Exploration 1: 24 minutes late, BUT here it is! Pad Thai & Peanut Sauce*
Shopai made me so mad a couple nights ago. I went to go dump more kitchen scraps into the compost, not feeling at all bad or worried she might ingest something no Bueno. Soon after I dumped the contents over the compost wall, Shopai dove in and started feasting!
As you might guess, I take the compost out just before bed so it's dark out. I didn't notice the side that acts as a door fell down. As I examined it, it looks like she chewed at the string of a ripe long enough it finally gave and she pulled the door down. Smart dog...but BAD DOG! Had it not been 10 p.m. and raining, I may have been inclined to solve this dilemma right then. I swallowed my anger and came back inside.
Yesterday it was still raining. As much as I loved playing in the mud as a child, those days are behind me and I'd rather wait for a dry day. I'll work on this after I post this entry. I can't believe she did that!
If you happen to follow me on Snapchat, you know that I ventured out last night to grab some needed ingredients for last night's dish. I had some sort of Ricotta Pasta slated, but I have no idea where that recipe is. I looked. Considering the other night, I used some of the Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce from the pizza over some penne the night before last, I didn't much feel like pasta again anyway.
The recipe calls for "brown rice noodles." I have no idea what that is. It sounds super hipster. Confident I wouldn't find it, I wandered to the local grocery store to see what I could substitute it for. Despite having had Pad-thai a number of times, I haven't the slightest idea on how to make it or what type of noodles come close. After scanning over the variety of available pastas for at least five minutes and even being busted by someone while lip-singing on Snapchat to the overhead Christmas song I found Pad-Thai Noodles!
Yeah! I turned around to find a small Asian section that was fairly impressive. I mean, it contained all the essentials...even oyster sauce (yum!) and these Panda cookie things that have chocolate inside (love it!.) It wasn't brown rice noodles, but it was clearly marked "Pad Thai Noodles" so I grabbed it and ran. Well, not before grabbing a new jar of peanut butter then standing in life for 20 minutes to pay for two things.
For anyone who has ever ate Pad Thai, we know there are two things to be true. Not all Pad Thai is created the same and the secret is definitely in the sauce. There's peanut sauce, we LOVE peanut sauce, then there is some sort of non-peanut sauce, peanut sauce (POSER!)
Taking a detour for a moment, back when I live in Seattle I worked, briefly, at a casino just outside the East boundary of the city. BEAUTIFUL place! I bartended at one of the restaurants inside. Pad Thai was on our menu. We were guilty of using the poser sauce. It's not BAD, but it's not peanut sauce so the entire time you're eating it, part of your spirit just cries because it's NOT the same. However, for the casino's number one player (who came in from time to time) we WOULD make the real peanut sauce. Sometimes, she wouldn't even touch it and being it restaurant policy, we had to trash it.
BREAK MY HEART! How many people would embrace the sauce you didn't even notice. The HORROR!
The Pad Thai recipe that I'm about to share, does include the poser sauce. Honestly, I might have made it had I not seen "fish sauce" at the top of the list. We've been over this, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm just not THAT Asian. I can't hang when it comes to fish sauce and need to start omitting it. I feel bad, but that is what it is.
So I searched for a peanut sauce that looked promising. I found one, that I will include also on today's share.
Quickly stating that I didn't have zucchini, but had yellow squash that was starting to go bad, I substituted and no red peppers, only green. But other than that I stuck to the direction list pretty well. I mean, I've done worse!
Unsure about what type of sorcery peanut sauce contains, I started there. First impressions, I put in a bit more brown sugar because they are being conservative, damn health freaks! (lol) And it tasted...well, okay. Not great, but close enough.
The noodles weren't that hard to cook at all. I was a tad nervous about the egg and did end up burning some of my noodles. As the directions specified, I fried the noodles for a bit BEFORE adding the peanut sauce and the egg. By the time the egg, I added 2 eggs, was somewhat okay to be stirred the noodles were already in dire distress.
Being a novice to Pad Thai and stir fry in general. I think I'd add peanut sauce to noodles, mix, then add egg to pan, then add noodles to pan. Just to be safe.
What was great about this recipe, it made A LOT of food. As my sister and her boyfriend enjoyed take out Chinese in front of me, I really wished they were gonna eat with me because there was just no way I was going to destroy this by myself. Even more so Christmas is three days away. Reminder, I'm leaving Georgia on Christmas Eve. I'm forcing myself to devour any left overs I have or use any veggies felt because I don't want it to go to waste. Now I have a three day supply of Pad Thai. There's just no way.
The stress. Ugh!
It was a close attempt. I ended up adding some cilantro, red pepper flakes, and soy sauce to give it a boost, but something wasn't quite there yet. I could taste it going in the right direction, but it wasn't the same. For starters, my dinner was chalky. I don't know if that was because the noodles over cooked or because my peanut sauce was too thick before adding...maybe a combination of both?
I did eat it. It was okay. But not great and it did fill me up. (I forgot to mention I also added some Edamame on the side just to keep things Asian. ha ha) But I was disappointed. Like I said, I love Pad Thai. I'm sure this is more or less how it works. I understand the basics and there is NO excuse why I couldn't be able to produce a decent Pad Thai.
In the spirit of, I've noticed I'm being too lenient on my scores. Really, I don't think I've given anything below a 3. Time to get truthful, this recipe, as the combo I made it - a 3.
Separately, well, you might have to try that. Part of me even found myself wishing I had tried the poser sauce, maybe dinner would have been different on a more enjoyable note. I may never know.
As for Pad Thai, I am going to return to this item, but not these recipes. What I might do, what I should of done, is reach out to my Asian friends - you know, the real Asians (again, I'm not any part Asian, just proudly look it) and seek their guidance. One used to own a restaurant with delicious peanut sauce, he shouldn't hold out the secret...it's Christmas! lol
As I sit here it is 3:08 Eastern. I know, this blog is running late. I thought today was Thursday and that I was actually early in writing. It wasn't until when I sat down, I realized...WRONG!
Like I have stated, I am leaving to New Mexico Sunday to spend time with my adopted mom and my friends in that part of the country. I will be there for a little over a week. I am going to try to stick to my new vegetarian path, but if something comes a long that can only be enjoyed there and meats in it, by all means, I'm diving in.
As for cooking, my adopted mom doesn't cook all that much, but I will see what we can come up with. Maybe we can do something with a New Mexican theme that's vegetarian. Wouldn't that be fun!
Lastly, my vegetable scrap ziplock bag is full, which means when I get back to Georgia I will make my own vegetable broth. I'm actually excited about this. So, we will definitely need to find ways to use it upon my return.
Thanks for reading. I wish you and all your loved ones a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, safe travels and we'll reconvene on Monday, Boxing Day for those of you in Canada. :-)
As you might guess, I take the compost out just before bed so it's dark out. I didn't notice the side that acts as a door fell down. As I examined it, it looks like she chewed at the string of a ripe long enough it finally gave and she pulled the door down. Smart dog...but BAD DOG! Had it not been 10 p.m. and raining, I may have been inclined to solve this dilemma right then. I swallowed my anger and came back inside.
Yesterday it was still raining. As much as I loved playing in the mud as a child, those days are behind me and I'd rather wait for a dry day. I'll work on this after I post this entry. I can't believe she did that!
If you happen to follow me on Snapchat, you know that I ventured out last night to grab some needed ingredients for last night's dish. I had some sort of Ricotta Pasta slated, but I have no idea where that recipe is. I looked. Considering the other night, I used some of the Sweet Basil Pasta Sauce from the pizza over some penne the night before last, I didn't much feel like pasta again anyway.
Yeah! I turned around to find a small Asian section that was fairly impressive. I mean, it contained all the essentials...even oyster sauce (yum!) and these Panda cookie things that have chocolate inside (love it!.) It wasn't brown rice noodles, but it was clearly marked "Pad Thai Noodles" so I grabbed it and ran. Well, not before grabbing a new jar of peanut butter then standing in life for 20 minutes to pay for two things.
For anyone who has ever ate Pad Thai, we know there are two things to be true. Not all Pad Thai is created the same and the secret is definitely in the sauce. There's peanut sauce, we LOVE peanut sauce, then there is some sort of non-peanut sauce, peanut sauce (POSER!)
Taking a detour for a moment, back when I live in Seattle I worked, briefly, at a casino just outside the East boundary of the city. BEAUTIFUL place! I bartended at one of the restaurants inside. Pad Thai was on our menu. We were guilty of using the poser sauce. It's not BAD, but it's not peanut sauce so the entire time you're eating it, part of your spirit just cries because it's NOT the same. However, for the casino's number one player (who came in from time to time) we WOULD make the real peanut sauce. Sometimes, she wouldn't even touch it and being it restaurant policy, we had to trash it.
BREAK MY HEART! How many people would embrace the sauce you didn't even notice. The HORROR!
The Pad Thai recipe that I'm about to share, does include the poser sauce. Honestly, I might have made it had I not seen "fish sauce" at the top of the list. We've been over this, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm just not THAT Asian. I can't hang when it comes to fish sauce and need to start omitting it. I feel bad, but that is what it is.
So I searched for a peanut sauce that looked promising. I found one, that I will include also on today's share.
Quickly stating that I didn't have zucchini, but had yellow squash that was starting to go bad, I substituted and no red peppers, only green. But other than that I stuck to the direction list pretty well. I mean, I've done worse!
Unsure about what type of sorcery peanut sauce contains, I started there. First impressions, I put in a bit more brown sugar because they are being conservative, damn health freaks! (lol) And it tasted...well, okay. Not great, but close enough.
The noodles weren't that hard to cook at all. I was a tad nervous about the egg and did end up burning some of my noodles. As the directions specified, I fried the noodles for a bit BEFORE adding the peanut sauce and the egg. By the time the egg, I added 2 eggs, was somewhat okay to be stirred the noodles were already in dire distress.
Being a novice to Pad Thai and stir fry in general. I think I'd add peanut sauce to noodles, mix, then add egg to pan, then add noodles to pan. Just to be safe.
The stress. Ugh!
It was a close attempt. I ended up adding some cilantro, red pepper flakes, and soy sauce to give it a boost, but something wasn't quite there yet. I could taste it going in the right direction, but it wasn't the same. For starters, my dinner was chalky. I don't know if that was because the noodles over cooked or because my peanut sauce was too thick before adding...maybe a combination of both?
I did eat it. It was okay. But not great and it did fill me up. (I forgot to mention I also added some Edamame on the side just to keep things Asian. ha ha) But I was disappointed. Like I said, I love Pad Thai. I'm sure this is more or less how it works. I understand the basics and there is NO excuse why I couldn't be able to produce a decent Pad Thai.
In the spirit of, I've noticed I'm being too lenient on my scores. Really, I don't think I've given anything below a 3. Time to get truthful, this recipe, as the combo I made it - a 3.
Separately, well, you might have to try that. Part of me even found myself wishing I had tried the poser sauce, maybe dinner would have been different on a more enjoyable note. I may never know.
As for Pad Thai, I am going to return to this item, but not these recipes. What I might do, what I should of done, is reach out to my Asian friends - you know, the real Asians (again, I'm not any part Asian, just proudly look it) and seek their guidance. One used to own a restaurant with delicious peanut sauce, he shouldn't hold out the secret...it's Christmas! lol
As I sit here it is 3:08 Eastern. I know, this blog is running late. I thought today was Thursday and that I was actually early in writing. It wasn't until when I sat down, I realized...WRONG!
Like I have stated, I am leaving to New Mexico Sunday to spend time with my adopted mom and my friends in that part of the country. I will be there for a little over a week. I am going to try to stick to my new vegetarian path, but if something comes a long that can only be enjoyed there and meats in it, by all means, I'm diving in.
As for cooking, my adopted mom doesn't cook all that much, but I will see what we can come up with. Maybe we can do something with a New Mexican theme that's vegetarian. Wouldn't that be fun!
Lastly, my vegetable scrap ziplock bag is full, which means when I get back to Georgia I will make my own vegetable broth. I'm actually excited about this. So, we will definitely need to find ways to use it upon my return.
Thanks for reading. I wish you and all your loved ones a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, safe travels and we'll reconvene on Monday, Boxing Day for those of you in Canada. :-)
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