.

It sounds easy enough. But to my surprise, I had the most difficult time finding the noodles!

This dish is a result of harassing about five different people in my life. From calling C in Chicago to ask where she bought her noodles, to mapping out a game plan to make a run to Chinatown during my lunch break (which did not happen), exchanging 10 emails back and forth with Y (she even called her mom!), to having my coworker ask a restaurant if they’d sell just the noodles (they said they didn’t have them, which is weird), not to mention that I had to run to four different grocery stores three separate times!

But in the end, my efforts were not in vain. I was determined! Thanks to everyone who helped me! And the noodles tasted delicious!!

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